Amy Adams

Biography of Amy Adams

Amy Lou Adams is a Hollywood actress, famous to the audience for the movies «Cruel Intentions 2», «Catch Me If You Can», «Junebug», «Enchanted», «Doubt», «Nocturnal Animals», «Batman V Superman» and many others.

Actress Amy Adams

Her Childhood and Family

Amy grew up in the family of a soldier from the US Army Richard and housewife Kathryn Adams. She was born on August 20, 1974, and became the middle of their seven children, with four brothers and two sisters. Her hometown is Vicenza, Italy (there was a military complex, where at that time her father served). Subsequently, they had moved frequently from place to place until, in 1982, they settled in Castle Rock, Colorado.

The baby photo of Amy Adams

Some people believe that the military does not have the sense of beauty. However, Amy's dad was seriously fond of singing, and, having ended his career in the army, he began to sing at the restaurants and nightclubs.

Some of the most vivid memories of the actress is associated with her father’s performances: she was sitting at a table, sipping the non-alcoholic «Shirley Temple» and listening to his singing.

Their large family was short of money, but it did not prevent them from spending their leisure time funny. The Adams always went hiking, rode the bikes and staged performances together. A script was usually written by their father and rarely by their mother. Their home theater was a favorite pastime of little Amy; as a rule, she played the lead roles. At the same time, the girl was very cheeky and cocky and often fought with her brothers and sisters.

Amy Adams in her childhood and youth

This family idyll collapsed in 1985: Richard and Kathryn divorced. The father moved to Arizona and remarried, and the children left to live with their mother in Castle Rock. After the divorce, Kathryn became interested in bodybuilding and began to spend all her free time in the gym, where she took her children.

Finding Herself

In high school, Amy had little interest in science, but she was the first person in everything that concerned art and sport: she sang in the school choir, took ballet and did gymnastics. Intending to become a professional dancer, she trained at the David Taylor Dance Company.

In her youth, Amy Adams dreamed of becoming a great ballerina

After graduation from high school, she and her family moved to Atlanta. To the great sorrow of her parents, Amy did not want to go to college. She had still hoped to have a great future in ballet, but at the age of 18, she realized that she was not gifted enough to be a professional ballerina.

Amy Adams without makeup

Then she drew her attention to the local musical theater. The musical «Annie» was one of her first performances. However, she did not get a penny for it. In parallel with the rehearsals she worked as a greeter at the Gap store, and in the evenings she served the guests at Hooters. This restaurant is known for its waitresses who are sexy and sociable girls. Like her colleagues, Amy Adams had to wear a short skirt and deal with unruly customers. She left the job after she saved enough money to buy a used car.

In 1994, she began her professional career as a dancer in «dinner-theater» (a theater-restaurant with a «light» repertoire like musicals and comedies) in Boulder. Amy liked to sing and dance, but the owners demanded to serve the tables. One day her colleague lied to the owner that Amy gossiped about the director. So she lost this job but got a similar one in Denver’s dinner theater.

1997:Amy Adams plays a pig in «dinner theater» in Minneapolis

In 1995, the girl, dancing to the Kuol Porter's song «Anything Goes», was noticed by one of the visitors of the restaurant - Michael Brindisi, an artistic director of the famous «dinner theater» in Minneapolis, where Amy had worked until 1998. This experience gave a lot for her creative development but had a bad impact on her health: the actress had problems with her joints. «My body was wearing out,» – Adams recalls.

Her First Roles in the Movies

While working in Minneapolis, Amy acted in her first movie. It was a black-and-white short satire «The Chromium Hook». After that, she played a cheerleader in the black comedy «Drop Dead Gorgeous» with Kirsten Dunst and Kirstie Alley in the lead roles. The last actress encouraged Amy. Inspired by the words of her experienced colleague, she moved to the capital of cinema, Los Angeles, in January 1999.

The first role of Amy Adams in a movie («Drop Dead Gorgeous»)

In a week, she got the role in a prequel to the sensational drama «Cruel Intentions». Her character began a «bitchy» period in the acting career of Amy: Kathryn Merteuil, a rich and arrogant girl, who heads a secret society of students, bullying beginners, scheming and having feelings to her stepbrother Sebastian. In the first movie, Sarah Michelle Gellar played this character, and Amy was constantly compared with her. At the same time, this movie was worse than the first part.

Amy Adams in the movie «Cruel Intentions 2»

Then Amy played in the comedy slasher «Psycho Beach Party», popular TV series «That '70s Show», «Charmed», «Buffy the Vampire Slayer», «Smallville» and «The West Wing».

In her youth, Amy Adams starred in the popular TV series «Buffy the Vampire Slayer»

The critics complimented the actress for her acting in the drama «Catch Me If You Can» by Steven Spielberg. In their opinion, Amy Adams, who played the naive and frivolous nurse Brenda Strong, a girlfriend of the protagonist, acted as well as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. «My work in this movie was trustworthy,» - the actress says.

«Catch Me If You Can»: Amy Adams in the role of Brenda Strong

But it was not followed with great success in her acting career. Amy was unemployed for almost a year. During this time she realized that she had a lot of work on herself. Her career prospects improved in 2004. She starred in the TV series «Dr. Vegas», but her character was dropped after a few episodes.

The Prosperity of Her Career

The long-awaited breakthrough came in 2005 when Amy Adams got one of the key roles in the low-budget independent drama «Junebug» by Phil Morrison. She had to play the pregnant optimistic woman Ashley, who lives in the house of her husband's parents. Family relationships begin to go bad, but she believes that the birth of a baby will make things go back to the way they were.

Amy Adams was nominated for «Oscar» for her role in «Junebug»

The director was impressed with her ability to not look for hidden reasons for optimism and altruism of her character – she did everything from the heart. For this role, Amy Adams was nominated for «Oscar» for Best Supporting Actress, but in the same year Rachel Vines got this award for her role in «The Constant Gardener».

Quiz: 73 questions for Amy Adams

It did not upset the actress: «The summer I grew into myself.» By the way, she first dyed her hair red for the role and decided not to go back to her natural blonde color.

She is red-haired

Another special noteworthy movie in the filmography of Amy Adams is the fabulous musical «Enchanted» (2007) by Kevin Lima. She was chosen from 300 actresses. Each of the girls, who auditioned for the role, was like a Disney princess, as the creators required, but Amy had «the ability to penetrate into the essence of the character, get used to her, and not to be judgmental about her character’s personality.» Although the producers favored the casting of a famous star for the role of Princess Giselle, Lima insisted on Amy, at the risk of being removed from the project.

Amy Adams in «Enchanted»

The beginning of this movie is the following: the character of Amy lives in a fantasy world and is preparing for her wedding with Prince (James Marsden), but because of the magic she gets to New York, where she falls in love with the lawyer for divorce (Patrick Dempsey). The audience was fascinated by Amy’s inexhaustible optimism in each word of her character.

Amy in the role of Princess Giselle

She also sang three songs for the movie's soundtrack: «True Love's Kiss», «Happy Working Song» and «That's How You Know». «Enchanted» grossed over $ 300 million worldwide, and Amy Adams received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.

Amy Adams - Happy Working Song

After a series of unquestionable successes, Amy got great offers. In 2007, she played a Congressman's assistant in the political tragicomedy «Charlie Wilson's War» with Tom Hanks in the lead role. The critics did not like this movie. They were disappointed that Amy Adams «wasted her talent in the role of minimal importance.» Her following role in the romantic comedy «Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day» was called «a remarkable repetition of the magic that was in «Enchanted.»

Amy Adams is not afraid to be natural

In 2008, she with Emily Blunt impressed the audience of the Sundance Film Festival with the movie «Sunshine Cleaning». It tells the story of two sisters who have the Cleaning Agency that deals with cleaning the crime scenes.

Many critics had noted that after «Junebug» a new milestone was in her work – she often got used in the role of the ingenue – innocent, full of optimism, and hope girls. «Naivety is not stupidity, and innocent people are often very complex,» – Amy says

. Then she starred in the drama «Doubt» with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. For the role of a nurse in the Catholic school, embroiled in a conflict between the strict director and priest, suspected of pedophilia, Amy Adams was nominated for Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award.

The scene from the drama «Doubt»

Adams began the new decade with a lead role opposite Matthew Goode in the romantic comedy «Leap Year». The critic Richard Roeper believed that Amy Adams’s presence saved the movie from «truly awful status» (meanwhile, the audience appreciated it quite high).

Amy Adams and Matthew Goode on the set of the movie «Leap Year»

In «The Fighter» (2010) Amy demonstrated the versatility of her talent: her character Charlene, an aggressive and sexy girlfriend of the boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), had nothing common with a cute girl-next-door image.

«The Fighter» Amy Adams as Charlene Fleming

In 2013, Amy Adams got the role of Lois Lane, a girlfriend of Superman (Henry Cavill) in the movie «Man of Steel» by Zack Snyder. It is interesting that she has twice auditioned for this character in two previous movies of Superman, but the actress has lost out. She played Lois in «Batman V Superman» (2016) and «Justice League» (2017).

Amy Adams became Superman’s girlfriend in 2013

In 2016, she played one of the central characters in the drama «Nocturnal Animals» by Tom Ford. Her character, a rich gallery owner, receives a novel written by her former beloved. The book is a brilliant metaphor for their tragic relations. It immerses a woman in the past.

The scene from the movie «Nocturnal Animals»

Another sensational project of 2016 was the thriller «Arrival», where Amy had to save the world - to interpret the aliens’ message.

«Arrival»: Amy Adams as the linguist Louise Banks

In 2017, the audience again saw Amy Adams as Lois Lane in the new movie «Justice League» by DC Comics.

Amy Adams as Lois Lane

In the same year, she was a producer of the serial thriller «Sharp Objects», in which she played the lead role of the little-known journalist Camilla, who had to investigate the murder of a little girl in her hometown.

«Sharp Objects» is a serial with Amy Adams

Personal Life of Amy Adams

In 2001, during the acting classes, Amy Adams met the young actor Darren Le Gallo. A year later, after their shooting in the short movie «Pennies», they began dating and announced the engagement in 2008. Darren asked Amy to marry him during the shooting in the movie «Julie & Julia».

Amy Adams married to Darren La Gallo

Their daughter, Aviana Olea Le Gallo, was born in May 2010.

Amy Adams and her daughter Aviana

In 2015, Amy and Darren married their daughter’s insistence.

The wedding dress of Amy Adams

Remembering some difficulties at the beginning of her career, Adams supports the students of New York City’s Ghetto Film School. She also sponsors the Trevor Project that helps LGBT teens.

The scene from the movie «Arrival»

In 2013, she released a children's book about the fight against brain cancer and sent earned money to help people with cancer. Moreover, the actress is concerned about the problem of sexually abused children.

Amy Adams Now

At the beginning of 2019, Amy was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the tragicomedy Vice, produced by Brad Pitt. Also in the film were Christian Bale and Sam Rockwell, who also received nominations.

In 2020, with the participation of Amy Adams, two whole premieres will take place. In the thriller "The Woman in the Window", the actress will play the role of Anna Fox, and in the drama "Hillbilly Elegy" - the role of Bev.