Kristen Anne Bell has a diverse ancestral background. Her father has German, English, Irish, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish ancestry, while her mother is of Polish descent.
Despite her multicultural background, she’s not known to be proficient in languages other than English, which is her primary language.
She was born and raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Her mother, Lorelei (née Frygier), is a registered nurse, while her father, Tom Bell, works as a television news director in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kristen’s parents divorced when she was two years old.
View this post on Instagram
Kristen Bell’s relationship with her mother, Lorelei Bell, has been challenging at times. During an episode of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast in 2018, she discussed her past struggles with her mother. The turbulence in their relationship stemmed from their contrasting perspectives on the world, despite sharing similar approaches to handling things, which often resulted in explosive interactions.
According to Bell, her mother is deeply religious and identifies as a born-again Christian. However, Bell herself does not adhere to any particular faith, creating a source of disagreement between them.
Bell expressed that her mother finds it difficult to accept her lack of religious beliefs. Talking about this topic makes Bell feel like she is disappointing her mother, which is a distressing experience for her.
View this post on Instagram
“I think it’s hard for her to digest [that I’m not religious], and I don’t really like to talk about it a lot because when I’m talking about it all I feel is that I’m disappointing my mother, which is an awful feeling,” Bell said.
“Also, she lives in Michigan and there’s a different bubble out there than there is in California. I’m a lot more open about very taboo subjects in general,” she added. “I think that is just different to her.”
“I don’t know this, but from my perspective, I believe she was upset we didn’t baptize our kids,” she added. “From my perspective, I was like, ‘Let me tell you something. My child is not going to heaven or having an afterlife based on some man pouring water over her head.’”
Kristen Bell has two stepsisters from her father’s second marriage, and she also has three stepsisters and a stepbrother from her mother’s second marriage.
View this post on Instagram
When Kristen was four years old, she didn’t like her first name and started going by her middle name, Anne, instead. She used the name Annie until high school.
“I hated the name Kristen when I was little. When I was about 3-and-a-half, I said, ‘No more! You will call me Smurfette or nothing at all.’ My parents were like, ‘Well, we’ll see.’ There was a couple of weeks where I didn’t answer to anything else, which is dangerous when you have a child on the playground and you say, ‘Kristen, come here!’ and nobody runs to you. So they sat me down and said, ‘This isn’t going to fly.’ And I said, ‘Fair enough. My name is now Matthew.’ And they said, ‘That’s not going to work.’ So it was a negotiation. Annie had come out—the movie from the early ’80s. We settled on Annie, and I was called Annie by my whole family until I was 16. My grandparents still call me Annie, my sister. I still get phone calls to the house…Weird, I know,” Bell said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in February 2015.
Kristen Bell wears her blonde hair down as she arrives at ABC studios to appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on July 20, 2016, in Los Angeles (Credit: Michael Wright / WENN)
Now we know where Kristen Bell got her sense of humor. It looks like her mother may be just as crazy as Kristen!
In July 2016, the blonde beauty appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to share hilarious family stories about her mom and husband, Dax Shepard — with all of us.
The “Gossip Girl” star was spotted making her way to ABC Studios in a revealing champagne-colored top, which plunged deep in front and showed a good amount of skin at the back, darted with loose pleated pants — both from Maria Lucia Hohan.
Kristen Bell wears a skin-revealing set from Maria Lucia Hohan as she arrives at ABC Studios (Credit: Michael Wright / WENN)
The actress dressed up her outfit with earrings from Bavna, a black “Sac de Jour” tote from Saint Laurent, and the Jimmy Choo “Claudette” sandals in black suede.
Kristen Bell’s feet in black suede Jimmy Choo sandals (Credit: Michael Wright / WENN)
Kristen, known for her love of fake tattoos, informed Jimmy that her mother would often visit her sets in an attempt to be a film extra. The actress also told viewers that her mom happens to be into taxidermy.
One time, Kristen received a video featuring two dead cockroaches as a not-so-subtle reminder from her mom that Kristen was a bit of a slob when cleaning her room.
You can order Jimmy Choo’s “Claudette” sandals on Farfetch and Net-a-Porter.
Jimmy Choo “Claudette” Sandal, $425 – $595