Worlds Celebrities

Overview

Date of Birth:: 20 August 1974, Vicenza, Veneto, Italy

Birth Name: Amy Lou Adams

Height: 5' 4" (1.63 m)

Trade Mark: Long strawberry blonde hair. Often plays optimistic characters with cheerful dispositions. Often plays innocent or very naïve characters. Her wide-eyed expressions. Sparkling blue eyes. Her bright smile.

Bio Data: Amy Lou Adams was born in Italy, to American parents Kathryn (Hicken) and Richard Kent Adams, while her father was a U.S. serviceman. She was raised in a Mormon family of seven children in Castle Rock, Colorado, and has English, as well as smaller amounts of Danish, Swiss-German, and Norwegian, ancestry.

Adams sang in the school choir at Douglas County High School and was an apprentice dancer at a local dance company, with the ambition of becoming a ballerina. However, she worked as a greeter at The Gap and as a Hooters hostess to support herself before finding work as a dancer at Boulder's Dinner Theatre and Country Dinner Playhouse in such productions as "Brigadoon" and "A Chorus Line". It was there that she was spotted by a Minneapolis dinner-theater director who asked her to move to Chanhassen, Minnesota for more regional dinner theater work.

Nursing a pulled muscle that kept her from dancing, she was free to audition for a part in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), which was filming nearby in Minnesota. During the filming, Kirstie Alley encouraged her to move to Los Angeles, where she soon won a part in the Fox television version of the film, Cruel Intentions (1999), in the part played in the film by Sarah Michelle Gellar, "Kathryn Merteuil". Although three episodes were filmed, the troubled series never aired. Instead, parts of the episodes were cobbled together and released as the direct-to-video Cruel Intentions 2 (2000). After more failed television spots, she landed a major role in Catch Me If You Can (2002), playing opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. But this did not provide the break-through she might have hoped for, with no work being offered for about a year. She eventually returned to television, and joined the short-lived series, Dr. Vegas (2004).

Her role in the low-budget independent film Junebug (2005) (which was shot in 21 days) got her real attention, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress as well as other awards. The following year, her ability to look like a wide-eyed Disney animated heroine helped her to be chosen from about 300 actresses auditioning for the role of "Giselle" in the animated/live-action feature film, Enchanted (2007), which would prove to be her major break-through role. Her vivacious yet innocent portrayal allowed her to use her singing and dancing talents. Her performance garnered a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

Adams next appeared in the major production, Charlie Wilson's War (2007), and went on to act in the independent film, Sunshine Cleaning (2008), which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Her role as "Sister James" in Doubt (2008) brought her a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild award, and a British Academy Film award. She appeared as Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) and as a post-9/11 hot line counselor, aspiring writer, amateur cook and blogger in Julie & Julia (2009). More recently, she starred with Jason Segel in The Muppets (2011) and alongside Clint Eastwood in Trouble with the Curve (2012).

Trivia: Worked in a Hooters Restaurant until soon after she turned 18, when they started making her wear the customary outfits.

Alumna of the Chanhassen Dinner Theater in Minnesota. Appeared there in many productions including "Brigadoon" and "Good News".

One of seven children.

As a gesture of support to the U.S. troops, she privately gave her first-class seat to an American soldier who was on the same flight from Detroit to Los Angeles in 2014. She gladly took a seat in standard coach.

She was born in Italy and raised in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Her father was in the military and was also an amateur actor.

Was born on the U.S. military base located in Aviano, Italy, but spent part of her childhood in the US military base located in Vicenza, Italy.

Invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2006.

Attended, and graduated from, Douglas County High School in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Sang in the school choir at Douglas County High School.

Is a trained dancer.

Her brother, Eddie Adams, works for the tabloid show TMZ.

Once worked at The Gap, a clothing store chain.

Met her boyfriend, Darren Le Gallo, in 2001 in an acting class.

Has made two movies back-to-back starring Meryl Streep: Doubt (2008) and Julie & Julia (2009). In the latter she has no scenes with Streep.

One of People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People in the world (2008).

Engaged to Darren Le Gallo (July 24, 2008).

During a red carpet interview at the 81st Academy Awards, she claimed to suffer from extreme stage fright and claustrophobia.

Enjoys singing karaoke.

Announced that she and her fiancé, Darren Le Gallo, are expecting their first child (December 4, 2009).

Gave birth to her first child at age 35, a daughter Aviana Olea Le Gallo on May 15, 2010. Child's father is her fiancé, Darren Le Gallo.

Was 1 month pregnant with her daughter Aviana when she completed filming on The Fighter (2010).

Returned to work 3 months after giving birth to her daughter Aviana in order to begin filming On the Road (2012).

Was in attendance at the wedding of her Sunshine Cleaning (2008) co-star and best friend Emily Blunt to John Krasinski (10 July 2010).

Was in consideration for the part of Dagny Taggart in Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011) after Charlize Theron dropped out of the project, but Taylor Schilling was cast instead.

Her performance as Ashley Johnsten in Junebug (2005) was named the 6th best performance of the decade in Paste Magazine's 25 Best Movie Performances of the Decade.

Her favorite films include Gone with the Wind (1939), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Vertigo (1958), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Paulie (1998).

Appeared in one episode, Smallville: Craving (2001), of the television series, Smallville (2001), which is about the early life of Clark Kent before he became Superman. She later went on to play Superman's main love interest, "Lois Lane", in Man of Steel (2013).

Was in consideration for the role of Maggie Beauford in Lawless (2012), but Jessica Chastain was cast instead.

Was in consideration for the role of Annabel Richter in A Most Wanted Man (2014), but Rachel McAdams was cast instead.

Best friends with actress Emily Blunt. The two became very close while filming Sunshine Cleaning (2008) in 2008.

As of 2013, the longest she has gone without an Oscar nomination, since her first one, is three years, between Junebug (2005) and Doubt (2008).

Wanted to be a singing nurse as a kid.

Meryl Streep taught her how to knit.

Was admittedly so distracted by co-star Lee Pace while filming Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), since "he just looked so dashing", that the director had to ask him leave the set.

Did her own singing in The Muppets (2011), Enchanted (2007) and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008).

Second actress with red hair to portray Lois Lane (preceded by Noel Neill).

Her ancestry includes English, as well as smaller amounts of Danish, Swiss-German and Norwegian.

Born at 12:00 AM.

One of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. [April 2014].

Has starred alongside two different actors who have played the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman: Christian Bale in The Fighter (2010) and American Hustle (2013)_ and Ben Affleck in _Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)_.

Through her 6th generation great-grandparents Thomas and Elizabeth Shipp is a fifth cousin twice removed of Harry S. Truman. Through the same Shipp ancestors is a seventh cousin once removed of John Edwards.

Auditioned for Lois Lane twice before being cast in Man of Steel (2013). She first auditioned for the cancelled project "Superman Flyby" and Superman Returns (2006).

Personal Quotes: I have worked with some of the meanest people in the world. You can't do anything to intimidate me.

I think that I've always been attracted to characters who are positive and come from a very innocent place. I think there's a lot of room for discovery in these characters and that's something I always have fun playing.

It's nerve-wracking! I'll be up there, singing the song in front of billions of people - oh, and Daniel Day-Lewis! And Cate Blanchett. I'll be going to Taco Bell when the ceremony is over. Mexican food cures me (On singing at the Oscars).

Not at this point. Right now I'm just doing what I enjoy and I've done some different films, I've done some different types of roles. (On being stereotyped as the 'naive' one.)

Whitney Houston came in. Someone dared me to do "the Gap act" on her. You know, the Gap act. So I went up to her like I didn't know who she was, and I said, 'Hi, I just wanted to let you know about our sale items and make sure to check out our new colors'. She looked at me like I was crazy (On working at The Gap).

Thirty was a big deal for me. It was the age where I reevaluated everything - how I approached life and how I thought about myself. When I look at my 20s, or when I look at any period in my life, I think about how much time I've wasted trying to find the right man. It's like, if I could go back and do it again, I would have taken guitar lessons or something. I would have put my energy into something that paid off in the end, instead of trying to improve myself for men. Oh, the time and the energy, trying to impress somebody who was actually a big jerk, you know? But the truth is, once you have a great man in your life, it allows you - or at least for me - to look at yourself and grow as an individual. And gosh, if I had known I was going to find this, my 20s would have been completely different.

(2011) I was a hostess at Hooters, and that was sort of fun. I was 17, and then when I was 18, I waited [tables] for about a month. I wasn't cut out to be a waitress, and I certainly wasn't cut out to be a Hooters waitress. That was a short-lived ambition. Everyone would agree, if they could see me, Hooters isn't necessarily the best way to describe me.

[on the era in which The Master (2012) is set] We were a society in transition. Women were given responsibility in wartime, and then it was back to the kitchen and take care of your man. The perception of what what was available to women was so different.

[on letting her career be influenced by childhood favorites] I'm like the luckiest girl in the world. I've gotten to be a princess, I've gotten to work with the Muppets. A lot of my childhood dreams about who I wanted to be when I was a grown-up, I at least get to play them in movies. And Lois Lane is one of them. So I'm just excited. I hope I bring something that people enjoy.

[on having the Muppets as co-stars] To see them when they're not animated was really upsetting.

I grew up as a Mormon and that had more of an impact on my values than my beliefs. I'm afraid I will always feel the weight of a lie. I'm very hard on myself anyway. Religious guilt carries over too. You can't really misbehave without feeling badly about it. At least, I can't.

I had an existential crisis at the Oscars, sitting next to Sean Penn and Meryl Streep, and being like, 'What am I doing here? I don't belong here'. I felt like it could all be taken away.

I was one of seven, and we took a lot of road trips - long road trips. And this was before iPhones and iPads and DVD players in cars. I remember how novel it was when I got my own Walkman so I could listen to music. It's going to sound silly, but one of my favorites was the Out of Africa (1985) soundtrack. I loved watching the scenery go by to that music. I thought it would be a beautiful ballet.

I've always really loved action films, but I don't see myself as a superhero girl, so my Lois Lane is a mere mortal full of imperfections.

Man of Steel (2013) was an opportunity to be in a genre film without having to train... I always want to defeat supervillains - it's just the chicken-and-broccoli diet that I'm not into.

[on her character Sydney in American Hustle (2013)] (She) is the most miserable human being I've ever played. She is not - happy. I'm used to playing people that, even if they're survivors, there's some sort of light in them. I don't know that she has that, necessarily...I think I like playing happy people.

[on her role in Her (2013) with Joaquin Phoenix] It's a friendship love. Joaquin and I were able to create a male-female friendship on camera, and you don't get to explore that very often without undertones and overtones. We're friends, and you really believe that. Or, I believe that. I can't speak for anyone else.

[speaking to Robert Ito about American Hustle (2013)] I want to say the f-word so much in this interview, because these characters are in such a f'd-up situation. [But] I think it's rude. Mormon upbringing. I'll say it in film. But that's a character. I just won't say it in print.