EXCLUSIVE: Kristen Bell is in the midst of a trajectory that defies the typical Hollywood playbook.
At 46, the Los Angeles-based actor appears not to take herself too seriously in her public life; after all, she declares on her Instagram bio, “I’m here for the whimsy.”
Yet, when Bell speaks to Stellar from Paris, she reveals a depth beneath the humour.
The mega-success of Netflix’s Nobody Wants This – the Erin Foster-created romantic comedy series in which Bell co-stars with Adam Brody and has earned her multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations – is simply proof, she says, that the most compelling Hollywood romances can belong to those who have already lived a little.
“We’re not the youngest rom-com cast ever to hit the screen,” Bell points out to Stellar.
“I think that had more of an impact than we foresaw. I have so many friends who are on dating apps and in their late 30s and 40s. Life in my generation started [later].
“‘Adulting’ has been pushed off until your 30s and 40s, and that wasn’t how it was with previous generations.”
It’s been 22 years since the Detroit, Michigan-raised actor achieved fame as the titular teen detective in cult TV series Veronica Mars.
Navigating Hollywood on her own terms, Bell has come to embrace what people loved about her breakthrough performance: her wit and sensitivity.
“It took me a very long time to learn this,” she says, but she is happy now “staying in my lane. And I don’t mean that to minimise my abilities.
“I mean it because I spent so many years in a pattern of mimesis with other people, wanting what they wanted, or because I was told to want it.
“People could categorise me as ‘quirkier’ than your normal run-of-the-mill actress, and that’s OK. I’ve searched for quirky roles where I can bring out a little bit more of my own personality.
“I guess what I mean by ‘staying in my lane’ is trusting myself. And not just wanting to sign onto a project because it’s currently the sought-after project in my business. Really deciding [how] I want to spend my time.”
In Nobody Wants This, a premise loosely based on Foster’s own life, Bell plays Joanne, an agnostic sex and relationships podcast co-host who ends up dating Noah (Brody), a rabbi.
As the third season returns Thursday, Bell muses about the serious subject matter behind the comedy.
“The show is written from a very specific perspective to show the messy, vulnerability of merging two completely different lives,” she explains.
“The circumstances could be whatever you want: ethnicity, religion, socio-economic backgrounds, belief systems, interests.
“What does it look like to merge two completely different lives when the people have chemistry and connection and a willingness to try?
“[It] doesn’t show fake or silly TV misunderstandings; they face genuine, deeply felt roadblocks in their life.”
Behind the camera, Bell – who shares daughters Delta, 11, and Lincoln, 13, with her husband, actor Dax Shepard – is also an executive producer on the series, and takes her role as a mentor seriously.
“I always think of the Gloria Steinem quote, ‘Help the women coming behind you get through the door a little easier than you did,’” Bell says, paraphrasing the late feminist icon. “[Steinem] emphasised looking behind you – know who else is in the room or trying to get into the room – to really put the emphasis on mentorship and sisterhood and basic human decency.
“So I think about that a lot when I see other women in my line of work or other women, and make sure that I’m thinking about their state of being as well as my own.”
‘I LIKE TO FEEL LIKE MYSELF’
On the day of Stellar’s interview, Bell is at Paris Fashion Week fulfilling duties in her new role as a L’Oréal Paris global ambassador, though she remains understated amid the whirlwind of haute couture front rows and runways.
For Bell, navigating the event means maintaining a minimalist approach to red carpet beauty. “I like to feel like myself,” she says.
“I’ve tried a lot of different looks throughout the years. But I feel best when I just look awake – happy to be there and awake – which certainly involves a blowout and a face of make-up.
“A natural look is what I favour.”
Stepping out of her comfort zone, Bell made her runway debut alongside Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne and Mika Abdalla in the brand’s Le Défilé show, which honours women driving positive change.
Strutting on a catwalk was an intimidating prospect for the actor, who relied on some unexpected lessons from her daughters to prepare.
“Ma’am, my goal is to make it to the end and back,” Bell cracks.
“I have never walked a runway before. My daughters have given me quite a bit of coaching. They playfully runway walk at school with their friends.
“So I’m about six weeks … into my training with them. But I’m not quite sure I’m going to have the moxie to give it as much hip as they do.”
Modelling for L’Oréal Paris, Bell says, felt like a deeply personal, full-circle moment.
“My relationship with make-up has changed because when I was younger, I was trying things that I thought I was supposed to try,” she reflects.
“Things that might not fit. It took me a while to understand what I actually liked.
“I used to think that [self-confidence] was something that was received or given to you.
“Now I understand that worth is a realisation. And it’s internal. The only person that can give you your worth is yourself.”
Read the full interview with Kristen Bell in a new issue of Stellar inside The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland) and Sunday Mail (SA). For more from Stellar, click here.
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