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Who is Joey Lauren Adams?
An actress with over 75 acting credits to her name, Joey Lauren Adams rose to prominence playing the lead role in the romantic comedy-drama “Chasing Amy”, which brought her numerous accolades and praise, including a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.
To television series fans, Joey is perhaps known best as Debbie Lynn Cooke in the comedy series “Still the King”, in which she starred opposite Billy Ray Cyrus. More about her career, her life, and what’s she doing now, you’ll find in this article.
Early life, family, and education
Born under the zodiac sign of Capricorn on 9 January 1968, Joey is aged 55 as of June 2023. She hails from North Little Rock, Arkansas USA, holds American nationality, and comes from a family of White descent, raised in her hometown by her parents, about whom nothing is known, alongside her two siblings, Michael and Kelly.
Joey’s aspiration to become an actress grew after she spent a year in Australia as an exchange student. Upon matriculating from high school in 1986, she enrolled at college in San Diego, California. However, two years later, she dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles, to launch her acting career.
Acting career- beginnings
Joey made her acting debut as Mona Mullins in ten episodes of the series “Top of the Heap” in 1991,, a role she reprised in the 1992 series “Vinnie & Bobby”; she also guest-starred in three episodes of the popular sitcom “Married…with Children” (1991-1993).
Joey’s big-screen debut came in 1993, when she was cast to play Simone Kerr in the comedy “Dazed and Confused”, starring Matthew McConaughey, Jason London and Wiley Wiggins, and later that year, was seen in “Coneheads”, “The Program”, and “The Pros & Cons of Breathing”.
Joey followed with her support roles in “Sleep with Me” (1994), “Mallrats” (1995), and “Drawing Flies” (1996), among others, before she landed the lead role of Alyssa Jones in the 1997 movie “Chasing Amy”, also starring Ben Affleck and Jason Lee. The movie followed the story of two best friends, Holden and Banky, comic book artists whose friendship is about to be questioned, when in their lives comes a beautiful lesbian, Alyssa. Holden fell in love with her and now has to deal with Banky’s jealousy, but also with Alyssa’s past romantic life, which was pretty rich.
Written and directed by Kevin Smith, the film had 16 award nominations and five wins and was one of the favorite comedies in the late ’90s. For Joey, this was her breakthrough role, which besides the aforementioned Golden Globe nomination, brought her Chicago Film Critics Association and Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards for Most Promising Actress.
Notable movie roles
After her role in “Chasing Amy”, Joey was cast to play Beth Ward in the 1998 drama “A Cool, Dry Place”, starring opposite Vince Vaughn and Monica Potter. She followed with her role as Layla Maloney in the 1999 comedy-drama “Big Daddy”, also starring Adam Sandler, which had 14 award nominations and eight wins – for her performance, Joey was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award – Favorite Supporting Actress, Comedy.
The early 2000s saw Joey in “Bruno” (2000), “Harvard Man” (2001), “Grand Champion” (2002) and “The Gunman” (2004), among several others. The list of Joey’s roles is too long to mention each one of them, so we’ll highlight some of her most notables, such as her portrayal of Doctor Jane Shepard in the 2011 mystery drama “Apart”, which was nominated for the SXSW Film Festival Audience Award.
Joey starred opposite Joseph Cross and Jessica Szohr in the 2012 comedy “The Art Machine”, which followed the story of a child prodigy painter and his domineering mother, who doesn’t understand that he must resolve his inner conflict between clinical mania and creative genius.
Another of Joey’s notable roles was her portrayal of Bev in the 2014 drama “Sequoia”, which won the Rainier Independent Film Festival Llama Award. Joey landed the lead role of Tonya in the 2016 thriller “All the Birds Have Flown South”, written and directed by Joshua and Miles Miller, which told the story of a sheltered guy who, following the death of his controlling mother, tries to win the affection of a depraved waitress by caring for her terminally ill and violent husband. As addiction and disease engulf all three, their lives begin to disintegrate.
Most recently, Joey was seen in “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” (2019), “Tankhouse” (2022), and “The Quest for Tom Sawyer’s Gold” in 2023.
Notable TV series roles
After her mostly guest roles in early ’90s series’, Joey was seen as Derby in ten episodes of the “Second Noah”, during 1996 and 1997. After her breakthrough role in “Chasing Amy”, Joey mostly focused on her movie roles, but occasionally guest-starred in various series, often having voice roles.
In 2010, she was seen as Pammy in “United States of Tara”, a comedy-drama about a woman with dissociative identity disorder, who struggles to raise her dysfunctional family. The show won two Primetime Emmys.
Joey had a recurring role as Jennice Papagus in the series “Switched at Birth” from 2013 through 2014, and her most notable TV series role was her portrayal of Debby in “Still the King”. During 2016 and 2017, Joey made an appearance in 26 episodes of this comedy about Vernon Brownmule, a scandal-ridden one-hit country singer wonder, who after being kicked out of country music for more than 20 years, is now the second-best Elvis impersonator.
Most recently, Joey was seen as Taylor in three episodes of the series “The L Word: Generation Q” in 2022.
Love life and husband
In the late ‘90s, Joey was one of those actresses who when she walked into a room, everyone was stunned by her attractiveness. Enchanting blonde with blue eyes, whose voice is her signature, has been the subject of various rumors about her romantic life, and even her sexual orientation has been questioned – mostly because of her role in “Chasing Amy”.
It’s known that the famous director, Kevin Smith, could not resist her charm; the two were in a relationship from 1995 to 1997. Soon after their separation, Joey began a romance with the famous actor Vince Vaughn, and the two were a couple for a year.
Later, Joey was in a long-term relationship with Andrew Calder, a filmmaker perhaps known best for “Dust: An Extraordinary Correspondence”.
In the late 2000s, Joey began dating Brian Vilim, a cinematographer, whom she married on 7 June 2014; the wedding ceremony was private and held at a secret location. Both Joey and Brian prefer to keep their personal lives away from the media’s attention.
Speaking of Brian, professionally, he’s known for his work on movies such as “Opus of an Angel”, “Murder at the Embassy”, and “Invitation to a Murder”, among others.
As of June 2023, Joey and Brian are still married; they don’t have children.
Where is she now?
When it comes to her acting career, her admirers will be happy to hear that Joey is still acting, She has three upcoming projects. and she will star in another movie directed by Kevin Smith, entitled “Twilight of the Mallrats”, which is currently in development.
Joey will be seen in the announced movies “Oak” and “Providence”, set to be released in 2024. Her fans can keep track of her career and life through her Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Net worth
Joey had numerous roles, however, after her role in “Chasing Amy”, it seems that other big roles slipped through of her hands. In one of her interviews, Joey said that ‘she didn’t get the Nicole Kidman roles’ mostly because casting directors saw her as the girlfriend or as the best friend.
When it comes to her net worth, according to sources as of June 2023, it’s been estimated at over $1 million.
