With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today during our fall member drive. Kristen Bell knows what an audience wants. Mostly, they want her to be herself, plus a little bit of the character she's playing at that time. Veronica Mars, Sarah Marshall, Eleanor, Joanne — all of her characters have a degree of thoughtfulness, quirkiness and smarts.