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Ellie Kemper searches for 'Happiness' in film
Based on the popular book by Katherine Center, Ellie Kemper plays a recently-divorced woman who signs up for a grueling adventure on the Appalachian Trail and ends up bonding with her motley crew of companions.
Emmy Award-nominee Ellie Kemper goes camping in the new Netflix film "Happiness for Beginners."
Based on the popular book by Katherine Center, Kemper plays a recently-divorced woman who signs up for a grueling adventure on the Appalachian Trail and ends up bonding with her motley crew of companions.
Kemper says playing a character with a bit of an "edge" was a refreshing change of pace.
"I have played mostly optimistic, cheerful characters with a sunny outlook, and it was really, really fun to play a woman who’s going through a very tough time in her life," the actress told us during an interview in June 2023, before the start of the current actors strike. "Her outlook is not sunny. She’s a little cranky. She’s funny, but she’s not so happy."
"Happiness for Beginners" was written and directed by Vicky Wight, and co-stars Luke Grimes, Nico Santos, and Blythe Danner. It will be available for streaming exclusively on Netflix this coming Thursday, July 27.
To hear more from Kemper about the making of the movie — and which of her cast members she’d trust most on a camping trip — click the video player in this article