Anna Faris is an American actress best known for her role as Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie parody films. The daughter of Karen and Jack Faris, Anna Faris was born on November 29, 1976 in Baltimore, Maryland. She and her brother grew up in Edmonds, Washington, north of Seattle. Anna Faris first took an interest in acting at a young age, with her parents fully encouraging her to pursue it. She made her first professional acting performance on stage at the age of nine, in the Seattle Repertory Theater. After graduating from Edmonds Woodway High School, she attended the University of Washington, where she studied English literature.
Anna Faris had her first movie role in the independent production, Lovers Lane, released in 1999. In 2000, she had her breakout role in the horror film parody Scary Movie, as Cindy Campbell, the parody of Neve Campbell’s character in Scream. Faris also did a recurring role in the last season of the popular sitcom Friends, which earned her further popularity. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed film, Lost in Translation, as an actress promoting the action movie, Midnight Velocity.
Faris also starred in the 2005 independent film Waiting… with Ryan Reynolds and Justin Long. In the same year, she once again co-starred with Ryan Reynolds in Just Friends, as a pop-diva singer named Samantha James. Faris also appeared in the widely acclaimed film, Brokeback Mountain as LaShawn Malone. In 2006, she starred with Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson in the feature film My Super Ex-Girlfriend.
Faris also played as Topher Grace’s sister in Kids of America. This was then followed by Mama’s Boy, where she co-starred with Jeff Daniels and Diane Keaton, and Smiley Face with Adam Brody and John Cho. Faris was also in the Happy Madison production film, The House Bunny.