Alison Brie Schermerhorn is an actress, writer, model, and producer best known for her roles as Trudy Campbell in Mad Men (2006-2015), Annie Edison in Community (2009-2015), and for voicing Diane Nguyen in BoJack Horseman (2014-2020). She has also starred in movies such as the Oscar-nominated Promising Young Woman (2020), The Lego Movie (2014), and the newly released film Freelance (2024).
Since jumping onto the scene, she has continued to add more than 80 credits to her name and showcase her talent in the entertainment industry by starring in Netflix’s series GLOW, producing films like Horse Girl and Somebody I Used to Know, and writing for the movie Spin Me Round.
Alison started performing at a young age at her local community theater in Southern California, and after graduating from the California Institute of the Arts in 2005 she started auditioning for roles, landing her first-ever as a non-recurring character in an episode of Hannah Montana. It was not long after that she started pulling more notable roles in hit TV shows, landing her big break as Trudy in Mad Men, a drama based in the 1960s about a group of advertising executives and their salacious lives outside of the office. However, it was her role as tightly-wound overachiever Annie Edison in Community that would catapult her to stardom. This role allowed Alison to showcase her comedic chops and acting range, gaining her a dedicated fan following.
In February of 2023, she casually came out as bi in an interview for Celeb BuzzFeed, where she and her husband, Dave Franco, were reading thirst tweets to promote their movie Somebody I Used to Know. Since the video was very light-hearted and fun, many missed when she dropped the bisexual truth bomb, as it was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment halfway through the interview.
Around the three-minute mark, she reads a tweet that states, "Listen, I am bisexual for a reason, and that reason is strictly to be used in a threesome by Dave Franco and Alison Brie." To this, she and her husband playfully high-five and say, "That’s also why I’m bisexual!"
Franco and Brie tied the knot in March 2017 after meeting during a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in 2011. Despite being public figures, they usually keep their relationship low-key. However, they've recently been more open about sharing their lives on screen and in film projects.
In 2020, Alison also starred in the Christmas movie Happiest Season, a lesbian rom-com where she played the sister of the main character. Somebody I Used to Know, which she also wrote, deals with themes of biphobia and coming out to family members.
She has been very outspoken about LGBT rights, posting in support of GLAAD’s Spirit Day on her Instagram.