Anna Faris
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"Anna has a natural comic instinct. She's subtle - more the Leslie Nielsen type. Without batting an eyelash, she gets the laughs."---"Scream 3" Director, David Zucker to Entertainment Weekly, October 31, 2003
Biography
Seemingly coming out of nowhere, actress Anna Faris made a name for herself in broad comedies, starting with the horror spoof-within-a-spoof "Scary Movie" (2000), itself a send-up of other horror parodies like "Scream" (1996) and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997). Faris made an immediate impact, which led to several sequels atop other studio comedies like "The Hot Chick" (2003), though she wisely began to break away following a memorable turn in the acclaimed indie "Lost in Translation" (2003). Her small comedic performance as a ditzy actress opened the doors to more varied projects, including romantic comedy "Just Friends" (2005) the Oscar-winning drama, "Brokeback Mountain" (2005). But comedy remained her bread and butter, from her fourth go-round in "Scary Movie 4" (2006) to her co-starring role opposite Seth Rogen in the surprisingly dark "Observe and Report" (2009). Moving to television, Faris starred opposite Allison Janney in the drama-tinged sitcom "Mom" (CBS 2013- ), playing recovering addict Christy Plunkett with a nuanced subtlety that revealed her depth and range.
Born on Nov. 29, 1976 in Baltimore, MD, Anna Faris was raised by her father, Jack, and her mother, Karen, who encouraged their daughter to act from an early age. When she was nine, Faris made her professional debut in Arthur Miller's "Danger: Memory" at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. She soon followed with performances as Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird," the title character in "Heidi," and Rebecca in "Our Town." While she was attending Edmonds Woodway High School, Faris starred in a frozen yogurt commercial that solidified her standing as a professional actress, even though she endured relentless teasing from her classmates. After graduating from the University of Washington, where she earned her bachelor's in English literature, Faris made her feature debut in "Lover's Lane" (1999). On set, she met future first husband, actor Ben Indra, who she married in 2004, only to divorce four years later. Shortly after her first feature, she had her breakout role as the hapless Cindy Campbell in the Wayans Brothers' horror spoof feature, "Scary Movie" (2000).
It was during the filming of "Scary Movie" that Faris decided to dye her blond hair to black in an attempt to make her character look more like Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt from "Scream" (1996) and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997) respectively, the already-self-aware slasher hits that "Scary Movie" parodied. The good-natured, consistently amusing, often crude spoof became a surprise hit, with much deserved credit going to Faris for her sly performance. She returned the following year for the sequel, "Scary Movie 2" (2001). Continuing to make a name for herself in broad comedy, Faris was the highlight of the low-brow Rob Schneider comedy "The Hot Chick" (2002), playing the best friend of a mean-spirited high school girl (Rachel McAdams) who is cursed to occupy the body of a 30-year-old man (Schneider). Following "Scary Movie 3" (2003), in which her character deviated from parodying Neve Campbell to focus on Courteney Cox, Faris branched out with her brief but hilarious supporting turn as a vacuous actress on a promotional tour of Japan in "Lost In Translation" (2003). She later admitted to basing her empty-headed performance on a real-life Hollywood actress, but denied much-circulated rumors that Cameron Diaz was her inspiration.
Hoping to avoid Hollywood "flavor of the month" labels while exploring more challenging and dramatic indie fare, Faris shrewdly gained mainstream exposure when she was cast in a three-episode stint during the final season of "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004), playing the birth mother of the baby Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) plan to adopt. In the low-budget comedy "Waiting" (2005), Faris played a seductive waitress at a restaurant full of misfits. Weeks after the release of "Waiting," she reunited with co-star Ryan Reynolds in "Just Friends" (2005), playing the spoiled socialite, diva and magazine pin-up girl Samantha James, whom Reynolds is charged with turning into a pop-singing sensation just as he is reuniting with the high school best pal (Amy Smart) he has pined for all his life.
Faris next had a scene-stealing turn as an all-too-chatty Southern trophy wife in director Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" (2005). Returning to the role that made her famous, she revived the clueless Cindy Campbell for "Scary Movie 4" (2006). In "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" (2006), Faris was the beautiful office worker whose budding romance with a lovelorn guy (Luke Wilson) spurs the wrath of his superhero ex-girlfriend (Uma Thurman). In "Smiley Face" (2007), she was a college dropout and aspiring actress whose love of marijuana-laced cupcakes leads to a misadventure of epic proportions. After appearing as herself in a few episodes of "Entourage" (HBO, 2005-11), she starred as a former Playboy Playmate kicked out of the mansion who becomes the house mother at a nerdy sorority in "The House Bunny" (2008). She next starred as the target of a flasher whose protected by a buffoonish mall security guard (Seth Rogen) in the comedy "Observe and Report" (2009).
During the 2009 filming of '80s teen-movie homage "Take Me Home Tonight" (not released until 2011), Faris fell in love with castmate Chris Pratt; the couple married in July 2009 and had their first son, Jack, in 2012 before separating in 2017. After continuing a solid string of successes with voice roles in the hits "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" (2009) and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" (2009), Faris headlined the romantic comedy "What's Your Number?" (2011), an indie (also featuring Pratt) in which she starred as a woman reviewing her past relationships to see where they faltered. Following "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" (2011) and a featured role as the unlikely love interest of Sacha Baron Cohen's title character in the political satire "The Dictator" (2012), Faris crossed the pond for a part in the British romantic comedy "I Give It a Year" (2013). She next starred in "Mom" (CBS, 2013- ), a sitcom created by Chuck Lorre about a single mother with alcohol problems whose attempt at sobriety is hampered by the reappearance of her own reckless mother (Allison Janney). The week that "Mom" premiered, Faris returned to theaters in "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" (2013), where she reprised her role as the plucky Sam Sparks. While starring on "Mom," Faris limited her film work to voice roles in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip" (2015) and "The Emoji Movie" (2017), as well as cameos in the comedies "22 Jump Street" (2014) and "Keanu" (2016), in which she appeared as herself. In late 2015, Faris began producing a podcast that she recorded in her own home, a comedic self-help show called "Anna Faris Is Unqualified," in which she dispensed life-coach-style relationship advice to listeners and conducted celebrity interviews. This led to her first book, the memoir Unqualified (2017), but its publication was overshadowed by the announcement that Faris and Pratt were getting a divorce.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Life Events
1991
Made screen-acting debut as a 9-year-old in TV movie "Deception: A Mother's Secret"
2000
Cast as Jannelle in the independent horror feature "Lovers Lane"
2000
Had breakout role in the Wayan Brothers horror spoof "Scary Movie"
2001
Re-teamed with the original cast for the sequel "Scary Movie 2"
2002
Co-starred in Rob Schneider vehicle "The Hot Chick"
2003
Returned once again as Cindy Campbell in "Scary Movie 3"
2003
Featured as a dizzy actress in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation"
2004
Had a recurring role on the final season of "Friends" (NBC) as the birth mother of Chandler and Monica's baby
2005
Had a supporting role as a pop-diva singer in director Roger Kumble's romantic comedy "Just Friends"
2005
Cast in Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" as the motor-mouthed LaShawn Malone
2006
Reprised her role as the hapless Cindy Campbell in "Scary Movie 4"
2006
Played Luke Wilson's love interest in the Ivan Reitman comedy "My Super Ex-Girlfriend"
2007
Starred in the comedy "Smiley Face" with Adam Brody and John Cho
2007
Guest starred as herself on the fourth season of HBO's "Entourage"
2008
Made producing debut with "The House Bunny"; also starred as a former Playboy bunny
2009
Voiced the Chipette character Jeanette in the animated feature "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel"
2009
Co-starred with Seth Rogen in the mall cop comedy "Observe and Report"
2009
Voiced Sam Sparks in the animated film "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"
2010
Starred in the live-action adaptation of "Yogi Bear," featuring the voices of Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake
2011
Reprised voiceover role of Jeanette in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked"
2011
Starred in the romantic comedy "What's Your Number" opposite Chris Evans and real-life husband Chris Pratt
2012
Co-starred opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in political satire "The Dictator"
2013
Returned for "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2"
2013
Began starring role on the sitcom "Mom"
2014
Had an uncredited cameo in "22 Jump Street"
2016
Appeared as herself in "Keanu"
2017
Voiced the character Jailbreak in "The Emoji Movie"
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Anna has a natural comic instinct. She's subtle - more the Leslie Nielsen type. Without batting an eyelash, she gets the laughs."---"Scream 3" Director, David Zucker to Entertainment Weekly, October 31, 2003
