Lake Bell wasn’t discouraged when her first punchline didn’t get a laugh. Granted, she was two years old and most toddlers aren’t easily discouraged. But subsequent events indicate it may have had more to do with an unwavering, steadfast belief in her destiny as a comedic writer and actress and most admirably, her willingness to do the work to get there.

Though Hollywood called soon after college, she went to England first to train professionally at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Once in LA she landed a couple of TV shows and could’ve easily traded on her looks for more, but she wanted to write. So she befriended/coerced a writer, learned the trade and wrote a script, only to have it fall apart shortly before being produced. Undaunted, she went on to write In A World… Offered the chance to direct as well as star in it, she first wrote and directed a new short film just to get the experience she felt she needed. It paid off. Her first feature mined her own comedic vulnerability and fraught relationships to commercial and critical success. A.O. Scott of the New York Times said “…It may be that to find a leading role worthy of her gifts, Ms. Bell had to make one herself. There is every reason to be glad she did.” We agree, A.O. Scott, we agree.

In this issue, the talented Ms. Bell discusses the family dynamics that spurred her creativity, her love (make that ‘pathological need’) for storytelling, the experience of simultaneously starring in and directing her first feature and the best writing advice she received along the way: Ask yourself, “What do you want to see next?” That one’s easy for us – more from Lake Bell.