The story of the transition from ballerina to award-winning acting: Who is Amy Adams?

Her full name is Amy Lou Adams, she was born on August 20, 1974 in Vicenza, Italy. She was born to her mother Kathryn and father Richard Adams. Adams has four brothers and two sisters. She moved to Castle Rock, Colorado, with her family when she was eight years old. After leaving the army, her father began singing professionally in nightclubs and restaurants. The financial situation of her family was not very good, Adams set up camp and hiked with her family and starred in amateur sketches written by her father or sometimes her mother.

Her parents divorced in 1985, after which her father moved to Arizona and remarried. Adams stayed with her mother with her siblings. Her mother, a semi-professional bodybuilder, used to take her kids to the gym while she trained. Attending Douglas County High School, Adams was interested in the creative arts and sang in the school choir. Also interested in athletics and gymnastics, Adams wanted to become a ballerina and trained as an apprentice at the David Taylor Dance Company. Adams, who moved to Atlanta with her mother after graduation, did not go to college despite her family's wishes.

Adams gave up being a ballerina at the age of 18, finding musical theater more to her liking. To support herself, she worked as a receptionist at a Gap store and as a waitress at Hooters.

She began her professional career in 1994 as a dancer in a dinner production of "A Chorus Line" in Colorado. She later performed at the Heritage Square Music Hall and Country Dinner Playhouse theater in Denver. In 1995, during her performance, she was noticed by artistic director Michael Brindisi and offered a job there. So Adams moved to Chanhassen, Minnesota, where she played in theater for the next three years.

She later appeared in the satirical Hollywood film "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (1999) starring Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin and Kirstie Alley. With encouragement from Alley, Adams actively considered pursuing a film career and moved to Los Angeles in January 1999.

Her debut came within a week of Kathryn Merteuil's replacement in the lead role in the Fox television series "Manchester Prep," a spin-off of the Cruel Intentions movie. After numerous script revisions and two production halts, the series was halted and cancelled. The three episodes shot were remastered and released in 2000 as a direct-to-video movie "Cruel Intentions 2". Despite negative reviews, Adams' performance was appreciated. She then starred as a movie star's teenage nemesis in "Psycho Beach Party"(2000), a horror parody of the beach party and slasher movies. From 2000 to 2002, Adams made guest appearances on several television series.

In 2002, she played nurse Brenda Strong in her first high-profile role in the comedy-drama film "Catch Me If You Can," directed by Steven Spielberg. The film gained her confidence, but despite the film's success and critical acclaim, she was unable to advance her career. Unemployed for a year after its release, Adams nearly decided to quit acting in movies. Instead, she signed up for acting classes and wanted to improve herself.

Adams, 30, landed the role of Ashley Johnsten in the indie comedy-drama film "Junebug" directed by Phil Morrison. The film, which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, won Adams a special jury award. She also won an Independent Spirit Award and a Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. Additionally, she earned an Academy Award nomination in the same category. In late 2005, Adams appeared in the romantic comedy film "The Wedding Date" with Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney, and in the coming-of-age romantic comedy "Standing Still." The following year, she appeared in Adam McKay's sports comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby"(2006). She also had a small role in the workplace comedy "The Ex" starring Zach Braff and Amanda Peet.

The following year, she played a character named Giselle in the musical romantic comedy film "Enchanted," after giving voice to the Walt Disney Pictures animated comedy "Underdog" (2007). While her performance in the latter was praised, it was considered Adams' breakthrough role. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress - Comedy or Motion Picture Musical. The movie was a box office success, earning over $340 million worldwide. Later that year, she appeared as assistant Bonnie Bach in Mike Nichols' political comedy-drama film "Charlie Wilson's War" (2007), alongside Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Her performance received mixed reviews.

She co-starred with Emily Blunt in "Sunshine Clean," a comedy-drama about two sisters starting a crime scene cleanup business, released at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Both he and the critics liked her performance. That same year, she appeared as an aspiring American actress in the crazy comedy "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" set in 1939. Adams later starred as an innocent nun in the drama film "Doubt" (2008), based on John Patrick Shanley's play of the same name. Gaining praise for her performance and continuing to make her name known, Adams was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress.

The following year, she starred as aviator Amelia Earhart in the fantasy adventure movie "Night at the Museum: The Smithsonian War", directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ben Stiller. Although the film received mixed reviews, Adams' performance was praised. That same year, Adams portrayed disgruntled government secretary Julie Powell in the comedy-drama film "Julie & Julia," with Meryl Streep. Both films were commercial successes, with the first film grossing over $400 million.

In 2010, she starred alongside Matthew Goode in the romantic comedy film "Leap Year" (2010), directed by Anand Tucker. Critics reported that her performance in this film stopped Adams from going bad. Her next movie of the year was in the boxing drama "The Fighter" directed by David O. Russell, with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, which was much better received. Her performance earned her Oscar Award, Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress.

She appeared alongside Jason Segel in live-action roles in the Disney musical film of the same name, "The Muppets"(2011), starring puppets. She also sang seven songs for the soundtrack of the movie. The following year, Adams played Baker's Wife in a reenactment of Stephen Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods" at the open-air Delacorte Theatre. This was her first stage debut in New York, as well as her first theatrical debut in 13 years. She prepared for the role with a dedicated singing coach, but only stayed four weeks in production and received mixed reactions with her performance.

The following year, Adams portrayed Peggy Dodd as a tough woman in Paul Thomas Anderson's psychological drama film "The Master. In the film, she co-starred with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joanquin Phoenix. She was praised for her role and performance. She earned Oscar Award, Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA Award nominations. That same year, she played Clint Eastwood's unseen daughter of a baseball scout in the sports drama "Trouble with the Curve." She prepared for the role by learning to catch, throw, and swing from a baseball coach. The film received critical acclaim and praised Adams' portrayal.

Adams landed the role of Lois Lane in Zack Snyder's 2013 remake of "Man of Steel," starring Henry Cavill as the superhero. The movie became one of the biggest box office grosses with its revenue. After that, she appeared in writer-director Spike Jonze's drama "Her" about a lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with an artificial intelligence (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). That same year, she starred in David O. Russell's black comedy detective film "American Hustle" with Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. The critically acclaimed film was also successful at the box office. For her performance, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical and received her fifth Academy Award nomination. Her films "Her" and "American Hustle" in 2013 were selected as among the best films of 2013 by the critics.

The following year, she appeared in "Big Eyes" (2014), a biopic of troubled artist Margaret Keane, whose "big-eyed orphans" paintings were stolen by her husband, Walter Keane. Adams, who did painting work in preparation for her role, also followed the way Keane worked. For her performance, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical and received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress.

After a year off screen, she reprized her role in the sequel "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice". Despite receiving negative reviews, the film has grossed over $870 million, making it the highest-grossing film to date. Her next movie came as Louise Banks in the science fiction drama "Arrival" directed by Denis Villeneuve, alongside Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg and Tzi Ma. The film was a box office success and became one of the most acclaimed films of Adams' career. She also earned Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award nominations for Best Actress for her performance. She then co-starred with Jake Gyllenhaal in Tom Ford's psychological thriller "Nocturnal Animals" based on a novel. Her performance in both was critically acclaimed.

Later, she played Lois Lane again in "Justice League" (2017), an ensemble film about famous superheroes. The film starred alongside Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, and Ray Fisher. The film, which received generally mixed reviews, was referred to as a box office bomb.

Adams returned to television in 2018 with "Sharp Objects," an HBO miniseries based on the thriller novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn, and was involved in the production as Camille Preaker, a reporter, and executive producer. Gaining weight for the role, Adams was given three hours of prosthetic make-up to create her character's scarred body during filming. Both the series and Adams' performance were highly appreciated. Her performance earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series. That same year, Adams reunited with Christian Bale in Adam McKay's political satire "Vice" (2018). She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for her performances.

She also appeared with Glenn Close in the drama "Hillbilly Elegy"(2020), based on J.D.Vance's book of the same name. The film received negative reviews from critics and praised Adams' performance. Her performance earned her a nomination for the SAG Best Actress Award. She later appeared as an agoraphobic murder witness in Joe Wright's thriller "The Woman in the Window," based on the novel of the same name. Due to some troubles, it was released on Netflix in 2021. She later appeared in the supporting role of a grieving mother in "Dear Evan Hansen," the film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. The last two films were poorly received.

Adams made her West End theater debut in 2022 as Amanda in a remake of "The Glass Menagerie" at Duke of York's Theatre. The play received mixed reviews and Adams' performance was praised. She later reprized the role of Giselle in the sequel "Disenchanted", which premiered on Disney+. She also sang six songs for the soundtrack she.

In 2019, Adams and her manager Stacy O'Neil formed their own production company, "Bond Group Entertainment". The company has several literary adaptations in development, including a film adaptation of the satirical novel "Nightbitch" (2021), starring Adams.

Private life

In 2001, Adams met actor and painter Darren Le Gallo. They started dating a year later. The couple got engaged in 2008 and had a daughter named Aviana in 2010. Seven years after their engagement, the couple married in a private ceremony on a ranch in California. Adams lives with her family in Beverly Hills, California.

She often sings when she is stressed at work. She also provides material and moral support to institutions, organizations, associations and communities in various categories and fields. Her favorite exercise is yoga and she is interested in needlework.

Forbes magazine named Adams among the world's highest-paid actresses, with earnings in 2014, 2016, and 2017. The magazine ranked her on its annual "Celebrity 100" list in 2014, as well as among the most powerful actresses in the industry. She was also named one of the "100 most influential people in the world" by Time magazine that year. Additionally, she earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017.

She was named one of "America's Most Beautiful People" by Elle magazine in 2011. In 2012, she appeared in an advertisement for 'Eau de Lacoste', the fragrance of the Lacoste brand. Two years later she designed the accessories and handbags of the Max Mara brand she. In 2015, she collaborated with the same brand to design and promote a line of handbags.