Kristen Bell made her parents call her 'Smurfette'

(Image credit: Jimmy Kimmel Live)

last updated 18 February 2015

When she was a girl, Kristen Bell "hated the name Kristin," the actress told Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday night's Jimmy Kimmel Live. "When I was about 3 and a half, I said 'No more — you will call me Smurfette or nothing at all.'" Her parents kind of went along with it for a few weeks, but then they put their foot down, Bell said. So she told her parents, "Fair enough, my name is now Matthew." They negotiated until they landed on Annie, the name she kept through high school. In Catholic high school in Detroit, Bell added, she tried to act tough — which leads to her rapping the beginning to Too $hort's "Blow Job Betty" for Kimmel and his audience. Don't worry — all the NSFW words are beeped out. —Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.