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Missi Pyle has been one of those actresses that everyone has seen, but no one really knows. For most of her career, Pyle has appeared in roles both large and small in some of Hollywood’s more popular movies. Born Aschley Kay Pyle, her parents dubbed her ‘Little Missi’, a nickname that stuck throughout her life and career. She grew up in Houston, Texas, but moved to Germantown, Tennessee at the age of 12 with her mom and new stepfather. Around this time, Pyle became interested in acting and attended Germantown High School, one of the top three performing arts high schools in the country. Thus a career was born. Aside from acting talent, Pyle displayed her vocal chops in high school, which led to being cast in several musicals. Upon graduation, Pyle was accepted to the Actor Training Program at the North Carolina School of the Arts where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Pyle appeared in several Shakespeare productions, including the role of Cressida in “Troilus and Cressida”, as well as others. Her summers were spent performing: one year she was in “Ruthless” at the Galvest Island Outdoor Musicals series; another was spent playing ‘Becky’ in a production of “Big River”; a third she spent studying at the Oxford School of Drama. Pyle continued acting in films, gaining more prominent roles as her career progressed. She played the alien Laliari in the surprisingly funny spoof “Galaxy Quest” (1999), starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver. In “Josie and the Pussycats” (2001), Pyle played the insubstantial role of Alexandra Cabot in the insipid adaptation of the once-popular 70’s kiddie cartoon. In “Bringing Down the House” (2003), the financially successful yet critically panned comedy with Steve Martin and Queen Latifah, Pyle played Ashley, a gold-digger interested in rich old men. A return to the small screen found Pyle contributing her voice talent in an episode of the short-lived animated series, “The Tick” (FOX, 2001-02). A series of small, but noticeable film roles soon came Pyle’s way. She appeared in the farcical tale “Big Fish” (2003), directed by the enigmatic Tim Burton. Pyle thankfully went unnoticed in the dreadful urban “comedy”, “Soul Plane” (2004), starring top-billed Tom Arnold and the ubiquitous Snoop Dogg. She then played Roxanne in the harmless romantic comedy “Along Came Polly” (2004), starring Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller. Pyle appeared in another Stiller comedy vehicle, the sleeper hit “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” (2004), playing a powerhouse foreign dodgeball champ for first-time director Rawson Marshall Thurber. Finally, Pyle took on the role of the indulgent Mrs. Beauregarde in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005), a remake of the Gene Wilder classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971).
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