Adams is famous for her impeccable acting, her timeless beauty, and her understated demeanor off the screen.
However, Adams wasn’t always the most obvious candidate for a career as an actress (viaParade).
In fact, as a child, she couldn’t have seemed more poorly suited to Hollywood.
Curious to find out how she became a six-time Oscar nominee?
Here is the stunning transformation of Amy Adams.
“It means I got away with a lot,” she revealed.
“We were all desperate for attention.”
In her early years, Adams was brought up in the Mormon church.
As she told theTelegraph, her only memories of the religion are pretty general.
“The basic, ‘Do unto others …’ that was hammered into me.
And love,” she recalled.
However, Adams' parents divorced when she was 11 years old.
As one source told theNational Enquirer, “Amy was heartbroken and cried herself to sleep at night.”
In fact, she was pretty private and timid.
As she toldParade, “I was not a brave child.
Everything scared me.”
She even refused to ride a bike and gave up gymnastics because of her fear of injury.
Instead of these adventurous pursuits, Adams turned to the world of books.
Apparently, her siblings called her “the dreamer.”
Adams also became obsessed with ballet, and at one point she even wanted to become a ballerina.
However, she soon found it was “too disciplined and too restrained,” as she toldExpress.
However, it was until she saw “Grease” that it really clicked.
As she toldParade, “I wanted to be Sandy pretty bad.”
Funnily enough, one Adams' first acting jobs was a “Grease” inspired bankcommercial!
Adams continued to become more and more interested in acting as time went on.
Her childhood favorites were the musicals.
“I was soentrenchedin the high drama,” she shared.
Then, in 1998, Adams was inspired by Cate Blanchett’s performance in “Elizabeth.”
“She sort of set the bar, the way that she owned the screen,” Adams opined.
At 24, she moved to Los Angeles.
“To this day, [it] gives me perspective,” she toldVogue.
“But going through it waspainful, to say the least.”
Adams added that she panicked in auditions and meetings and lost the confidence of producers.
“I actually almost quit because I was starting not to like who I was,” she continued.
In fact, she was even fired from two different shows.
And as Adams toldThe Times, one particularly traumatizing audition was for the musical “Rent.”
It sounds like Adams' early career was anything but easy!
As Adams told theIndependent, she now thinks of this period as her “naughty girl” phase.
Of course, these roles weren’t exactly right for Adams.
At the time, Adams thought this may be her final role.
AsLittle White Liesnoted, the part imbued Adams with an aura of otherworldly innocence.
Fortunately for Adams, the movie finally brought her into the limelight.
As Adams told theIndependent, this is what she calls her “innocents” phase.
Eventually, playing the ingenue got a little boring for Adams.
“I just wanted to do a good job.”
When Adams had first moved to L.A., she had been afraid and self-conscious, bombing multiple auditions.
But by 2013, she was far more self-assured.
“I look back sometimes, and I’ve missed her from time to time,” she continued.
“There’s something to the hunger that informs you and drives you.”
“I’m a harsh critic of myself,” she admitted.
“I see when I stopped needing to be perfect.
I stopped carrying the weight of criticism.
Unsurprisingly, her daughter’s birth changed a lot about her life, both personally and professionally.
She went on to explain that Aviana also forced her to learn to separate work life from home life.
“That had to change.”
And, as Adams explained toLittle London, her daughter made her re-evaluate her approach to work.
“I look at things differently now … My perspective has changed completely.”
He later became an artist.
Adams and Le Gallo didn’t marry until 2015 (viaThe Times).
As Adams toldElleback in 2008, they hadn’t been in any hurry.
It’s not important to me.”
In fact, it took Le Gallo’s sister to step in and convince the reluctant couple to marry.
As Adams told The Times, Le Gallo continued to offer her support.
“[His support has] allowed me a certain amount of focus and comfort,” she revealed.
As she explained toFemale.com.au, she was initially hesitant to accept the part.
However, once she read the script, she was hooked.
“I was really drawn to it.”
“Arrival” ended up being one of Adams' biggest successes to date.
For Adams, this role was peak of her “moody and introspective” phase.
As she told the publication, there is a part of her that connects to these roles.
I think I have that," she confessed.
Playing such a part certainly wasn’t easy, either.
“It really fed the character,” she shared.
“I learned all the terminology by hanging out on set, out of the way.”
Since then, Adams has developed her own unique approach to acting.
Adams said her process was like “catching a virus.”
In other words, she completely transforms and is even a little unrecognizable in between takes.
It sounds like this actress likes to dive in headfirst into her roles.
As she told theIndependent, her days of being an ingenue are long behind her.
“I may succeed, I may fail, but I’ll try anything.”
It’s this bold attitude that has led to some of Adams' most interesting projects.
“It’s the female experience and that point of view that I was to present.”
