“I wore so much more makeup in my twenties,” Kristen Bell told us last week in a phone interview. “I’m not sure why, maybe I was overcompensating for insecurities? Now I like being fresh-faced on my days off.” Those insecurities are laughable to the actress now, including her eyes, which she jokes are “ferret-like.” Bell has learned tricks to make them look larger—see our slideshow—but we’d guess it’s her powerhouse career and new baby that’s made those old concerns unimportant.
That is, a career that just took a trip down memory lane with her latest film, Veronica Mars. Bell starred in the cult T.V. show 10 years ago, and after a few attempts to give its fans a film, it finally happened thanks to Bell, Kickstarter, and a viral video. “I knew we’d raise the money we needed,” Bell told us. “But I never thought we would raise it that fast.” In fact, fans ‘produced’ the film by giving 2 million dollars in under 12 hours—in exchange for things like movie tickets and signed posters—and ending the campaign with 5.7 million total to make the film.
You can catch Veronica Mars in limited-release theaters and video on demand this weekend, but in the meantime, click through our slideshow for Bell’s post-baby workout, how she quit picking her face, and all her natural beauty secrets.