Lake Bell

Lake Siegel Bell (born March 24, 1979) is an American actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She has starred in various television series, including Boston Legal (2004–2006), Surface (2005–2006), How to Make It in America (2010–2011), Childrens Hospital (2008–2016), and Bless This Mess (2019–2020) and in films including Over Her Dead Body (2008), What Happens in Vegas (2008), It's Complicated (2009), No Strings Attached (2011), Million Dollar Arm (2014), No Escape (2015), Man Up (2015), The Secret Life of Pets (2016), and Home Again (2017).

She wrote and directed the short film Worst Enemy, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012, followed by her 2013 feature film directing debut In a World..., in which she also starred. In 2017, she directed, wrote, co-produced and starred in I Do... Until I Don't. Bell is currently starring as the voice of Poison Ivy in the HBO Max series Harley Quinn (2019–present).

Bell began her career in 2002 with roles in the film Speakeasy. Her first significant roles came in 2003. After appearing in the psychological thriller I Love Your Work, she was cast alongside Jeff Goldblum as the female lead in the NBC television film War Stories and played Alicia Silverstone's wisecracking best friend, Victoria Carlson, in NBC's comedy-drama series Miss Match. In 2004, Bell appeared in the wrestling film Slammed and made her debut as Sally Heep in the final four episodes of The Practice. Her character was carried over into the spinoff Boston Legal, where she was a regular cast member until she left the series in 2005. She also appeared in an Audi commercial alongside Dustin Hoffman that spoofed The Graduate.

In 2008, she played the female lead in the thriller Under Still Waters, for which she won the Newport Beach Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting, starred alongside Paul Rudd and Eva Longoria in the romantic comedy Over Her Dead Body, played Cameron Diaz's character's best friend in the romantic comedy What Happens in Vegas and played the wife of Colin Farrell's character in crime drama Pride and Glory.

She was also cast as the lead female role, Dr. Cat Black, in Rob Corddry's satirical comedy Childrens Hospital. The fourth season began airing in August 2012 and featured two episodes that were directed by Bell—the season premiere, "The Boy with the Pancakes Tattoo", a parody of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the ninth episode, "A Kid Walks in to a Hospital".

In 2009, Bell voiced the role of Dana Mercer in the video game Prototype, played Alec Baldwin's wife in the romantic comedy It's Complicated and guest starred in an episode of the fourth season of the series Wainy Days. 2010 saw Bell voice a supporting role in Shrek Forever After, star in the satirical film Burning Palms, guest star in an episode of the second season of the sitcom The League and cast as a lead character in the HBO series How to Make It in America,[17] which aired for two seasons from February 2010 to November 2011.

In 2011, Bell starred alongside Josh Lucas and Terrence Howard in the supernatural thriller Little , played Ashton Kutcher's boss in the romantic comedy No Strings Attached, a performance that won her critical praise and was called "scene-stealing," starred in the ensemble comedy A Good Old Fashioned Orgy and guest starred in an episode of the first season of New Girl. Bell had a lead role alongside Kate Bosworth in the 2012 thriller Black Rock.

In 2010, Bell made her writing and directing debut with the short film Worst Enemy. Her film debuted at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and has also played at the Nantucket Film Festival, the Dallas International Film Festival, the Gen Art Film Festival and Aspen Shortsfest, winning the Tony Cox Award for Screenwriting in a Short Film from Nantucket and receiving a Shorts Jury Special Mention from Dallas. Her film led to her being named one of the "2012 Inspiring Filmmakers" by LUNAFEST.

Bell made her writing and directing feature film debut at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival with In a World.... which she wrote and directed and in which she starred. She describes the film as "a comedy about a female voice-over artist and family dysfunction and relationships. I’m obsessed with the voice-over world, so it makes sense for me.".

Bell was listed as number 45 on Femme Fatales' list of the 50 Sexiest Women of 2003; 6th on British Vogue's list of the 10 Best Dressed Women of 2007, 32nd on Maxim's Hot 100 of 2008, 44th on Maxim's Hot 100 of 2012 and 89th on AskMen's 99 Most Desirable Women of 2012. Bell appeared in a photo shoot for GQ, for Marie Claire, she modeled for Scott Caan, for his first book and in 2011 she appeared in photo shoots for Elle, Los Angeles, Maxim and Esquire. In September 2011, Bell modeled at Pirelli's Fashion Week in Milan, Italy. For New York Fashion Week 2013, Bell modeled nude with strategic body painting (done by her husband) on the cover of New York. In April 2014, Bell appeared in Esquire for the second time.