Who is Kristen Bell? A Profile of the Star of the CW Hit Series, Veronica Mars

Kristen Bell, star of the CW hit series, Veronica Mars, was born of Irish and Polish decent. She was born and raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan, a suburb about 3 miles north of Detroit on July 18, 1980.

In Elementary school, Kristen was known as Annie Bell. Annie, was not only her middle name, but was also her favorite musical.

She started acting at the age of 11, when she attended her first audition and won a dual role as a banana and a tree in a suburban Detroit theater's production of Raggedy Ann and Andy. Before her performance as she sat back stage, she was paralyzed with stage fright. As she awaited her cue, she was offered a word of encouragement by her supportive mother that would ultimately give her the drive to realize her life's calling.

In high school, she went on to perform in plays. As a trained singer, she took the starring role in Shine Catholic High School's 1997 production of The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy Gale.

In her senior year at New York University in 2001 she took a key role as Becky Thatcher in the short-lived Broadway musical of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Later, that same year, she made her officially credited film debut in Pootie Tang. She also auditioned for the Smallville TV role of Chloe Sullivan, a part eventually won by Allison Mack. In 2002, she appeared in the Broadway revival of The Crucible.

In 2004, Kristen made her big-screen debut, appearing in Spartan, a David Mamet film, as Laura Newton, the President's kidnapped daughter. She acted alongside Val Kilmer.

In the fall of 2004, she won the role of the title character in Veronica Mars, the mystery/crime drama. In the show she plays a tough to crack, Nancy Drew-esque investigater determined to find the murderer of her best friend. At the shows beginning, she played a 17 year old girl, but was actually 24 years old.

Kristen Bell also also appeared in movies such as, Pulse, Fifty Pills and Reefer Maddness:The Movie Musical, and has 2 post-production movies, Flatland:The Movie and Fanboys. Kristen is still in the process of filming Forgetting Sarah Marshall and will begin work on Antique.