Lake Bell been around Hollywood for years, appearing in films with Ashton Kutcher you are unlikely to ever see, popping up in TV shows that get cancelled after two seasons. 

She’s one of those actresses, like Amanda Peet or Shannyn Sossamon, her co-star in How to Make it in America (it was on Sky Atlantic, you probably missed it, now it’s been cancelled), who, although beautiful and talented, has managed to miss out on hitting the big time.

But instead of languishing forever in Kutcher vehicles about no-strings attached sex or things happening in Vegas staying in Vegas or whatever, she’s taken matters into her own hands and become a slashie. Lake Bell has become a writer and director, and by all reports a really good one.

Her first feature, a comedy about voiceover artists called In a World…, was shown at Sundance and the trailer, which dropped this week, shows a hilarious Bell in a movie that seems to have the offbeat feel of Little Miss Sunshine. 
 

We love Lake Bell and here's why:

She’s incredibly beautiful. Whereas lots of Hollywood actresses are little elfin delicate types, she is tall and womanly with strong brows and a wide mouth. She’s like Frankie Rayder mixed with Rachel Weisz with just the slightest hint of Natalie Portman.

She’s really well dressed. Consistently cropping up on best-dressed lists for her red carpet looks, she also knows how to do a down day.

She seems really popular. She stays friends with most of her co-stars so Cameron Diaz, Justin Theroux, Eva Longoria, Josh Hartnett and Alicia Silverstone all showed up to see her marry artist Scott Campbell in a Marchesa gown in New Orleans earlier this month. 

Was there ever a better name than Lake Bell? Short and snappy but hinting at depth; pleasingly uninfluenced by religion or class; unisex. It’s just perfect.

She’s a slashie from a New York intelligentsia family – it's a predictable route – but it feels like she has earned her success at 34. As well as putting in the hours in rom-coms and TV shows, she went to Rose Bruford drama school in London in her 20s.