Anna Faris is the almost-It Girl, a wide-eyed clown in the mode of Goldie Hawn or Judy Holiday, superficially ditzy but with genuine wit and sex appeal. Almost everyone who talks or writes about her seems to like her, and thinks she deserves a higher profile than the crummy roles she’s played in such bottom-feeder comedies as Scary Movie, The House Bunny and The Hot Chick.
What’s Your Number?, in which Faris stars and serves as executive producer, has been touted as a potential breakout film that does justice to her comic skills. In the movie, directed by Mark Mylod (Shameless, Entourage), Faris plays Ally Darling, a woman in her early 30s who reads an article in Marie Claire magazine that says women who have slept with more than 20 men are likely to stay single. Since she has almost hit that magic number, Ally decides to review her past lovers to see if she can rediscover Mr. Right.
Last April, The New Yorker offered a profile of Faris in the context of the prejudices and hurdles against making an R-Rated comedy with a female lead. The article, written before the raunchy Bridesmaids became a hit, presents an usually bald version of Hollywood cynicism, with studios seeking the comedy kill-zone between titillation and offence.
As it happens, apart from the use of relatively clinical words like “douche,” “vagina” and “penis,” What’s Your Number? is only disturbing in its painful predictability.
Based on Karyn Bosnak's novel Twenty Times a Lady, the script by TV writers Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan fits the rom-com formula, portraying Ally as a sweet and vulnerable mess. Ditched by her boyfriend and fired from her job in the opening reel, she gets bombed at her sister’s bridal shower, gets bombed again, and ends up accidentally adding to her lifetime sex score.
Convinced that her problem is promiscuity, and not the more obvious alcoholism, she begins to retrace her romantic steps to find out which former boyfriend might be marriage material.
First, though, the film short circuits its own premise by introducing her across-the-hall neighbour Colin (Captain America’s Chris Evans). He’s a cocky womanizing musician with hot abs and a convenient talent for sleuthing learned from his detective dad.
On a deeper level, Faris was attracted to the underlying message of the story. "This is a woman who's changing herself for everyone around her. She's trying to figure out who she is in terms of how people see her. Hopefully, the movie is about finding yourself."
Faris also served as executive producer. She says, off-handedly, "Well, it doesn't really mean much. The studio pretends to ask your opinion. Sometimes they listened, sometimes they didn't."
Clearly, this is a good time for women in comedy. "Oh, it's a really exciting time. When I used to pitch projects to studios, the first question was always, 'Well, is it R-rated? If it is, it has to be changed.' And, then the next question was always, 'But is this character loveable? We will fall in love with her?'
"That puts so much pressure on your performance and limits your comedy because it means you can't be flawed."
A lot has changed in a few short years. "Yes. In Bridesmaids women were pooping in the streets."
With the ability to make the audience laugh and cringe simultaneously, it's her fearlessness that has separated her from other actresses. It's this quality which attracted Sasha Baron Cohen, who cast her in his upcoming movie, The Dictator, which she is sworn to secrecy about: "But I can say that watching Sasha is watching a comedy genius in action."
Faris is married to actor Chris Pratt (from sitcom Parks and Recreation), who also features in What's Your Number as one of her boyfriends. "I loved working with my husband although it was pressure in that I was really nervous to act in front of him because I respect him so much. I suppose I don't mind strangers judging me, but it's tough when it's your partner," she says. "Actually, I was hoping he'd be a little jealous of Chris Evans, but that didn't happen. I thought, 'Finally, I'll have two men fighting over me'.
Anna Kay Faris, born November 29, 1976 is an American actress, singer and comedienne. She is known for her starring role in the Scary Movie film series, as well as her lead roles in The Hot Chick (2002), Lost in Translation (2003), Just Friends (2005), My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006), Smiley Face (2007), and The House Bunny (2008). She also provided voice acting in the animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009).
Early life
Faris was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Her mother, Karen (née Bathurst), is a former special education instructor, and her father, Jack Faris, is a sociologist who worked at the University of Washington and headed the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association. She has a brother, Robert, who is also a sociologist and teaches at the University of California, Davis. Faris grew up in Edmonds, Washington. Her parents encouraged her to pursue acting when she was young, and she gave her first professional acting performance at age nine, at the Seattle Repertory Theater.
Film career
Her first significant film role was in the independent production Lovers Lane (1999). Her breakout role was in the horror film parody Scary Movie (2000). The 5'4" Faris, a natural blonde, dyed her hair black for the filming of Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2, so that her character more closely resembled Neve Campbell, who played the corresponding character in Scream, the main film that Scary Movie parodied.
Faris gained further popularity after she received the role of the recurring character Erica, the mother whose twin babies are adopted by Chandler and Monica Bing, in the final season of the American sitcom Friends. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed film Lost in Translation, in which she plays an actress promoting an action movie.
Faris at the premiere of Observe and Report at the 2009 South by Southwest Festival
Faris appeared in the film Waiting..., with Ryan Reynolds and Justin Long. In 2005, she appeared again with Reynolds in Just Friends, playing a supporting role as a pop-diva singer named Samantha James. Faris's role as LaShawn Malone in Brokeback Mountain (2005) brought her to the attention of a much wider audience. Faris starred with Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson in the feature film My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006). In 2011, she appeared in the comedy Take Me Home Tonight, playing Topher Grace's character's twin sister. In 2007, she played in Mama's Boy, with Jon Heder, Jeff Daniels and Diane Keaton and in 2007's Smiley Face, with Adam Brody and John Cho. In 2008, she produced and starred in The House Bunny, a film with Happy Madison Productions about a retired Playboy bunny. In the summer 2007 season of HBO's Entourage, Faris guest-starred as herself. She also made an appearance as herself in a video on eatdrinkordie.com with Internet wine guru Gary Vaynerchuk.
Faris won the "Stoner of the Year" award at High Times magazine's Stony Awards, in Los Angeles, on October 13, 2007, for her role in Smiley Face.
Faris co-starred as the cosmetic counter employee on whom Seth Rogen has a crush in Jody Hill's 2009 comedy, Observe and Report.[8] She received a MTV Movie Award nomination for Best Comedic Performance for her movie, The House Bunny. After that, she, alongside Bill Hader, provided voices for the animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs where she played weather reporter Sam Sparks. In 2010, Faris starred in Yogi Bear, playing Rachel, a nature documentarian who follows the antics of a bear in fictional Jellystone Park.
She will next star in What's Your Number?, set to be released in 2011. The film is a romantic comedy based on Karyn Bosnak’s book 20 Times a Lady.
In the media
Faris has appeared on the covers of Raygun, Playboy, Self, Cosmopolitan, and other magazines. She was listed as #57, #39, and #42 in Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" in 2004, 2009, and 2010 respectively. In 2009, she was ranked #60 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World", and ranked #96 in 2010. Ask Men featured her as #78 on "100 Most Desirable Women in the World" in 2009.
In 2010, Cosmopolitan magazine named her "the Cosmo’s Fun Fearless Female of the Year" – stating that “She makes us laugh – and cringe – by pushing the limits of comedy in a way no other actress can."
Personal life
During filming of the 1999 independent horror Lovers Lane Faris met her first husband Ben Indra. They began dating in that year and were married in June 2004. She filed for divorce in April 2007, citing irreconcilable differences. As part of their divorce agreement, Faris agreed to pay Indra $900,000 in addition to other property and acting royalties. Her divorce was finalized in February 2008.
Faris met her second husband, actor Chris Pratt, on the set of Take Me Home Tonight. They became engaged in 2008, and married in a small ceremony in Bali on July 9, 2009. In an interview, Faris said of Pratt, "He's awesome. He's a great, great guy. I feel really lucky."
Filmography
Eden 1996 Dithy
Lovers Lane 1999 Janelle Bay
Scary Movie 2000 Cindy Campbell
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance
Scary Movie 2 2001 Cindy Campbell
May 2002 Polly
The Hot Chick April
Winter Break 2003 Justine
Lost in Translation Kelly
Scary Movie 3 Cindy Campbell
Southern Belles 2005 Belle
Waiting... Serena
Brokeback Mountain Lashawn Malone
Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Nominated—SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Just Friends Samantha James
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Liplock
Scary Movie 4 2006 Cindy Campbell
My Super Ex-Girlfriend Hannah Lewis Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight
Guilty Hearts Jane Conelly
Smiley Face 2007 Jane F.
Mama's Boy Nora Flanagan
The House Bunny 2008 Shelley Darlington
Also producer
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel 2009 Cassie
Observe and Report Brandi
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Sam Sparks Voice role
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Jeanette Miller
Yogi Bear 2010 Rachel Johnson
Take Me Home Tonight 2011 Wendy Franklin
What's Your Number? Ally Darling Also executive producer
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked Jeanette Voice role
Movie 43 2012
