Kristen Bell Discovered Her Comedic Chops During Veronica Mars
Warner Bros. Television By Jenna Busch/Dec. 8, 2022 4:43 pm EST
Back in 2004, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” had ended, and fans were ready for another female character who was clever, capable of dealing with difficult circumstances, and prone to quipping snarkily at villains. Viewers soon found her in Veronica Mars. Played by Kristen Bell, Veronica had been through hell after being assaulted and the death of her best friend, Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried). Her father, the town sheriff (Enrico Colantoni), accused the wrong man, and all of a sudden, Veronica was on the outs with the rich and popular crowd at her high school.
As such, Veronica began acting as the school’s private investigator, all while dealing with mysteries in her own life. Add in a love/hate/chemistry-filled relationship with Lilly’s former boyfriend, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), and you have a recipe for a cult hit that was still so popular years later that it was brought back as a crowdfunded movie and then another season of the show. Kristen Bell has gone on to be a part of a few things you might have heard of, like voicing the role of Anna in “Frozen” and “Frozen II,” “Gossip Girl,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” and “The Good Place.” Her comedic timing is pretty flawless, too. In a 2020 video interview with Vanity Fair where she broke down her career, Bell said she actually discovered her comedic chops while working on “Veronica Mars.”
‘These beautiful sassy one-liners’
Warner Bros Television
As Kristen Bell explained in the interview, she felt like she had “earned her stripes” during “Veronica Mars,” commuting back and forth each week from San Diego — where the show was shot in its early seasons — to Los Angeles, where she lived at the time. It also helped her develop her comedy skills, despite being a series that deals with some dark subject matter:
“‘Veronica Mars’ was kind of where I discovered that I could do comedy because prior to that, I was doing guest stars on TV shows, and there were all really dark roles, and I was very much into acting, and they just wrote these beautiful, sassy one-liners on ‘Veronica Mars’ that were the things you wish you said. Like when you get in bed at night and you sort of punch yourself and go, ‘Oh, I should have said that to that guy. That would have been the perfect zinger.’ “That was the language Veronica Mars spoke in, so it was very empowering to play this girl that was wise beyond her years and always fought for the underdog. I think I discovered a lot about my personality and who I wanted to be through playing Veronica.”
Veronica’s banter with her father is still some of the best in film and TV history, giving us madcap comedy vibes that bring to mind “His Girl Friday” and “The Princess Bride.” In a 2019 interview with GMA, Bell said, “It feels like this will be on my tombstone as one of the best parts of my life that I get to play this character that I, personally, love so much.” She added that she would be willing to portray Veronica “until [the show] becomes ‘Murder, She Wrote.’”
Kristen Bell Discovered Her Comedic Chops During Veronica Mars
Warner Bros. Television
By Jenna Busch/Dec. 8, 2022 4:43 pm EST
Back in 2004, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” had ended, and fans were ready for another female character who was clever, capable of dealing with difficult circumstances, and prone to quipping snarkily at villains. Viewers soon found her in Veronica Mars. Played by Kristen Bell, Veronica had been through hell after being assaulted and the death of her best friend, Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried). Her father, the town sheriff (Enrico Colantoni), accused the wrong man, and all of a sudden, Veronica was on the outs with the rich and popular crowd at her high school.
As such, Veronica began acting as the school’s private investigator, all while dealing with mysteries in her own life. Add in a love/hate/chemistry-filled relationship with Lilly’s former boyfriend, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), and you have a recipe for a cult hit that was still so popular years later that it was brought back as a crowdfunded movie and then another season of the show. Kristen Bell has gone on to be a part of a few things you might have heard of, like voicing the role of Anna in “Frozen” and “Frozen II,” “Gossip Girl,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” and “The Good Place.” Her comedic timing is pretty flawless, too. In a 2020 video interview with Vanity Fair where she broke down her career, Bell said she actually discovered her comedic chops while working on “Veronica Mars.”
As such, Veronica began acting as the school’s private investigator, all while dealing with mysteries in her own life. Add in a love/hate/chemistry-filled relationship with Lilly’s former boyfriend, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), and you have a recipe for a cult hit that was still so popular years later that it was brought back as a crowdfunded movie and then another season of the show.
Kristen Bell has gone on to be a part of a few things you might have heard of, like voicing the role of Anna in “Frozen” and “Frozen II,” “Gossip Girl,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” and “The Good Place.” Her comedic timing is pretty flawless, too. In a 2020 video interview with Vanity Fair where she broke down her career, Bell said she actually discovered her comedic chops while working on “Veronica Mars.”
‘These beautiful sassy one-liners’
Warner Bros Television
As Kristen Bell explained in the interview, she felt like she had “earned her stripes” during “Veronica Mars,” commuting back and forth each week from San Diego — where the show was shot in its early seasons — to Los Angeles, where she lived at the time. It also helped her develop her comedy skills, despite being a series that deals with some dark subject matter:
“‘Veronica Mars’ was kind of where I discovered that I could do comedy because prior to that, I was doing guest stars on TV shows, and there were all really dark roles, and I was very much into acting, and they just wrote these beautiful, sassy one-liners on ‘Veronica Mars’ that were the things you wish you said. Like when you get in bed at night and you sort of punch yourself and go, ‘Oh, I should have said that to that guy. That would have been the perfect zinger.’ “That was the language Veronica Mars spoke in, so it was very empowering to play this girl that was wise beyond her years and always fought for the underdog. I think I discovered a lot about my personality and who I wanted to be through playing Veronica.”
Veronica’s banter with her father is still some of the best in film and TV history, giving us madcap comedy vibes that bring to mind “His Girl Friday” and “The Princess Bride.” In a 2019 interview with GMA, Bell said, “It feels like this will be on my tombstone as one of the best parts of my life that I get to play this character that I, personally, love so much.” She added that she would be willing to portray Veronica “until [the show] becomes ‘Murder, She Wrote.’”
Veronica’s banter with her father is still some of the best in film and TV history, giving us madcap comedy vibes that bring to mind “His Girl Friday” and “The Princess Bride.” In a 2019 interview with GMA, Bell said, “It feels like this will be on my tombstone as one of the best parts of my life that I get to play this character that I, personally, love so much.” She added that she would be willing to portray Veronica “until [the show] becomes ‘Murder, She Wrote.’”
“‘Veronica Mars’ was kind of where I discovered that I could do comedy because prior to that, I was doing guest stars on TV shows, and there were all really dark roles, and I was very much into acting, and they just wrote these beautiful, sassy one-liners on ‘Veronica Mars’ that were the things you wish you said. Like when you get in bed at night and you sort of punch yourself and go, ‘Oh, I should have said that to that guy. That would have been the perfect zinger.’
“That was the language Veronica Mars spoke in, so it was very empowering to play this girl that was wise beyond her years and always fought for the underdog. I think I discovered a lot about my personality and who I wanted to be through playing Veronica.”
‘I hope we’re still friends after I taser you’
“Veronica Mars” seasons 1-4 are currently streaming on Hulu.
