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 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 is the fourth of the seven children. As a child, Adams kept moving from place-to-place given her father`s job. However, when she turned eight, her family and she settled down in Castle Rock, Colorado. While in school, she was in 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 ballet was not meant for her and joined musical theater. At eighteen, she took up a job at GAP, and after that 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. They tied the knot 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 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. 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. Despite being cast in a Steven Spielberg movie, she didn`t get a role for a year after that.
Her breakthrough 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 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. Adams` performance garnered immense praise from the critics.
Shedding the delicate, good girl image, Adams was seen in the 2010 biographical sports drama
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 nominations for the BAFTA Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globe, and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. 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, she 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.
The following year, in 2014, she starred in
Tim Burton`s biographical film
Big Eyes, based on the life of artist Margaret Keane, who painted and drew portraits of people with 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
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. She also appeared alongside
Jeremy Renner in the science fiction drama
Arrival where she plays Dr. Louise, a linguistic expert, and attempts to communicate with aliens. Her other project for the year include the
Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer neo-noir psychological thriller
Nocturnal Animals.
In 2017, Adams reprised her role as Lois Lane for the third time in Justice League. She paired with Christian Bale again for
Vice (2018), a biographical film on the former US Vice President Dick Cheney, and his wife, Lynne. It was followed up by the Netflix drama
Hillbilly Elegy (2020). Her 2021 releases include
The Woman in the Window and
Zack Snyder`s Justice League.
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 has also had recurring appearances in the shows Dr. Vegas and The Office. More recently, she won acclaim for her leading role in HBO`s crime drama 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.