American television and movie actress and singer Amy Adams is best remembered for her performance in the Disney movie Enchanted in 2007. Although she made her acting debut in 1999 with the movie Drop Dead Gorgeous, her breakthrough came with the 2005 independent movie Junebug, where she played the role of a young pregnant woman, winning her her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Some of her most notable works include Catch Me If You Can (2002), Doubt (2008), Man of Steel (2013), Her (2013), American Hustle (2013), and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Apart from acting only in movies, Adams has been a part of television, and has appeared in either single or multiple episodes of various shows such as That '70s Show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Vegas, and The Office.
Early Life
Born to Kathryn Adams and U. S. Army veteran Richard Adams on the 20th of August, 1974 in Veneto, Italy, Amy Adams in fourth of the seven children. As a child, Adams kept moving from place-to-place given her father’s transferable job. However, when she turned eight, her family and she settled down in Castle Rock, Colorado, where she studied at the Douglas County High School. While in school, she was a part of the school choir and also took up an apprenticeship at a local dance school, hoping she’d grow up to become a professional ballerina. Adams chose to pursue her dream to become a dancer over a college degree, a decision she regrets making.
Her parents divorced in 1985 after which she moved to Atlanta with her mother. She then realized that ballerina was not meant for her and became a part of musical theater. Upon turning eighteen, she took up a job at GAP, where worked as a greeter while she parallelly performed in community theater. Following her job at GAP, she took up a full-time job of a hostess at Hooters, an American restaurant chain. In 1995, she began dancing professionally at Boulder's Dinner Theatre, Country Dinner Playhouse and Heritage Square Music Hall. She then moved to Minnesota in 1997, where she worked at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres for the three years.
Personal Life
Amy Adams met actor and artist Darren Le Gallo in acting class and soon started dating him. Seven years after dating, the two got engaged in 2008 and soon the two became parents to their daughter Aviana Olea Le Gallo in 2010. The two then got married in 2015.
Movie Career
Owing to a pulled muscle, Adams had to refrain from performing for a year, which is when she auditioned for the 1999 satirical comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous as was cast for the role. Following a rather sloppy debut, she was seen in a number of movies such as Psycho Beach Party, The Slaughter Rule, and Serving Sara, none of which were significant roles. Despite her insignificant roles, she was cast in Steven Spielberg’s 2002 biographical crime film Catch Me If You Can co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Even after being cast in a Steven Spielberg movie, with the director showing faith in the budding actress, she remained jobless for a year after that.
Her breakthrough, however, came with the low-budget independent movie Junebug, where she played the role of a young and ever-enthusiastic pregnant woman. The movie premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and Adams’ performance was very well-received with her winning a Special Jury Prize for her performance. Despite the movie having limited audience, the actress went on to win several accolades such as the National Society of Film Critics Award and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also won nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award. Following her performance in Junebug, she was seen in the 2006 sports comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby alongside Will Ferrell, the Disney musical fantasy romantic comedy Enchanted, which won her several award nominations for Best Actress, and the 2008 romantic comedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
She then starred alongside Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Viola Davis in the 2008 movie adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s play titled Doubt. Despite her performance being criticized by many, a few critics appreciated her work and she went to win Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and British Academy Film Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. Reuniting with Meryl Streep, Adams for seen in the 2009 comedy drama Julia & Julie in 2009. Following this, she starred opposite Ben Stiller in the movie fantasy comedy Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, which topped the box-office in the U. S. on its opening weekend, beating the Christian Bale and Sam Worthington-starred Terminator Salvation. Although the movie received mixed to average reviews, it was Adams’ performance that garnered immense praise from the critics.
Shedding the delicate, good girl image, Adams was seen in the 2010 biographical sports drama film The Fighter alongside Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo. Playing the role of Charlene Fleming, Adams’ character was sexy, aggressive and gritty, which was different from the other roles portrayed by the actor. Her performance won her various nominations such as the BAFTA Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globe, and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Despite being nominated a number of times and receiving various awards in the past, Adams’ most notable work is considered to be the 2012 psychological drama The Master where she is seen playing the role of Peggy Dodd, a cold-hearted and manipulative woman. Cast alongside Joaquin Phoenix, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Adams’ performance was incredibly well-received by the critics and the actor received Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA Award nominations for her work.
In 2013, the actor was seen in the comic book reboot film Man of Steel, based on the popular DC character Superman, opposite Henry Cavill, where she played the love interest of Clark Kent/Superman Lois Lane. The movie went on to become one of the highest-grossing movies of the year. Next, she was cast alongside Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Christian Bale in the criminal black-comedy American Hustle. Winning yet again a number of award nominations, Adams was seen playing the role of a con artist who is a former stripper. Her performance was lauded by the critics with her winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.
The following year, in 2014, she starred in Tim Burton’s biographical film Big Eyes, based on the life artist Margaret Keane, who painted and drew portraits of people, however, magnified their eyes, and her husband Walter Keane, who took credit for her work. While she was nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress, she went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Comedy or Musical. In 2016, she reprised her role of Lois Lane in the superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. She also appeared alongside Jeremy Renner in the science fiction drama Arrival where she plays the role of Dr. Louise, a linguistic expert, and attempts to communicate with aliens. Her other project for the year includes the Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer neo-noir psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals.
Television Career
Soon after making her movie debut in 1999, Adams was cast in Fox TV’s spin-off of the movie Cruel Intentions titled Manchester Prep. Since the show was not well-received, it was cancelled and the last episodes were released as a direct-to-video film Cruel Intentions 2 in 2000. She then appeared in single episodes of shows such as That '70s Show, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The West Wing. She, however, has had recurring appearances in the shows Dr. Vegas, The Office, and in HBO’s Sharp Objects.
Singing Career
Although Adams has had an elaborate acting career, she has sung songs for few of her movies such as Enchanted, singing three of its songs, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, singing one track, and The Muppets, again singing three songs.