Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1974) is an Academy Award-nominated American film and television actress.
Adams was born in Vicenza, Italy to American parents Kathryn and Richard Adams, a U.S. serviceman stationed in Italy. She was raised as one of seven children in a Mormon family in Castle Rock, Colorado and attended Douglas County High School. While working at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater in Minnesota, she was discovered by a movie producer. Shortly after she was cast in her first comedic role in the 1999 satire Drop Dead Gorgeous.
Adams has appeared in the films Cruel Intentions 2 (2000), Catch Me If You Can (2002) and Talladega Nights (2006). She has also guest-starred in such television shows as The Office, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, The West Wing, Dr. Vegas and Smallville. She has also done small films, such as Psycho Beach Party.
Adams has received critical acclaim for her role in the 2005 film Junebug. Among the awards she has won for the role are the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the National Society of Film Critics award for "Best Supporting Actress", the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture. In January 2006, Adams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role.
Adams appeared in the comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, released on August 4, 2006, and will appear in the fantasy film, Enchanted, which will be released in November 2007. She is filming "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" in London.
Adams has dated actor Darren LeGallo for three and a half years. When her Oscar nomination was announced, her mother, who at the time was working in a Starbucks in Castle Rock, yelled out "'My daughter was just nominated for an Oscar!" at the Starbucks.
