Amy Adams

Amy Lou Adams is an American actress born on August 20, 1974, in Aviano, Italy. Known for both comedic and dramatic roles, she has been featured three times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actresses. Over her career, she has earned two Golden Globe Awards and received nominations for six Academy Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2014, she was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time and was featured on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list.

Adams was born to American parents, Kathryn and Richard Adams, while her father served in the United States Army. She grew up in a Mormon family as the middle child of seven siblings. After moving between army bases, her family settled in Castle Rock, Colorado, when she was eight years old. Following her parents' divorce in 1985, the family left the church, and Adams remained with her mother. She attended Douglas County High School, where she sang in the choir and trained in track, gymnastics, and dance. At age 18, she realized she was not gifted enough to become a professional ballerina and shifted her focus toward musical theater.

Beginning her professional career in 1994 as a dinner theater dancer in Colorado and Minnesota, Adams made her feature film debut with a supporting role in the dark comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous in 1999. Encouraged to pursue film acting, she relocated to Los Angeles that same year. She appeared in television guest roles and low-budget films before securing her first major role in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can in 2002. Despite this opportunity, she was unemployed for a year afterward. Her critical breakthrough arrived with the independent comedy-drama Junebug in 2005, where her portrayal of a cheerful pregnant woman earned her a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival and her first Academy Award nomination.

Adams achieved commercial success in her first leading role playing Giselle in Disney's musical romantic comedy Enchanted in 2007, earning a Golden Globe nomination. She followed this success with performances in films such as Charlie Wilson's War, Sunshine Cleaning, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, and Doubt. Expanding into more assertive dramatic roles, she garnered positive reviews for her performances in the sports film The Fighter in 2010 and the psychological drama The Master in 2012.

From 2013 to 2017, Adams portrayed Lois Lane in superhero films set in the DC Extended Universe. She won consecutive Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress for playing a con artist in the crime film American Hustle in 2013 and painter Margaret Keane in the biopic Big Eyes in 2014. Her subsequent screen credits include the science fiction film Arrival in 2016, the political satire Vice in 2018, and the HBO miniseries Sharp Objects in 2018. Adams has also performed on stage, starring in a Public Theater production of Into the Woods in 2012 and a West End revival of The Glass Menagerie in 2022.