A petite powerhouse at 5-feet and 1-inch tall, multitalented actress Kristen Bell has already earned her spot on the A-list. It’s a rarefied position, yet she’s managed to stay grounded. It’s a mindset that can, in part, be attributed to her view that with her celebrity status comes a certain amount of responsibility.

Since she made the decision to pursue acting as an avocation at 13 and then a vocation—also at 13, when she signed with a commercial agent to earn some college money—Bell set herself on a mission and then made quick work getting to the top.

At only 28, her résumé already includes starring in a Broadway musical; several successful TV shows, including as the title character on Veronica Mars and work on Heroes and Gossip Girls; several feature films (most notably, Forgetting Sarah Marshall); and sought-after voice-over acting for both film and TV.

There are no signs that she’ll be slowing down, either. In 2009, she’ll have five film releases, including the big-budget animation film Astro Boy alongside Nicolas Cage; the comedy Serious Moonlight, in which she co-stars with Meg Ryan; and a Jon Favreau comedy called Couples Retreat.

Living in Gratitude
One of the most remarkable things about Bell is the heartfelt gratitude that she has for the opportunities that have come her way. “I just am happier living knowing that I’m grateful to be able to do what I want to do for a living,” Bell says.

Along with being thankful, her acting career is something she never takes for granted. Despite her impressive résumé, at the end of every job, she still thinks that it could be her last time. “That feeling that ‘I’m never going to work again’—it never goes away,” she says. “I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. It keeps a healthier outlook. I would never want to think that I deserve to do this, I should have this job or that it belongs to me. That’s just a crazy ego cycle that I’m not interested in. I’d rather just think, ‘Man, I’m lucky to be here.’”

With her work ethic and down-to-earth attitude, it’s not surprising that she has a passion for making the world a better place. Yet she’s a little uncomfortable that her status in Hollywood gives her a certain amount of automatic clout. “It seems so silly that we pay attention to what celebrities say,” she says.

On the other hand, she knows that by speaking up, she can make a real difference in the world. “I know that I’m lucky to be able to do what I want to do as my career, and that’s given me a voice that people will listen to in one way or another,” she admits. “And if me opening my mouth can bring attention to a cause and bring help, I guess it’s kind of my duty.”

Because of her conviction that it’s her responsibility to speak out, Bell has worked with several charities—but none has occupied more of her attention than Invisible Children, an organization whose mission is “to use the power of stories to change lives around the world.”

And it’s a mission that fits perfectly with Bell’s own life’s work.

It all started on the set of Veronica Mars. Bell met actor  Ryan Hansen, whose best friend is one of the co-founders of Invisible Children. She learned that the charity was started in 2004 by three USC students who, after witnessing a roadside bomb on their way through Uganda to film in the Sudan, changed plans and focused instead on one of the most devastated regions in the world: Northern Uganda. They used their talents as filmmakers to shed light on this often ignored but devastating problem. Their powerful film Invisible Children: Rough Cut, which exposes a tragic scene that is a reality for Northern Uganda’s night commuters and child soldiers, has been already been seen by millions.

Now, their website is the base for a multimedia fundraising and lobbying campaign on behalf of the Ugandan people and—in particular, the country’s children. The creativity of their outreach has helped positively affect thousands of Ugandan lives. Children are being educated through scholarship programs and school initiatives, jobs have been created that feed back into the scholarship funds, and lives are being changed.

Bell lights up when talking about the impact that Invisible Children is having; the organization's efforts are making a difference. “We pay the school fees of over 700 kids,” she relates.
 

Bell dove in to further educate herself about Uganda’s history and the reign of terror that rebel leader Joseph Kony and his thuggish Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have been carrying out for decades to see if even more could be done.

“The problem is that those issues have been put to bed, but the LRA are still fighting simply for anarchy and chaos, and they’re using kids to do it—to carry out these atrocities,” Bell explains passionately. “They’re just rebels. ... At this point, they’re fighting for no particular reason other than that’s all they know how to do. It’s not a turf war; it’s not a territory war; it’s not a religious war; it’s not a money war. He’s just a rebel.”

Bell has come to realize that apathy has allowed the problem to flourish. “I think that the problem is gigantic, but the solution is simpler than it seems,” she says.
Her enthusiastic support of the charity has even led her to a place she never thought she’d go: Capitol Hill.

Emulating Change
As Bell found herself embracing the role of lobbyist, she flew to Washington, D.C., and met with senators and a few congressmen to discuss Uganda.

It was not something that she had ever imagined doing, but she found herself energized by the process.
Bell feels strongly that mobilizing the youth of America will be a key to changing Uganda’s current reality. “Invisible Children teaches people to use their voice, particularly on this issue.” And that’s exactly what Bell did.

“As a citizen, we’re supposed to bring the problems to our policy-makers,” she says. “My personal story has been [that] I was always intimidated to lobby for something or to speak for a cause at a legislative level,” she says. “It’s not as intimidating as it seems … and those officials are there to hear what you have to say.”
She was especially impressed with what Virginia Congressman Tom Perriello had to say. “He let people know that [even] with all the problems right now—Africa, the Middle East, our economy, our school systems— when proposing help for this issue, it’s [still] not an either/or. Oftentimes people will say, ‘But there are so many problems here in America.’

I guess what I’m saying is that we don’t have to choose between helping Africans and helping here. If we all put our heads together, we can do both.”

Her work with Invisible Children has helped her feel good about the future. “I have a much broader perspective now as to what people can accomplish,” she says. “I think this generation is the generation that will speak loudly about the things they care about—even more so than [the] Woodstock [generation]—in a very peaceful way, but maybe also in a very demanding way.
“I don’t think kids are going to stand by and let other kids have a horrible upbringing in other parts of the world. I’ve met too many 15-year-olds who have more passion in their bones than I could ever imagine.”

This vision of a better tomorrow fuels Bell’s drive to keep getting the word out and to keep inspiring others to speak up.

“That’s one of the main reasons why I’m involved with Invisible Children,” she says. “They believe they can save the world with a smile on their face. It doesn’t have to be people begging and people crying and shoving guilty information into people’s faces. You can tug at people’s heartstrings, but you can also say, ‘I’m having a great time helping. Want to come?’”

Maintaining Balance
Without a doubt, Bell has a lot on her plate. Her focus and drive have allowed her to accomplish so much at such a young age, but incredibly, she also has managed to find that elusive ingredient that just might be the key to a well-lived life. "I work hard, but I play real hard,” Bell says with a grin.

That ability to go after a little fun in the midst of a busy life is a trait that her three dogs revel in on their play dates at the dog park. She lights up as she describes her senior black lab—a rescue dog from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina—and her two Corgi mutts, Shakey and Lola. “They’re like little barrels with hands,” Bell says of her Corgis. “They make me feel tall.”

Her lab, meanwhile, though not resembling a barrel, did manage to barrel into her life.

“I work with a shelter in Rancho Santa Fe called the Helen Woodward Animal Center. They had taken 250 Katrina dogs, and I just said, ‘I’ll take the oldest one,’” which turned out to be her lab, Sadie.

“I got the most rambunctious, difficult, loving dog. She doesn’t look like she’s croaking anytime soon,” she jokes. “She’s older than dirt, but she hangs on to a lot of vitality, I’ll tell you that much.”

Along with spending time with her dogs, Bell enjoys get-togethers with a close network of family and friends. She particularly likes to gather with friends and family for frequent dinner parties—and  American Idol watch parties. She is also a big fan of her hometown hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings.

“My time at home and with my friends is my balance,” she says.

So is cooking—one of Bell’s favorite ways to unwind at home. The menu? Something vegetarian. Bell has been a vegetarian since the precocious age of 11.

“Some kids don’t like salads or Brussels sprouts; I just never liked meat,” she says. “I’m a rabbit
in disguise.”

Living in the Now
When Bell steps away from her acting and her charity work for a moment, she sees many different paths to be pursued and doesn’t want to shut any of them off. “I try to just live in today,” she explains, "because the minute I say I don’t want to do something, I believe that’s when the best one ever is going to come across my desk.”
Of course, acting remains her primary focus. “I like moviemaking in general. I hope to always find projects that I love and can be involved in [in] different capacities.”

For one, she really likes being in the voice-over booth. She also hopes to produce one day. And, despite her love for the full measure of life here in Los Angeles, she said she hopes to return to Broadway someday. “I’ll always have a special place in my heart for musical theater because that’s where I started,” she says. “I just like being inspired by different projects. I don’t know if I could ever pick one; I just constantly like to mix it up.”