Busy Philipps
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Elizabeth Jean "Busy" Philipps (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series ''
Freaks and Geeks ''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen drama, teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive producer, executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 United States network television schedul ...
'' (1999–2000), ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
'' (2001–2003), ''Love, Inc.'' (2005–2006) and '' ER'' (2006–2007), for her abortion access advocacy, and for her portrayal of Laurie Keller on the
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series ''
Cougar Town ''Cougar Town'' is an American television sitcom that ran for 102 episodes over six seasons, from September 23, 2009, until March 31, 2015. The first three seasons aired on ABC, with the series moving to TBS for the remaining three seasons. ABC ...
'' (2009–2015), for which she received the
Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series is one of the award categories presented annually by the Critics' Choice Television Awards (BTJA) to recognize the work done by television actresses. Winners and ...
. She has also appeared in supporting roles in numerous films, such as '' The Smokers'' (2000), ''
Home Room A homeroom, tutor group, form class, or form is a brief administrative period that occurs in a classroom assigned to a student in primary school and in secondary school. Within a homeroom period or classroom, administrative documents are distri ...
'' (2002), ''
White Chicks ''White Chicks'' is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay co-written by Wayans, Xavier Cook, Andy McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, with additional contributions by and starring Marlon Wayans and Shawn ...
'' (2004), ''
Made of Honor ''Made of Honor'' (''Made of Honour'' in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and Australia) is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Paul Weiland and written by Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan, and Harry Elfont. The film stars Patrick ...
'' (2008), '' He's Just Not That Into You'' (2009), '' The Gift'' (2015), and ''
I Feel Pretty "I Feel Pretty" is a song from the 1957 musical ''West Side Story''. Production ''The New York Times'' explained that "Mr. Sondheim…has said he was never particularly fond of his lyrics in 'West Side Story,' especially 'I Feel Pretty, later e ...
'' (2018). From 2018 to 2019, Philipps hosted her own television talk show ''
Busy Tonight ''Busy Tonight'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Busy Philipps that aired from October 28, 2018 to May 16, 2019 on E!. Premise ''Busy Tonight'' features "everyone's favorite unfiltered Hollywood best friend giving her hilarious a ...
'', on E!. She currently stars in the
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...
original series ''
Girls5eva ''Girls5eva'' is an American musical comedy television series created by Meredith Scardino that premiered on May 6, 2021, on Peacock. The series centers on four women who were part of a girl group named Girls5eva, which was briefly popular aroun ...
''.


Childhood

Philipps was born in
Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...
, a
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. She received the nickname "Busy" as a child; sources conflict on whether the nickname came from her parents or a babysitter named Susie. Busy stated on her late-night talk show, ''
Busy Tonight ''Busy Tonight'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Busy Philipps that aired from October 28, 2018 to May 16, 2019 on E!. Premise ''Busy Tonight'' features "everyone's favorite unfiltered Hollywood best friend giving her hilarious a ...
,'' that her mother gave her the nickname, but stated during her book tour that her babysitter gave her the nickname. This was clarified on an episode of ''
Comedy Bang! Bang! ''Comedy Bang! Bang!'' (formerly ''Comedy Death-Ray Radio'') is a weekly comedy audio podcast, which originally began airing as a radio show on May 1, 2009.A Special Thing Forums:Comedy Death-Ray Radio starts today! Popularly known as ''Humani ...
'' when she confirmed to host
Scott Aukerman Scott David Aukerman (born July 2, 1970) is an American writer, actor, comedian, television personality, director, producer, and podcast host. Starting as a writer and performer in the later seasons of the sketch series ''Mr. Show'', Aukerman is ...
that it was her babysitter, in his quest to achieve
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clout. She attended
Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...
at the same time as ''Freaks and Geeks'' costar
Linda Cardellini Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her leading roles in the teen drama ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), the medical drama '' ER'' (2003–09), the drama thriller ''Bloodline'' (2 ...
and
Colin Hanks Colin Lewes Hanks (born November 24, 1977) is an American actor. He has starred in films including ''Orange County'', ''King Kong'', ''The House Bunny'', ''The Great Buck Howard'', and the ''Jumanji'' film series. His television credits include ' ...
; she dated Hanks for several years after they left school.


Career

While still in high school, Philipps worked at toy
trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and c ...
s as a real-life
Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...
("Cool Teen Skipper"). Among the people who saw her at a toy convention was actress
Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
, who was impressed with Philipps's performance and told Philipps that she would be a star. Her first major role was
Kim Kelly Kim Kelly (born April 4, 1962 in Halifax, Nova Scotia as Kim Ackles) is a Canadian curler from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She currently throws skip stones for Colleen Jones, whom she has won five national championships and two world champions ...
in the 1999–2000 comedy-drama TV series ''
Freaks and Geeks ''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen drama, teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive producer, executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 United States network television schedul ...
''; Philipps appeared in all but one of the show's 18 episodes (the exception being the episode "Chokin' & Tokin'"). She made her film debut in the comedy '' The Smokers'' in 2000, and had various small appearances on television. In 2001, Philipps was cast as Audrey Liddell in the teen drama ''
Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
''. She was a series regular in seasons 5 and 6, appearing in 46 episodes, before the show finished in 2003. Her portrayal of Audrey earned Philipps a
Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United S ...
nomination in the category of "TV - Choice Sidekick". Philipps appeared in several films, including ''
Home Room A homeroom, tutor group, form class, or form is a brief administrative period that occurs in a classroom assigned to a student in primary school and in secondary school. Within a homeroom period or classroom, administrative documents are distri ...
'' (2002) and ''
White Chicks ''White Chicks'' is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay co-written by Wayans, Xavier Cook, Andy McElfresh, Michael Anthony Snowden, with additional contributions by and starring Marlon Wayans and Shawn ...
'' (2004). She was cast in the
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
'' Love, Inc.'', in a role originally intended for
Shannen Doherty Shannen Doherty (, born April 12, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jenny Wilder in ''Little House on the Prairie'' (1982–1983); Maggie Malene in ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' (1985); Kris Witherspoon in '' Our Hous ...
. The show lasted for one season (2005–2006). In 2006, she had a major recurring role as Hope Bobeck on '' ER'', alongside her ''Freaks and Geeks'' co-star
Linda Cardellini Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her leading roles in the teen drama ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), the medical drama '' ER'' (2003–09), the drama thriller ''Bloodline'' (2 ...
. During her second year on ''ER'', her character was written out as heading to South America to "fulfill her Christian mission". Philipps had a co-credit for the storyline of the 2007 comedy film ''
Blades of Glory ''Blades of Glory'' is a 2007 American sports comedy film directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, written by Jeff Cox, Craig Cox, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, and starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder with Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, William Fich ...
''. A year later, Philipps appeared in a supporting role in ''
Made of Honor ''Made of Honor'' (''Made of Honour'' in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and Australia) is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Paul Weiland and written by Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan, and Harry Elfont. The film stars Patrick ...
''. Philipps made appearances in '' He's Just Not That Into You'' as the character of Kelli Ann and on an episode of ''
How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...
''. From 2009 to 2015, Philipps portrayed Laurie Keller in the television series ''
Cougar Town ''Cougar Town'' is an American television sitcom that ran for 102 episodes over six seasons, from September 23, 2009, until March 31, 2015. The first three seasons aired on ABC, with the series moving to TBS for the remaining three seasons. ABC ...
''. She routinely contributed to the ''
Thrilling Adventure Hour ''The Thrilling Adventure Hour'' was a staged production and podcast in the style of old time radio that was held monthly at Largo, a Los Angeles nightclub located in the former Coronet Theatre. The show ran from March 2005 to April 2015. Each ...
'', a live stage radio show. Her primary recurring character is the Red Plains Rider. On a 2010 appearance on ''
Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American Late night television, late night Television comedy, comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler which was broadcast on E! The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and was produced ...
'', Philipps commented that she auditioned for the hit television show ''
Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'' just one week after giving birth, following a pregnancy during which she gained 80 pounds. Philipps starred on the
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series ''
Vice Principals ''Vice Principals'' is an American dark comedy television series starring Danny McBride, Walton Goggins, Kimberly Hébert Gregory, Dale Dickey, Georgia King, Sheaun McKinney, Busy Philipps and Shea Whigham. The co-creators were Danny McBride ...
'', which premiered in 2016 and ended in 2017. In 2017, Philipps signed on as co-lead opposite Casey Wilson in
Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...
's comedy pilot, ''The Sackett Sisters'', for
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
, but the series was not picked up. In 2018 and 2019, Philipps played the role of Sheba Goodman in season 4 of
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
’s ''
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt ''Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' is an American streaming television sitcom created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, starring Ellie Kemper in the title role. It premiered on March 6, 2015, on Netflix and ran for four seasons, ending on January 25 ...
''. Philipps had a
late-night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show popular in the United States, where the format originated. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It i ...
called ''
Busy Tonight ''Busy Tonight'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Busy Philipps that aired from October 28, 2018 to May 16, 2019 on E!. Premise ''Busy Tonight'' features "everyone's favorite unfiltered Hollywood best friend giving her hilarious a ...
'', which aired on E! from October 28, 2018, to May 16, 2019. It was cancelled the same day Philipps was nominated for a 2019 Critics Choice Award. In August 2020 she began hosting a
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
, ''Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best'', along with former ''Busy Tonight'' writers Caissie St. Onge and
Shantira Jackson Shantira Jackson is an American writer, producer, actress, and comedian. Her writing credits include ''Busy Tonight'', ''The Amber Ruffin Show'', ''Saved by the Bell'', and ''Big Mouth''. Life and career Jackson was raised in Florida. She rec ...
.


Book

Philipps's memoir, ''This Will Only Hurt a Little'', was released October 18, 2018. Her memoir includes a passage in which the actress describes a physical altercation that took place between
James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Ma ...
and herself while on the set of ''Freaks and Geeks''. Philips said she was "bummed" by the amount of attention drawn to just this incident in the book, saying the story was not new, and that she meant for it "to illustrate a larger point about the way women are treated in this business and in life."


Political views

After the
Alabama Legislature The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the state government of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives and Senate. It is one of the few state legislatures in which members of both chambers serv ...
's May 14, 2019, passage of
House Bill 314 The Human Life Protection Act, also known as House Bill 314 (HB 314) and the Alabama abortion ban, is an Alabama statute enacted on May 15, 2019, that imposes a near-total ban on abortion in the state. Set to go into effect in November 2019, ...
(also known as the "Human Life Protection Act"), Philipps advocated that women speak out if they had abortions. On May 14, she invoked the
hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
, #YouKnowMe (established on February 18) to her 370,000 followers on
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, with her call for testimonies:
1 in 4 women have had an abortion. Many people think they don't know someone who has, but #youknowme. So let's do this: if you are also the 1 in 4, let's share it and start to end the shame. Use #youknowme and share your truth.
On the previous week she revealed on her ''
Busy Tonight ''Busy Tonight'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Busy Philipps that aired from October 28, 2018 to May 16, 2019 on E!. Premise ''Busy Tonight'' features "everyone's favorite unfiltered Hollywood best friend giving her hilarious a ...
'' TV show that she had an abortion at age 15. On June 4, 2019, Philipps gave a testimonial before the
House Judiciary Committee The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, also called the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, a ...
, defending the right for women to have access to more abortion clinics. In doing so, Philipps talked about her own experience with abortion, saying:
I am a human being that deserves autonomy in this country that calls itself free, and choices that a human being makes about their own bodies should not be legislated by strangers who can’t possibly know or understand each individual’s circumstances or beliefs.


Personal life

Philipps married screenwriter
Marc Silverstein Marc Silverstein (born July 1, 1971) is an American screenwriter, producer and film director. Biography Silverstein was born to a American Jews, Jewish family. His writing partner is Abby Kohn. They are known for co-writing romantic comedy fil ...
on June 16, 2007. They have two children: Birdie, born in 2008, and Cricket, born in 2013. They separated in February 2021.


Filmography


Film


Television


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* *
PopGurls Interview: Busy Philipps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philipps, Busy 1979 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actors from Oak Park, Illinois Actresses from Illinois American film actresses American memoirists American podcasters American television actresses American women memoirists American women podcasters Late night television talk show hosts Living people Loyola Marymount University alumni