Andrea Anders

Andrea Anders (born May 10, 1975) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on television, notably through her main roles on five anticipated but short-lived sitcoms, ''Joey'', '' The Class'', ''Better Off Ted'', '' Mr. Sunshine'' and '' Mr. Mom'', as well as recurring and guest roles on numerous TV series including '' Cruel Summer'', '' Oz'', ''Young Sheldon'', ''Modern Family'' and '' Necessary Roughness'', and getting cast in nearly ten produced but unsold pilots.

In addition, she regularly appears as supporting characters in films directed or produced by her older brother Sean Anders, namely '' Never Been Thawed'', ''Sex Drive'', '' Daddy's Home 2'', ''Instant Family'', ''Countdown'' and '' Spirited'', and has also had roles in a handful of other films such as ''The Stepford Wives'', ''Return to Zero'', '' Is That a Gun in Your Pocket?'' and '' Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase''.

Early life

Andrea Anders was born in Madison, Wisconsin on May 10, 1975, the third child of Terrance and Sally Anders. She was raised in DeForest, Wisconsin with her sister Torri and her brother Sean, where she attended the DeForest Area High School, graduating in 1993. She went on to study acting at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, receiving her bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1997. She then moved to New Jersey to study at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, earning a Master of Fine Arts in 2001. In addition, she trained in the Meisner technique under Maggie Flanigan and credits the teacher with her continued work as an actress.

Career

Theatre

In 2001, Anders began her career in theatre. She was an understudy for Mary-Louise Parker in the Broadway production of ''Proof'' and later played the part of Elaine Robinson in ''The Graduate''. She also appeared in ''On the Jump'' at the Arena Stage, ''New Doors'' at the Guthrie Theater, '' Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical'' and two New York Stage & Film productions: ''Cold/Tender'' and ''New World Rhapsody''.

In May 2007, Anders started in the Geffen Playhouse performance of '' Fat Pig''. She played the part of Jeannie, an accountant. ''Fat Pig'' closed on July 1, 2007.

Television and film

One of Anders' first appearances on television was a commercial for Danone that ran in the 1990s and then again around 2006.

Her first acting credits came between 1998 and 2001 when she appeared on the soap operas '' One Life to Live'' and ''Guiding Light'', respectively as Elaine, one of Starr Manning's nannies, and Ellie, an assistant to Olivia Spencer.

In 2001, she appeared on an episode of ''Law & Orders twelfth season, ''The Fire This Time'', as teenager Emily Hoyt. A couple of years later she played the recurring role of Donna Degenhart for five episodes in the last season of the HBO drama series '' Oz''. That same year, Anders was cast opposite Richard Ruccolo as the female lead in ''Spellbound'', a proposed romantic comedy TV series created by Rob Greenberg & Suzanne Martin centered on a male witch who falls in love with a mortal woman. The pilot was passed on by NBC however and was redeveloped unsuccessfully for Fox in 2004 with Maggie Lawson taking over the role.

In 2004, Anders made her big screen debut with a minor role in ''The Stepford Wives'', appearing in an early scene with one line of dialogue as Heather, a secretary to Nicole Kidman's main character. That same year, she was cast as Emma Leeds, the female lead in ''News To Me'', a potential workplace sitcom created by Joel Stein & Marsh McCall inspired by Stein's experiences as the youngest-ever columnist at ''Time'' magazine, with Colin Hanks starring as Stein. Despite being at one point considered a strong contender for ABC, the pilot, directed by Pamela Fryman, was not picked up by the network. Also in 2004, Anders was a guest star on the eighteenth episode of the supernatural drama ''Tru Calling''.

In July 2004, after ''News To Me'' failed to make it to series, Andrea Anders was cast in what would be her breakthrough role, Joey Tribbiani's neighbor, landlady, friend and eventual love interest Alex Garrett on ''Joey'' the highly anticipated spin-off/sequel to '' Friends'', replacing Ashley Scott, who was let go in June after her version of the character, then named Allison, was disliked by test audiences. While the series was not well received by critics, it debuted to high viewership, which declined over the course of its run, leading NBC to cancel it in May 2006, during its second season. Anders appears in all 46 episodes of the show.

In between seasons of ''Joey'', Anders appeared as a "Christian Band Slut" in her older brother Sean's directorial debut film '' Never Been Thawed'', marking the first of many collaborations between the pair.

In February 2006, prior to ''Joeys cancellation, Anders was cast on the ensemble sitcom '' The Class'' as Nicole Allen (née Campbell), the unfulfilled wife of a former pro- football player, played by David Keith, who reconnects with her high school boyfriend Duncan, played by Jon Bernthal, after a reunion party. As with ''Joey'', ''The Class'' was very highly anticipated due to being the next project from '' Friends'' co-creator David Crane, sparking a bidding war between networks CBS, Fox and NBC. Despite this, steady ratings and winning the Favorite New TV Comedy Award at the 33rd People's Choice Awards, CBS did not renew the show for a second season. Anders again appears in all the episodes, 19 this time around.

Following ''The Class cancelation, Andrea Anders guest starred on a fourth season episode of the crime drama ''Numb3rs'' and had another small role in one of her brother's films, ''Sex Drive''.

In May 2008, Anders was the first person cast in the single-camera satirical workplace comedy ''Better Off Ted'', after creator Victor Fresco was impressed with her work on ''The Class''. She played Linda Zwordling, the love interest for main character Ted Crisp, played by Jay Harrington, and a co-worker of his at an evil megacorporation. The series eventually premiered the following March to the lowest ratings for a comedy debut seen by network ABC in years. Despite consistently low viewership, critical acclaim kept the show going and even renewed for a second season, but ABC eventually canceled it in May 2010, leaving 2 of the 26 episodes unaired. The show enjoyed a mini-reunion in 2011 through the music video for ''Revenge of the Nerds'', a rap song recorded by co-star Malcolm Barrett under the stage name "Verbal", which features all the main actors from the series in cameos either as their characters or, in the case of Anders, new characters.

In April 2009, shortly after ''Better Off Ted'' premiered, Anders joined the cast of ''The Big D'', a domestic comedy sitcom project created by Jackie and Jeff Filgo and centered on Jane and Will Dupree, a New York City