Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968) is an American actress and director. Adams starred in Chasing Amy, for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller roles in other Kevin Smith View Askewniverse films.
Career Adams was born to Karen Bonner and Lyle Adams in North Little Rock, Arkansas. She has two older siblings and grew up going to Park Hill Baptist Church in North Little Rock. In 1991, she appeared in "Top of the Heap", the 100th episode of Married... with Children, and then starred in its short-lived spinoff. In 1993, Adams landed her first major film role as Simone in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused. In the same year, she appeared in the Saturday Night Live spinoff film Coneheads as one of Connie Conehead's friends. Two years later, Adams appeared in Mallrats, written and directed by Kevin Smith. The two dated during the film's post-production, and their relationship provided the inspiration for Smith's next film, Chasing Amy. The relationship did not last long but ended on friendly terms. Meanwhile, in 1996, while Smith was finalizing the script for Chasing Amy, Adams was cast in the slapstick comedy Bio-Dome, which was directed by Jason Bloom. Adams played Monique, Bud Macintosh's (Pauly Shore's) girlfriend.
Adams played a leading role in 1997's Chasing Amy, portraying Alyssa Jones, a lesbian who falls in love with Ben Affleck's character. Later, Smith said that Chasing Amy was a "sort of penance/valentine" and a "thank-you homage" to Adams. In addition to acting in the film, Adams wrote and performed the song "Alive" for the film's soundtrack. Kelly Adams, an older sister of Joey's, was her assistant on the set of Chasing Amy. Their mother, Karen Bonner, insisted that Joey live in San Diego with a friend of the family's at first, before moving to Los Angeles.
Joey Adams' performance in Chasing Amy earned her both the 1997 Chicago Film Critics Award and Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Most Promising Actress, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. From there, Adams was originally slated to play the female lead in Smith's next film, 1999's Dogma, but Linda Fiorentino ultimately won the role.Smith, Kevin. "In The Beginning... The Story of Dogma". Liner note essay for the Dogma DVD. Columbia TriStar However, she would later make brief appearances in two other Smith projects: the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and the 2004 animated short Clerks: The Lost Scene, featured on the Clerks X DVD. In both of these appearances, Adams reprises the role of Alyssa Jones. Her post-Smith projects included playing a spunky veterinarian's assistant who falls in love with a single father (Vince Vaughn) in 1998's A Cool, Dry Place. The next year, Adams appeared in her first big-budget Hollywood release, playing Adam Sandler's love interest in the successful comedy Big Daddy. She then appeared in many smaller films, including Beautiful and In the Shadows. In 2005, she had a guest role in an episode of the TV series Veronica Mars.
In 2006, Adams released her directorial debut film, Come Early Morning, starring Ashley Judd, Jeffrey Donovan, Diane Ladd, Tim Blake Nelson and Laura Prepon. The film, shot on location in Little Rock, Arkansas, was selected for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Also in 2006, she along with Lian Lunson and Nicole Holofcener, was awarded the Women in Film Dorothy Arzner Directors Award. On November 24, 2009, Interscope Records released Adams' directorial debut for a music video entitled "Belle of the Boulevard" by Dashboard Confessional. Adams returned to TV in March 2010, on the Showtime series The United States of Tara. She appeared in six episodes as Pammy, a barmaid who falls for Buck, one of the title character's alternate personalities.
Adams is known for her distinctive voice which one film critic referred to as that of a "sex-kitten-on-helium". Regarding her voice, Adams commented, "It's not a normal voice. It doesn't fit into people's preconceptions about what a woman's voice should sound like. My mom doesn't think I have an unusual voice, though. I'm sure it's helped me get some roles. But Chasing Amy I almost didn't get. There was concern the voice would grate on some people, which some critics said it did." Another film critic said that whether viewers loved it or hated it, her voice had "the potential to hypnotize."
Personal life Adams was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, the youngest of three children. Her father was a lumber yard owner. Adams grew up in the Overbrook neighborhood and graduated from North Little Rock Northeast High School in 1986. She announced her intention to pursue acting after one year as an exchange student in Australia. In a May 7, 1997, appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to promote Chasing Amy, Adams revealed she was a niece to Hee-Haw cast member and ordained minister Grady Nutt.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Adams and Brian Vilim, a cinematographer, married at Adams' friends' farm in Maumelle, Arkansas in 2014.
Before her marriage, Adams was famously linked to filmmaker Kevin Smith in the mid-1990s after they met on the set of Mallrats. Though they split up in 1997, Smith later credited Adams—who served as his muse for Chasing Amy—with profoundly shaping his personal growth and preparing him for his own long-term marriage. She also briefly dated actor Vince Vaughn in 1998.
Filmography +Key Denotes productions that have not yet been released Film Year Title Role Notes1993ConeheadsChristina1993Dazed and ConfusedSimone Kerr1993Louanne Winters1993Shirley1994Sleep with MeLauren1994S.F.W.Monica Dice1995MallratsGwen Turner1996Bio-DomeMonique1996Drawing FliesHippy Chick1996MichaelAnita1997Chasing AmyAlyssa JonesChicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising ActressNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Carmen Llywelyn)Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance1998Beth Ward1999Big DaddyLayla MaloneyNominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Comedy2000BrunoDonna Marie2000BeautifulRuby2001Harvard ManChesney Cort2001Dr. Dolittle 2SquirrelVoice2001Reaching NormalSarah2001In the ShadowsClarissa Huston2001Jay and Silent Bob Strike BackAlyssa JonesCameo2002Grand ChampionHallie2002BeeperInspector Julia Hyde2003Grace2004Daphne2004Clerks: The Lost SceneAlyssaOnly featured in the 2004 Special Edition2006Addie Jones2007Bunny WhippedAnn2008TruckerJenny Bell2009ExTerminatorsKim2010EndureSirena Lane2011Big SwimThe Egg2011ApartDr. Jane Sheppard2012MomShort film2012Mulberry StainsSavannah2012Art MachinePrudence2013Blue CapriceJamie2013Renae Logan2013She Loves Me NotBeth2014Making the RulesBecca2014SequoiaBev2014Valley InnAlthea2014AnimalVicky2014All the Birds Have Flown SouthTonya 2019 Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Alyssa Jones 2022 Tankhouse Deirdra 2024 Oak Mrs. Chase 2024 Greedy People Bobette 2026 Rebecca
Television Year Title Role Notes1991Top of the HeapMona Mullins7 episodes1991Married... with ChildrenMona MullinsEpisode: "Top of the Heap"1991Married... with ChildrenCousin EffieEpisode: "Buck Has a Belly Ache"1992Vinnie & BobbyMona Mullins7 episodes1992CBS Schoolbreak SpecialDianneEpisode: "Words Up!"1993Married... with ChildrenJanieEpisode: "The Wedding Show"1995Love & WarVickyEpisode: "Atlantic City"1995Out of OrderWhitneyEpisode: "Strange Habit"1995Double RushDee DeeEpisode: "Slamming Into a Car Isn't Good"1996Second NoahDarby5 episodes1999HerculesElectraVoice, episode: "Hercules and the Complex Electra"2003As Told by GingerThea MipsonEpisode: "Far from Home"2003–04StripperellaCattVoice, 2 episodes2005What's New, Scooby-Doo?RachelVoice, episode: "A Scooby-Doo Valentine"2005Veronica MarsGeena StaffordEpisode: "Weapons of Class Destruction"2009–10Party DownDiandra Stiltskin2 episodes2010Tough TradeShawnelleTelevision film2010United States of TaraPammy6 episodes2010FrenemiesJoy HardwickUnsold TV pilot2012SupermomsKellyUnsold TV pilot2013–14Switched at BirthJeniece Papagus4 episodes2015Grey's AnatomyDr. Tracy McConnellEpisode: "Sledgehammer"2016–17Still the KingDebbie Lynn Cooke26 episodes2022The L Word: Generation QTaylor3 episodes
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