Christine Taylor

American actress (born 1971)

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Christine Joan Taylor (born July 30, 1971) is an American actress. She has played Marcia Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996), and appeared in The Craft (1996), The Wedding Singer (1998), Zoolander (2001), and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). In television, she has appeared in roles in Hey Dude, Arrested Development, and Search Party.

Early life and education

Taylor was born on July 30, 1971, in New Jersey, to Joan, a homemaker, and Albert E. "Skip" Taylor III, who owns a security company. She grew up in neighboring Wescosville, Pennsylvania, and has a younger brother.

Taylor was raised Roman Catholic and attended St. Thomas More School and then Allentown Central Catholic High School.

Career

In 1989, Taylor began her acting career on the Nickelodeon children's television series Hey Dude in which she portrayed the lifeguard Melody Hanson. She continued in that role through 1991, while making various guest appearances on other programs and films.

In 1995, Taylor was cast as Marcia Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie and later in A Very Brady Sequel. Following The Brady Bunch Movie, Taylor made several comedic guest appearances on the television series Ellen, landing the lead role in the television series Party Girl, based on the 1995 film of the same name, and more guest appearances on sitcoms, including Seinfeld and Friends.

In 1996, she portrayed the racist school bully Laura Lizzie in the horror film The Craft, and also portrayed Drew Barrymore's cousin, Holly Sullivan, in the 1998 comedy The Wedding Singer. In 2001, she starred alongside her husband Ben Stiller in Zoolander. In 2005, Taylor guest starred on two episodes of Arrested Development, portraying the character Sally Sitwell; and the following year she performed in an episode of NBC's My Name Is Earl.

In July 2006, Taylor's husband Ben Stiller announced plans to direct a CBS sitcom starring Taylor, but the series never aired. Taylor has appeared with Mandy Moore in both Dedication and License to Wed. In 2010, Taylor guest starred in Hannah Montana Forever and the Hallmark Channel Christmas movie Farewell Mr. Kringle.

In 2013, Taylor reprised her role as Sally Sitwell in two episodes of the revived fourth season of Arrested Development. She also guest starred on Elementary in 2017, playing villainess Gail Lundquist. From 2016 to 2022, Taylor had a recurring role as Gail on Search Party. In 2021, Taylor joined the cast of High Desert, an Apple TV+ series. In 2023, she reunited with her Hey Dude co-star David Lascher for the Hey Dude...The 90s Called! podcast.

Personal life

Taylor dated actor Neil Patrick Harris from 1997 to 1998.

In May 2000, Taylor married Ben Stiller, whom she first met in 1999 while they were both filming Heat Vision and Jack. Taylor and Stiller appeared together in the films Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Tropic Thunder, and Zoolander 2, and the television series Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm. They live in Westchester County, New York, and have a daughter and a son. Taylor and Stiller are both vegetarians.

After 17 years of marriage, Taylor and Stiller separated in 2017. The couple later reconciled after living together during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.