"Extra" is spotlighting the top 2011 Academy Award nominees this month, starting with the Best Supporting Actress category. First up is Amy Adams, nominated for her feisty turn in "The Fighter," but did you know that while supporting her early career as a dancer, Adams was a GAP store greeter and Hooters hostess?
Find out more about this talented actress!
Oscar Nominee Trivia File: Amy Adams
Early in her career, Amy worked as a greeter at The Gap and as a Hooters hostess to support herself before finding work as a dancer at Boulder, Colorado's Dinner Theatre and Country Dinner Playhouse. It was there that she was spotted by a Minneapolis dinner-theater director who asked her to move to the state for more regional dinner theater work.
Nursing a pulled muscle that kept her from dancing, she was free to audition for a part in the 1999 beauty pageant comedy "Drop Dead Gorgeous," which was filming in Minnesota. She won a small part, marking her acting debut.
During the filming of "Drop Dead Gorgeous," Adams' co-star Kirstie Alley encouraged Amy to move to Los Angeles, where she soon won a part in the FOX TV version of the film "Cruel Intentions," in the part played in the film by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The series never aired but was pieced together for a direct-to-DVD film "Cruel Intentions 2."
And what early acting career would be complete without a horror spoof on your resume. Check out Adams poking fun at the 1960s "Beach Party" and "Gidget" movies.
After guest spots on "That '70s Show," "Charmed" and other TV shows, Amy finally landed a major role in the 2002 "Catch Me If You Can," playing opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.
Amy's role in the low-budget independent film "Junebug" in 2005 (which was shot in 21 days) finally earned the actress some real attention, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Adams went back to TV briefly in 2005 for a three-episode arc on "The Office."
'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'
The actress continued to hone her comedy skills in films such as "Talladega Nights," playing Will Ferrell's love interest.
In 2007, Amy's ability to look like a wide-eyed Disney animated heroine helped her to be chosen from about 300 actresses auditioning for the role of Giselle in the animated/live-action feature film "Enchanted," which would prove to be her major break-through role.
Once the ball was rolling for the actress, the roles came fast and furious. In the 2007 "Charlie Wilson's War," Adams played the sharp assistant to Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks), who, in the '80s, was involved in covert dealings in Afghanistan, helping them in their war against Russia.
Heading back to her indie roots, Adams portrayed a struggling single mom in the 2008 "Sunshine Cleaning," going into crime scene cleanup business with her wayward sister (Emily Blunt).
'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day'
Adams plays an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse, who employs a middle-aged governess, Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) and catapults Miss Pettigrew into her dizzying social whirl and glamorous world.
Amy took a serious turn to play an innocent nun caught in the middle of a feud between old-school Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) and a progressive priest (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Adams also received her second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
'Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'
Adams has fun again in the "Night at the Museum" sequel, portraying the spirited Amelia Earhart who helps Ben Stiller's night guard Larry Daly put order back to the Smithsonian when the exhibits comes to life.
Adams teamed up with Meryl Streep again — well, sort of. Streep plays culinary legend Julia Child, whose story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with Adams' blogger Julie Powell, who, in 2002, challenges herself to cook all the recipes in Child's first book, "The Art of French Cooking."
In 2010, Adams tried her hand at romantic comedy, starring as an American who travels to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend — but ends up falling for a local (Matthew Goode) instead.
Adams gets her chance to finally play someone from the other side of the tracks, turning in another excellent Best Supporting Actress performance as the feisty bartender who falls for boxer Mickey Ward.
Adams met her boyfriend Darren Le Gallo, in 2001 in an acting class. On May 15, 2010, Adams gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl named Aviana Olea Le Gallo.
Amy's favorite films include "Gone with the Wind," "The Wizard of Oz," "Paulie," "Vertigo" and "The Shawshank Redemption."
Amy will star in the adventure drama "On the Road," with Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst and more. And is also playing straight woman to funnyman Jason Segel and "The Muppets" in their new movie.
