Joey Lauren Adams

Joey Lauren Adams
Adams at GalaxyCon Columbus in 2022
Born (1968-01-09) January 9, 1968 (age 56)
Occupation(s)Actress, director
Years active1977–present
Spouse
Brian Vilim
(m. 2014)

Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968)[1][2] is an American actress and director. Adams starred in Chasing Amy, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller roles in other Kevin Smith View Askewniverse films.

Career

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Adams began her film career in 1977 with a small role in Exorcist II: The Heretic. From there she began to find larger roles. In 1991, Adams appeared in "Top of the Heap", the 100th episode of Married... with Children, and subsequently starred in its short-lived spinoff. In 1993, Adams landed her first major film role as Simone in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused. The same year, she appeared in the Saturday Night Live spinoff film Coneheads as one of Connie Conehead's friends.

Two years later, Adams appeared in Mallrats, written and directed by Kevin Smith. The two started dating during the film's post-production, and their relationship provided the inspiration for Smith's next film, Chasing Amy. The relationship did not last long, but ended on friendly terms. Meanwhile, in 1996, while Smith was finalizing the script for Chasing Amy, Adams was cast in the slapstick comedy Bio-Dome, which was directed by Jason Bloom. Adams played Monique, Bud Macintosh's (Pauly Shore) girlfriend.

Adams played a leading role in 1997's Chasing Amy, portraying Alyssa Jones, a lesbian who falls in love with a man, played by Ben Affleck. Later, Smith would describe Chasing Amy as a "sort of penance/valentine" and a "thank-you homage" to Adams.[3] In addition to her acting work on the film, Adams wrote and performed the song "Alive" for the film's soundtrack.

Adams' performance in Chasing Amy earned her both the 1997 Chicago Film Critics Award and Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Most Promising Actress, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. From there, Adams was originally slated to play the female lead in Smith's next film, 1999's Dogma, but Linda Fiorentino ultimately won the role.[4] However, she would later make brief appearances in two other Smith projects: the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and the 2004 animated short Clerks: The Lost Scene, featured on the Clerks X DVD. In both of these appearances, Adams reprises the role of Alyssa Jones.

Her post-Smith projects included playing a spunky veterinarian's assistant who falls in love with a single father (Vince Vaughn) in 1998's A Cool, Dry Place. The following year, Adams appeared in her first big-budget Hollywood release, playing Adam Sandler's love interest in the successful comedy Big Daddy. She then went on to appear in many smaller films, including Beautiful and In the Shadows. In 2005, she had a guest role in an episode of the TV series Veronica Mars.

Also in 2006, Adams released her directorial debut film, Come Early Morning, starring Ashley Judd, Jeffrey Donovan, Diane Ladd, Tim Blake Nelson and Laura Prepon. The film, shot on location in Little Rock, Arkansas, was selected for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

In 2006, she, along with Lian Lunson and Nicole Holofcener, was awarded the Women in Film Dorothy Arzner Directors Award.[5] On November 24, 2009, Interscope Records released Adams' directorial debut for a music video entitled "Belle of the Boulevard" by Dashboard Confessional.

Adams returned to TV in March 2010, on the Showtime series The United States of Tara. She appeared in six episodes as Pammy, a barmaid who falls for Buck, one of the title character's alternate personalities.

Adams is also known for her distinctive voice which one film critic referred to as that of a "sex-kitten-on-helium".[6] Regarding her voice, Adams commented: "It's not a normal voice. It doesn't fit into people's preconceptions about what a woman's voice should sound like. My mom doesn't think I have an unusual voice, though. I'm sure it's helped me get some roles. But Chasing Amy I almost didn't get. There was concern the voice would grate on some people, which some critics said it did."[7] Another film critic said that whether viewers loved it or hated it, her voice had "the potential to hypnotize."[8]

Personal life

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Adams was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, the youngest of three children. Her father was a lumber yard owner.[1] Adams grew up in the Overbrook neighborhood of North Little Rock and graduated from North Little Rock Northeast High School in 1986. She announced her intention to pursue acting after one year as an exchange student in Australia.[8] In a May 7, 1997, appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to promote Chasing Amy, Adams revealed she was a niece to Hee-Haw cast member and ordained minister Grady Nutt.[9]

Adams married Brian Vilim in 2014.[10]

Filmography

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Key
Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1993 Coneheads Christina
1993 Dazed and Confused Simone Kerr
1993 The Program Louanne Winters
1993 The Pros & Cons of Breathing Shirley
1994 Sleep with Me Lauren
1994 S.F.W. Monica Dice
1995 Mallrats Gwen Turner
1996 Bio-Dome Monique
1996 Drawing Flies Hippy Chick
1996 Michael Anita
1997 Chasing Amy Alyssa Jones Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Carmen Llywelyn)
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
1998 A Cool, Dry Place Beth Ward
1999 Big Daddy Layla Maloney Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Comedy
2000 Bruno Donna Marie
2000 Beautiful Ruby
2001 Harvard Man Chesney Cort
2001 Dr. Dolittle 2 Squirrel Voice
2001 Reaching Normal Sarah
2001 In the Shadows Clarissa Huston
2001 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Alyssa Jones
2002 Grand Champion Hallie
2002 Beeper Inspector Julia Hyde
2003 The Big Empty Grace
2004 The Gunman Daphne
2006 The Break-Up Addie Jones
2007 Bunny Whipped Ann
2008 Trucker Jenny Bell
2009 ExTerminators Kim
2010 Endure Sirena Lane
2011 Big Swim The Egg
2011 Apart Dr. Jane Sheppard
2012 The Birthday Present Mom Short film
2012 Mulberry Stains Savannah
2012 Art Machine Prudence
2013 Blue Caprice Jamie
2013 A Country Christmas Renae Logan
2013 She Loves Me Not Beth
2014 Making the Rules Becca
2014 Sequoia Bev
2014 Valley Inn Althea
2014 Animal Vicky
2014 All the Birds Have Flown South Tonya
2019 Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Alyssa Jones
2022 Tankhouse Deirdra
2024 Greedy People Bobette [11]
2025 Oak Mrs. Chase

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1991 Top of the Heap Mona Mullins 7 episodes
1991 Married... with Children Mona Mullins Episode: "Top of the Heap"
1991 Married... with Children Cousin Effie Episode: "Buck Has a Belly Ache"
1992 Vinnie & Bobby Mona Mullins 7 episodes
1992 CBS Schoolbreak Special Dianne Episode: "Words Up!"
1993 Married... with Children Janie Episode: "The Wedding Show"
1995 Love & War Vicky Episode: "Atlantic City"
1995 Out of Order Whitney Episode: "Strange Habit"
1995 Double Rush Dee Dee Episode: "Slamming Into a Car Isn't Good"
1996 Second Noah Darby 5 episodes
1999 Hercules Electra Voice, episode: "Hercules and the Complex Electra"
2003 As Told by Ginger Thea Mipson Episode: "Far from Home"
2003–04 Stripperella Catt Voice, 2 episodes
2005 What's New, Scooby-Doo? Rachel Voice, episode: "A Scooby-Doo Valentine"
2005 Veronica Mars Geena Stafford Episode: "Weapons of Class Destruction"
2009–10 Party Down Diandra Stiltskin 2 episodes
2010 Tough Trade Shawnelle Television film
2010 United States of Tara Pammy 6 episodes
2010 Frenemies Joy Hardwick Unsold TV pilot
2012 Supermoms Kelly Unsold TV pilot
2013–14 Switched at Birth Jeniece Papagus 4 episodes
2015 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Tracy McConnell Episode: "Sledgehammer"
2016–17 Still the King Debbie Lynn Cooke 26 episodes
2022 The L Word: Generation Q Taylor 3 episodes

References

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  1. ^ a b Slotek, Jim (August 17, 1999). "She Can Speak Hollywoodese Baby-Voiced Joey Lauren Adams Has Learned That Money Talks". The Toronto Sun. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Postmedia Network. "I thought after Chasing Amy, I would be able to do anything I want, which definitely wasn't the case," the 31-year-old actress says.
  2. ^ Thompson, Bob (July 28, 2000). "The Naughty Professor Adams Leaves Her 'Nice Girl' Image Behind With Harvard Man". The Toronto Sun. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Postmedia Network. That's what the 32-year-old Adams was doing this week while shooting James Toback's film, Harvard Man, at the Jarvis St. high school auditorium.
  3. ^ Kevin Smith (June 27, 2000). "The Hows and Whys of Chasing Amy". Chasing Amy (DVD) (2000 ed.). The Criterion Collection.
  4. ^ Smith, Kevin. "In The Beginning... The Story of Dogma". Liner note essay for the Dogma DVD. Columbia TriStar
  5. ^ "Past Recipients". Women in Film. Archived from the original on June 30, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  6. ^ Flint Marx, Rebecca (2012). "Joey Lauren Adams". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
  7. ^ Slotek, Jim (August 17, 1999). "She can speak Hollywoodese". Jam! Showbiz. Canoe.ca. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ a b Barnett Reed, Jennifer (June 2, 2005). "A friend in low places". Arkansas Times. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  9. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Joey Lauren Adams on Jay Leno (1997)". YouTube.
  10. ^ "Happily Ever After". Invitation Oxford. February 28, 2015. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  11. ^ Hammond, Pete (August 21, 2024). "'Greedy People' Review: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Loopy Cop Tops Black Comedy That Somehow Escaped The Coens' Grasp". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
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