KEY POINTS

  • Kristen Bell revealed she faced a lot of rejections during the initial phase of her acting career because of her appearance
  • Bell noted that the industry has changed and girls don't have to do stereotypical roles to stay relevant anymore
  • The actress has more than 95 acting credits to her name and has been nominated for one Golden Globe

Kristen Bell is one of the most incredible actors of this generation and the way she has maintained her stardom during her illustrious career is commendable. But if you think that her journey has been easy, then you are wrong.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the 39-year-old actress opened up about her entry into the world of showbiz and how she was unfairly neglected because of her looks. The “Good Place” star revealed that her acting career started on a bad note after being repeatedly told that she was not “pretty enough” to become an actress.

Breaking down her career in a 17-minute video, Bell noted that she faced plenty of rejections during the initial phase of her acting career. The “Polish Wedding” star further stated that the people taking the auditions would tell her that she did not have the look to play a “pretty girl” in the movies or TV series.

“I remember early on, getting feedback, that I was not enough in either category. I would get feedback from an audition: ‘Well, you re not pretty enough to play the pretty girl, but you are not quirky enough or weird enough to play the weird girl,’” Bell said.

The actress did not let all the criticisms get to her, but she admitted that there was a time when she doubted that her acting career would blossom at all without fitting into a specific category.

Bell has more than 95 acting credits to her name. She began her career in 1998 with “Polish Wedding” and started to get small roles for various TV series. But her moment of glory came in 2004 with the TV series “Veronica Mars.” Bell played the titular character, a high school junior and skilled private detective who solves different cases while working to solve a more complex story.

The series turned out to be a massive hit among the young viewers and received good reviews from the critics as well. Since then, she has been part of projects like “Burlesque,” “Frozen (Part 1 and 2),” “Gossip Girl,” “House Of Lies,” and “The Good Place.”

Later in the interview, she also revealed that Hollywood is not the same now and a girl doesn’t need to play stereotypical roles to stay relevant in the industry anymore.

“It is not the '80s where you have to have the popular girl and then the nerd who gets the guy. It is not that anymore and I am really grateful for that,” Bell said.

Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell and her family eat their tofurkey one day after the actual holiday. Pictured: Bell attends the People’s Choice Awards 2017 at Microsoft Theater on Jan. 18, 2017 in Los Angeles. Christopher Polk/Getty Images for People's Choice Awards