Alison Brie

Alison Brie emerged as one of Hollywood's most sought-after television actresses by simultaneously playing two very different roles on two very different series: an earnest and somewhat naive coed on eccentric cult comedy "Community" (NBC, 2009-14; Yahoo!, 2015) and the betrayed suburban wife of a 1960s advertising executive on the critically acclaimed drama "Mad Men" (AMC, 2007-15). Her remarkable flair for both comedy and drama proved that she was ready to tackle ever more exciting and higher profile roles. Alison Brie Schermerhorn was born on Dec. 29, 1983 in Pasadena, CA. She started performing at a young age, mostly at the Jewish Community Center in nearby Los Feliz. After Brie graduated from South Pasadena High School in 2001, she studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where she received a degree in drama. While pursuing her degree, Brie also attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. After college, she continued to stage act while simultaneously going after TV and film roles. In 2006, she guest starred as a novice hairdresser on the popular series "Hannah Montana" (Disney 2006-2010). For her next project, Brie starred on "My Alibi" (ABC Family, 2008-09), based on the popular Web series that followed a group of high school kids who pull a large prank during first period and are locked up in one room until someone in the group confesses. With only a few acting credits to her name, Brie nabbed a juicy part on "Mad Men," a stylish drama set in the 1960s that followed a chain-smoking, hard-drinking, womanizing executive (Jon Hamm) at one of Manhattan's top advertising agencies. She played the tightly-wound Trudy Campbell, wife of junior executive Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser). Brie's role on the critically acclaimed drama series led to her being cast on "Community," an ensemble comedy about a group of misfits at a community college in Colorado led by Joel McHale as a lawyer whose license was revoked and is now forced to return to school to earn a legitimate diploma. Brie's role as Annie Edison, a straight-laced student who has just started exploring her wild side, landed her a spot on numerous "Sexiest Celebrity" lists and showcased a quirky, energetic comic persona. In 2011, she used her newly acquired fame to land a role as an overly ambitious personal assistant in the successful horror franchise "Scream 4," which brought back to the fold many of the original film's cast members, including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette. She next starred in romantic comedy "Save the Date" (2012) and landed supporting roles in "The Five-Year Engagement" (2012), indie coming of age comedy-drama "The Kings of Summer" (2013) and animated hit "The Lego Movie" (2014). Brie starred opposite Jason Sudeikis in romantic comedy "Sleeping With Other People" (2015) and was the female lead in Will Ferrell-Kevin Hart comedy "Get Hard" (2015). As both "Community" and "Mad Men" wound down, Brie took on a recurring voice role as Diane Nguyen in animated comedy "BoJack Horseman" (Netflix 2014- ) and served as executive producer on the sitcom "Teachers" (TV Land 2016- ). On the big screen, she co-starred in romantic comedy "How To Be Single" (2016) and indie drama "A Family Man" (2016) before co-starring opposite Aubrey Plaza and Kate Micucci as a reluctant nun in the comedy "The Little Hours" (2017), set in a 14th-century Italian convent. That same year, she returned to television as the star of "GLOW" (Netflix 2017- ), a comedy-drama set in the real-life "Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling" circuit of the 1980s.