Kristen Bell has been getting relationship advice from Hollywood legend Betty White!
The When in Rome actress — who’s engaged to comedian Dax Shepard — stars alongside White in upcoming comedy movie You Again
And Bell says White — who has been married three times — offered her tips on keeping things fresh in marriages.
Kristen revealed that Betty told her, “When you hear him coming home, just go change your blouse or put on a little perfume and constantly celebrate your partner like you did in month two.”
Betty also had some words of praise for Kristen. “It was a treat to see this beautiful young girl perform with such terrific comedic skills and professionalism,” says Betty. “Her career is on fire.”
Meanwhile, Kristen learned some life lessons from another veteran actress, her Burlesque co-star, Cher, who Kristen describes as “f****** awesome.”
What did she learn from Cher? “That you can be an otherworldly icon and still have your feet on the ground,” says Kristen.
Kristen Bell might be rethinking her blonde bombshell status.
For her role in the upcoming movie musical Burlesque–also starring Christina Aguilera and Cher—the California girl covered up her golden locks with a brunette wig.
“When I had the wig on I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror. I felt like another person,” Bell tells Instyle.com.
And for the usually sunny-haired star, the temporary change might be something she is considering for good.
“Now I’m over being blonde. If I’m well received as a brunette in Burlesque then maybe I’ll go brunette in [real life]!”
While we are used to Kristen as a blonde, we love the chocolate brown hair against her fair skin and sparkling blue eyes, and think she should try it out for real.
A dingy, touristy pizza joint is perhaps one of the last places you would expect to find a rising Hollywood celebrity like Kristen Bell. Forget the unwashed masses on whose money such establishments rely—aren't carbohydrates, like, the kryptonite of the red-carpet set?
Apparently not for Bell, who has been frequenting this hole-in-the-wall cafe in Greenwich Village since her days as a musical-theater student at NYU's Tisch School in the early aughts. Of course, things have changed since then: The Los Angeles–based actress is a movie star, and looks every bit the part. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a chignon, and her small features are obscured by de rigueur oversize sunglasses, which she removes to place her order (one slice of margherita, please). She's wearing a crisp Prada shirtdress purchased at a consignment shop, which features a bold Venetian-cityscape print—it's cinched with a braided belt from Goodwill—and Stella McCartney wedges. A bit polished for pizza, true, but Bell, who broke out in 2004 at age 24 as the titular teenage detective in the UPN series Veronica Mars, can't resist a little theatricality. "I tend to favor things that make me feel like I'm playing a character," she says, blotting her slice with a napkin. "I gravitate toward vintage styles—equestrian, nautical. I've been loving a blue-and-white-striped long-sleeve T-shirt since I was in high school because it makes me feel like Brigitte Bardot sunbathing on the French Riviera."
Growing up far from du Cap—the Detroit suburbs, to be exact—Bell "always felt a little out of place," she says. She starred in school musicals, watched Waiting for Guffman on repeat and dreamt of a career in comedy. She was also a late bloomer who didn't have her first kiss until after her 16th birthday. "I was like the runt of the cool girls [in high school]," she explains
In her choice of roles, Bell has made it a point to stave off monotony. "I was very up-front with [my agents] that, despite how I may appear, it was never my goal to be an ingenue," she says. "I always wanted to be a character actor. I wanted to be Catherine O'Hara. I wanted to be Kathy Bates and Jennifer Coolidge." Clearly, genetics got in the way.
Following the cancellation of Veronica Mars in 2007 and a stint on NBC's Heroes (not to mention an ongoing gig as the omnipresent narrator of Gossip Girl), Bell scored the title role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the 2008 raunch-fest from the Judd Apatow crew. Her role as a bitchy TV actress who dumps her schlubby boyfriend for a flamboyant British rocker cemented her reputation as a deft comedic actress, and a bankable one. Plum roles in bubbly studio pics, including 2009's Couples Retreat and this year's When in Rome (she met her now-fiancé, comedian Dax Shepard, on the set), ensued, as have high-profile fashion moments, such as this year's Met Costume Institute gala. Bell arrived in an ombré ruffled Diane von Furstenberg gown—as a guest of the designer. "I like clothes that make me feel feminine as opposed to girly," she says. "If there's one too many ruffles or a little too much pink, I will look like I'm going to my own christening."
For her personal style, Bell knows what she likes and what works for her—but it's taken some time to get there. "I didn't grow up with a lot of art or fashion around me," she says. "I don't think fashion's easy—it takes a lot of work." In the past few years, her stylist-slash-BFF Nicole Chavez has helped her step out of her "clean-cut, all-American-type" comfort zone, pushing her, on occasion, to "get edgy." (As to whether working on the sartorially driven Gossip Girl has had an influence, Bell says she wears pajamas to record her voice-overs in Los Angeles, and has only visited the New York–based production a few times.) These days, her preferred labels—Prada, Miu Miu, Jenni Kayne and Celine, plus DanniJo and Lizzie Scheck for jewelry—is sophisticated. Plus, as Bell notes, she's still learning.
Come fall, she'll continue her sartorial studies on red carpets across the globe promoting two wildly dissimilar films: the family comedy You Again, with Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver and the sizzling Betty White, out September 24, and the darker movie-musical Burlesque, co-starring Christina Aguilera and Cher, which hits theaters November 24. In You Again, Bell plays Marni, an ugly duckling–turned–successful publicist whose brother is set to marry her high school tormenter. Burlesque, on the other hand, has Bell singing, dancing and clad in anatomy-defying costumes as Nikki, the mean lead dancer at a retro girly club. (Of Cher, who plays the club's proprietress, Bell says, "She is f--king awesome.")
If the mention of such big names conjures thoughts of behind-the-scenes catfights, or who-is-getting-the-best-lighting dramas, Bell claims her on-set experiences were nothing short of empowering. "I'm playing the role of sponge," she says, adding: "I worked with all guys for a long time. I wanted some estrogen in my life." From Cher, for example, she learned "that you can be an otherworldly icon and still have your feet on the ground." And the 88-year-old White offered tips on keeping things fresh in relationships: "When you hear him coming home, just go change your blouse or put on a little perfume," Bell recalls White advising, "and constantly celebrate your partner like you did in month two."
It turns out Bell made quite an impression on her octogenarian co-star, as well. "It was a treat to see this beautiful young girl perform with such terrific comedic skills and professionalism," says White. "Her career is on fire."
Bell hopes to flex her acting muscles toward the serious side going forward, including a Broadway show and pursuing "riskier—not in the sense of being dark, but just in the sense of not being as commercial"—independent-film work. But don't expect the actress to stray too far from comedy. "I'm really happy, when I wake up every morning, that I'm considered.…" She pauses. "It even sounds too cocky to say, because I'm nervous it will be taken away if I say it out loud—but to be considered a female comedian is my dream come true."
Please note that this video is rather old but we'd never seen it before so figured we'd share with you all:
Kristen Bell has recently teamed up with the Humane Society to promote a program that will raise money for special needs pets.
The actress’ love for dogs was pretty evident when she hired a personal dog furniture designer to dress the upholstery for her own pet.
The owner of Kari Whitman Interiors, L.L.C. created Greener Pup Dog Beds, a line of canine furniture made from 100% recycled plastic with 100% of the profits benefiting Whitman’s animal rescue organization, Ace of Hearts.
Whitman advises that while you’re choosing pet furniture, don’t forget about giving your own cushions an inventory check, considering how much time the pets and yourself may be spending on them.
She told The Stir, “I use washable paint with a Satin Finish instead of Flat which will resist marks and keep your walls looking fresh and clean for longer. Look for low- or no-VOC paints to protect your pups from toxins!”
“Your pets spend a lot of the time on the floor — would you rather have them lying on polyurethane and chemically treated flooring, or organic rugs and eco-friendly bamboo and palm wood floors? It’s really important to consider your pet when choosing furnishing and floorings. For hardwood floors, I love Bamboo Flooring Hawaii — it’s beautiful and eco-friendly. Beech, Bamboo, and Recycled Teak are also more scratch resistant than other varieties of wood.”
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