The Evolution Of Amy Adams
Or how the🍷 Disney princess cast her spell on our screens...

Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
Ms Adams made her debut as gormless, free-spirited wannabe pageant queen Leslie🀅 in this tongue-in-cheek mockumentary. She’s perky, bendy and side-splittingly hilarious.
Bagging the role ജwas a stroke of luck. She auditioned for the part while taking time off as a dancer after spraining a muscle, and won the rol🃏e there and then.
Co-star Ki🥃rstie Alley convinced her to move to LA permanently.
Natural Red? Hmmm, Amy’s conscpicuously not a redhead here. That's because she's actually a closet blonde...

Psycho Beach Party (2000)
“Parents are such squares!” Amy goes all spoilt brat &lsqu꧂o;50s style and totally rules at it.
Using൩ her wily, girly ways, she attempts to bag herself a hot surfing stud by any means necessary – including pulling seductive poses by the tide. Butter wouldn’t melt – it would probably vaporise.
It all goes horribly wrong when Amy’s left almost totally nude ♓on the beach. Wrong for her, that is...
Natural Red? Still blonde and perky – this time in a rad ‘50s way. The ginger crown goes to co-star Lauren Ambrose.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (2000)
Fresh from an appearance on bewitching WB series Charmed (in which she played a down-on-her-luck woman haunted by an evil enti🌠ty), Amy pops up in another WB teen dream.
This time, it’s series five of 🉐Joss Whedon’s cult vampire series.
In the episode ‘Family’, written and directed by Whedon himse﷽lf, Amy plays Cousin Beth, the𝐆 relative of shy lesbian witch (ouch) Tara. She’s a bit of a bitch.
Natural Red? The red’s creeping in ever so gradually. It's almost like Amy wants to go full-on ginge, but isn't quite sure yet...

Cruel Intentions 2 (2000)
Originally planned as a Cruel Intentions spin-off TV show entitled Manchester Prep , Amy’s first foray into lead territory ended swiftly. The studio didn’t like the show’🎃s pilot episode, scrapped the series idea, and re-packaged shot footꦿage as a straight-to-DVD film.
Amy retains the bitch characteristics she honed in Buffy to 🅰take on the role of Kathryn, previously played by Sarah Michelle ಌGellar (yeah, Buffy, odd). She’s horrible, conniving and riveting.
Natural Red? That warm autumn blonde can't conceal the chilly machinations of her character.

Smallville (2001)
Amy in a fat suit!
“As an actress people always tease me. Like, 'If there's anything you can do to make yourself unattractive, you will do it,'” Amy said at the time. She returned to the WB for first season Smallville ep ‘Craving’.
Her character Jodi wants to lose weight, s💮o starts eating kryptonite-infused veggies. But she’s filled with an insatiable✤ hunger for human flesh... Horrific.
Natural Red? The strawberry blonde’s back, emphasising Jodi’s feelings of loneliness and difference. Not that all gingers feel that way.

Serving Sara (2002)
What initially looks like another blonde bimbo on Adams’ CV turns out to be, well, ano🌳ther blonde bimbo... thi𝓡s one with a plan.
M𒅌istress to Bruce Campbell’s rich cowboy, Kate wants to rinse him for every penny, and hatches a sche🐷me to get her hands on his money.
Matt💙hew Perry basically plays Chandler (again), while Liz Hurley plays a conniving lovey. The film's a bit of a mess.
Still, brownie points for
Natural Red? She's back to bl𝕴onde agai𒊎n - all the better to bimbo.

Catch Me If You Can (2002)
“No ൩pressure, right?” Amy nervously laughed about her team up with Steven Spielberg𒊎 and man of the moment Leo DiCaprio.
Spielberg called hers 💜the “part that should have launched her career”, but Amy’s turn as a candy striper whom DiCaprio’s Frank Abagnale falls head-over-heels for failed to earn her the accolades th🦩at it deserved.
One good thing: Amy realised she had what it too⛦k to work with the be❀st.
Natural Red? The red locks return with a vengeance, adding shades of gorgeous to Amy’s geeky brace-wearer.

The Wedding Date (2005)
Amy was allowed to improvise a bit in The Wedding Date , which saw her combining her natural comedic flair with🎶 powers of icy manipulation.
You wish you could hate her ༺character. But when her giant eyes fill up with tears, you just want to wrap her in a blanket and tell her it’s all going to be alright.
How does she do it?!
Natural Red? Ice queen blonde again. Which is odd considering 'sister' Debra Messing is a redhead. We wonder if there was a behind the scenes hair-off, with only one actress allowed the redness?

Junebug (2005)
It’s the role that got Amy an Oscar nomination (for Best Supporting Actress), and a win at the 2🎶005 Sundance Film Festival (the Special ꦦJury Prize for Acting).
Boy did she deserve it. As pregnant gal Ashley, she's just one 🐼🍎part of a Southern family, but the main character that audiences latched on to.
The fi🌳nal sc﷽enes, in which Ashley gives birth, will slay you with their raw emotion. Amy is, quite simply, devastatingly good.
Natural Red? Once you go red you never go... Ah, never mind. Amy whole-heartedly embraces her phoenix tresses.

The Office (2005-2006)
Amy brings a touch of elegance to The Office , entering as a purse saleswoman who quickly attracts the attention 🍰of Michael and Dwight.
She ends up dating Jim, until he realises he still fancies Pamไ (idiot!).
So far she🎐’s appeared in three episodes, the last in 2006.
Her burgeoning movie career thereafter probably accounts for her character’s d🐬isappearanc꧟e.
Natural Red? Red all the way. No turning back now.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Straight girl to Will Ferrell’s funny guy (if in doubt, just check out those glasses, a symbol of seriouness if we ever did see one). By now, Amy’s making a name for herself a🧸s someone who consistently brings꧋ the heart and the funny.
Which explains how she ended up in Talladega Nights ’ most pivotal scene, helping Rick🐟y Bobby to believe in himself on🌳ce more. Ahhhh.
Natural Red? Mhm, a🧸nd she💖 flips those locks around a lot in Ricky's face. Sexy.

Tenacious D In The Pick of Destiny (2006)
Could this be the shortest cameo ever made? Amy doesn’t even get an audible line. But yeah, she’s sꦏo famous now that she’s doing blink-and-you’ll-miss-her cameos for Jack Black.
“Hours in the make-up chair and you see me for half aജ second,” Amy giggled to an interviewer. “But I love Jack Black so I had to do it."
Mr Blaᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚck, meanwhile, says that Amy was “overqualified” to play the part of ‘The G💃orgeous Woman’.
Natural Red? She looks pretty vampy in her half-second shot.

Underdog (2007)
Being asked to voice an aꦕnimated mutt is sort of like an induction to Hollywood. You’ve made it, we need a name for this v꧒oice, can you do it?
Pai꧂ring her tones to the moving maw of live-action hound Polly Purebred, Amy could have literally phoned this in. She probably did. Easy money.
We called it "a plot-less, CGI-laden mess of flying beagle footage and 👍lame mad scientist gags". Sorry, love.
Natural Red? She’s more of a brown/white mottle here.

Enchanted (2007)
Certain things just go♔ together. Jam and Bread. Torvill and Dean. Amy Adams and Disney.
When it was announced that Amy had been signe🍸d to play a live-action Mouse House pᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚrincess, the sound of a million hands slapping foreheads probably rang across Hollywood.
She sings, she dances, she has those giant cartoon eyes... Perfectly emulating previous𒅌 ani-gals while putting her own spin on things, Amy is a faultless, fragile beaut.
Natural Red? All princesses are redheads, don’t you know that? Oh, alright, just Amy and Ariel, then.

Charlie Wilsons War (2007)
“Amy would never be so bold with Mr Hanks,&rdquo𒁃; said the actress of the differences between her and her character.
She played Bonnie Bach, assistant to the eponymou💜s Wilson (Tom Hanks), and likened her experiences on the set🥀 to going to film school, because she was surrounded by so many pros.
Natural Red? It's looꦬking a bit light strawberry again, but we'll forgive you. After all, Julia Roberts had that terrible dye job, and you can't go up-staging her, can you?

Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
Amy paired up with our very own Emily Blunt for🍌 this heart-warming tale about families 🀅pulling together against the odds.
Amy’s former cheerleader Rose recruits her do🐎wn-and-out sister Norah to start their own cleaning business. It’s cleaning with a twist, though &ndaᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚsh; they’ll be mopping up crime scenes.
Reviews were mixed, but it was b൩asဣically lauded as an offbeat charmer.
Natural Red? Nope, it's an Emily Blunt-matching dark brown here. We bet Amy's inner ginge was weeping the day the red (got) dyed.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (2008)
Wait, did we say Amy was a perfect match for Disney? We actually meant she’s a perfect ma🐷tch for the ‘30s.
The proof’s in the Pettigrew. Dolled up to the nines, Amy slips into thaꦰt classy, brassy era like a hand into a silk glove. She plays Delysia Lafosse, a wannabe actress who can't decide between her numerous suitors.
Ditzy and impish, she&rsqu♔o;s very almost a ‘30s reprise of Giselle.
Natural Red? The red’s now Amy’s trademark, and she’s turnꦍed it into a symbol of cool, quirky elegance.

Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian (2009)
Girl power! Am🌺y chops off her hair and takes on the role of Amelia Earhart in this kiddie crowd-pleaser sequel.
Sticking to the ‘30s era look, she sheds Delysia’s floaty wardrobe for a much harder woman of her time. And a hec🔥k of a cool accent.
Not only does Amy get to dance (again), but she slaps that smug look off Ben Stiller’s face, and mostly saves Night 2 from being a total lost cause. Attagirl!
Natural Red? It’s looking a bit wig-like, but we're liking the style.

Julie & Julia (2009)
Opening in second place to a giant blockbuster like G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra is no mean feat, especially if you’re a food-themed comedy. We attribute Julie & Julia ’s box office success enti𒆙re𒁃ly to Amy (oh, alright, that Streep woman may have helped).
Bored call centre worker Julie (Adams) decides to start her own blog and cook her way through Julia Child’s ‘Master𒆙ing the Art of French Cooking’. It’s twee and sweet, and the food looks amazing.
Natural Red? Cropped close in a tomboyish pixie cut, the red's muddier. No doubt to imitate Madame Child.

Leap Year (2010)
Amy tra🍬vels 💯to the Emerald Isle for an old-fashioned rom-com romp.
See, 🅘her boyfriend’s gone to Dublin, and she’s heard that in Ireland a woman can propose to a man on the 29 February (i.e. during a leap year). Because doing it any other day would just be unseemly...
She chases after him to pop the question. But on the way, she meets handsome rogue Matthew Goode... The flick's 🦹out on 26 Februaryꦅ.
Natural Red? She looks likཧe a translucent Irish beauty anywa꧅y. No need to mess with her lustrous red locks for thissun.
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories fromও visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know th🍌at he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.