One of the more recognizable faces among Hollywood's elite, Krysten Ritter is a star among stars. Granted, with that said, she is obviously best known for playing Jessica Jones in the Netflix show of the same name and an Avengers-lite spinoff called The Defenders. But of course, those outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom will recognize her as something of a TV queen.
She's appeared in shows that have been acclaimed, but oft-forgotten (like Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23) as well as award-winning modern classics (like Breaking Bad). Her filmography is also littered with familiar titles like Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, El Camino, Big Eyes, Confessions of a Teenage, Law & Order, and Mona Lisa Smile.
But don't let some of her more jaw-dropping characters deceive you. As this list will go to show, there is much more to Krysten Ritter than meets the eye and she is far more than just a Hollywood actress.
20 She's A Pennsylvania Gal
Not many people know or talk about this, but Krysten Ritter was born in Bloomberg, Pennsylvania and raised by locals Garry Ritter and Kathi Taylor. However, as far as where she was raised, she was raised in the much more rural city in Pennsylvania that is called Shickshinny, where her mother, stepfather, and sister live.
19 She Grew Up On A Farm; Rode Cows
With Shickshinny being the local Pennsylvania city that it is, it should come as no surprise to readers that Ritter also happened to grow up on her stepfather's beef farm. Even more interesting, as she confirmed to Playboy, she was not allowed to ride horses as a child, so she wore the family cow - named Jake - instead.
18 She Has ADHD
It is rare - even in as socially accepting of a world we live in now in 2020 - that celebs are so open about revealing what kind of disorders that they may live with, but Ritter has often shown that she is not afraid to talk about her ADHD. She was diagnosed in first grade and has taken Ritalin to control it ever since.
17 She's Multicultural
Krysten Ritter is a woman of many different cultures, even if her family lineage is something she rarely discusses. From what she has said about herself, we know that in addition to being of English descent, she is also part German and part Scottish. As such, she can also speak the languages.
16 She Used To Model
At the age of 15 inside of the Wyoming Valley Mall (which just so happened to be holding a modeling event at the time), Ritter was discovered as a model by an agent. She then signed to Elite Model Management and hopped back and forth between New York and Philly to work with different magazines and catalogs. Eventually, she moved to New York at age 18.
15 She's A Former Video Vixen
On top of having a background in modeling and acting, she also has a bit of history with appearing in music videos. With a quick search on YouTube, Krysten Ritter can be found in the music videos for Jordan Garland's "Leave My Friends Alone" in 2013 and Sevendust's "Waffle" in 1999.
14 She's Into Boxing
During her training for Jessica Jones, Krysten Ritter did a lot of boxing. This is when Ritter was able to unearth a new passion for the sport. No, she did not decide to add "boxer" to her list of professions, but she did add boxing to her regular workout routine, even after the show had ended.
13 She Has A Band
As if having actor, model, and not-quite-professional cow rider did not make for an impressive resume, Krysten Ritter has a music background that she is still quite active in. She sings and plays guitar for Ex Vivian, a rock band which she partakes in alongside a childhood friend named William Thomas Burnett.
12 She's Dating A Rocker
From one rocker to another, Krysten Ritter has fallen in love with Adam Granduciel, best known as the frontman and songwriter for The War on Drugs, an indie rock band; he also previously served as Kurt Vile's background vocalist. The two are not married (yet) but have been dating for nearly five years, since August of 2014.
11 She Almost Starred In A Gossip Girl Spinoff
Gossip Girl fans may remember that during the second season, an entire episode was dedicated to showcasing the teen years of Serena's mom (played by Brittany Snow) alongside Lily's sister (played by Ritter). Turns out that the 80s-centered "Valley Girls" episode was actually a backdoor pilot that The CW decided not to pick up.
10 Never Saw Dawson's Creek Before Working With JVB
One of Ritter's earliest performances came in starring on the short-lived ABC show Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23. Ritter played "The B" while James Van Der Beek played her best friend, who just so happened to be James Van Der Beek. While the show often joked about his Dawson's Creek fame, Ritter admitted in that aforementioned Access Hollywood interview that prior to meeting him on set, she never saw it.
9 She Had A Panic Attack On The Breaking Bad Set
We all remember that grueling death scene her character, Jane, suffered in her final episode of Breaking Bad, but Krysten Ritter herself suffered a panic attack during the making of that scene. Between wearing a chest protector during the scene while Bryan Cranston dripped tears on her face, the emotions got too high for Ritter.
8 She Was Bullied As A Child
Even the most famous and prettiest of actors had to deal with being bullied in their adolescence. Ritter most certainly did. In 2012, she told Access Hollywood Live that she had to deal with her fellow kids and students picking on her for being skinny and having really big feet.
7 She Founded Her Own Production Company
When she is not acting or committing to one of her other many talents she is the head of her own production company that he founded called Silent Machine. As head of the company, Ritter currently has plans to adapt her own book (don't worry, we'll get to it) for the big screen, and previously failed to sell a pilot for a supernatural comedy called The Demons of Dorian Gunn to Pop TV.
6 She Uses Vision Boards
A vision board is a sacred space where a person internalizes and visualizes everything that they want to see happen in real life. Often times, whatever someone puts on a vision board tends to happen in real life, which may explain why Krysten Ritter - a prolific vision board user - is so successful where she is now.
5 She's A Knitting Designer
So that's acting, music, modeling, and knitting we can now add to Ritter's ever-growing repertoire of skills. She has long professed in different interviews to be a passionate knitter, but she is also a professional one. She designs knitting material for the brand "We Are Knitters" and her designs can be bought online.
4 She's An Animal Rights Activist
As an animal rights activist, Ritter, she has taken part in numerous ad campaigns for and has worked closely with PETA. Okay, that is now five things Krysten Ritter can do as a jack of all trades. Actor, musician, model, knitter, and animal rights activist. It's like there really is nothing she can't do.
3 She's A Published Author
Scratch that last part - now it is six things we can add, if we include writer. In November of 2017, Ritter released her debut novel Bonfire, a mystery thriller about an environmentalist lawyer named Abby Williams who returns to her hometown for the first time in ten years to investigate a polluting company and the disappearance of a school bully.
2 She's A Screenwriter, Too
Extending that writer branch in the world of novels, Ritter has more infamously worked as a screenwriter in the past. At age 23, she pitched a sold a pilot for a script she sold called Model Camp to Warner Bros. It didn't get made, but later projects she sold and co-starred in like Life Happens did.
1 She Just Had Her First Baby
Remember that rock star we mentioned earlier who Ritter has been dating for almost five years? Well, she and her partner just had their first child. The baby was born this past summer in July of 2019 and the couple decided to name their newborn son Bruce Julian Knight Granofsky.