Amy Lou Adams (born August 20, 1975) is an Oscar-nominated American film and television actress.

Adams was born in Aviano, Pordenone, Italy to American parents Richard and Kathryn Adams, as a result of her father's military career. She was raised as one of seven children in a Mormon family in Castle Rock, Colorado and attended Douglas County High School. After leaving Colorado in her early 20s, Adams worked as a dancer before appearing in her first film role in the 1999 film, Drop Dead Gorgeous. In that film, she played a cheerleader who enters a beauty contest in order to make her highschool boyfriend wrestler happy.

Adams subsequently decided on a professional acting career, and appeared in several films, including Catch Me If You Can (2002) and Cruel Intentions 2 (2000). She has also guest-starred in such television shows as The Office (US), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, The West Wing and Smallville

Adams has received critical acclaim for her role in the 2005 film Junebug. Among the awards she has won for the role are the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the National Society of Film Critics award for "Best Supporting Actress" and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. Additionally, she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture. In January 2006, Adams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role.

Adams will appear in the comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, currently slated for release in August 2006, and in the fantasy film, Enchanted, which will be released in November 2007.

Adams has dated actor Darren LeGallo for three and a half years. When her Oscar-nomination was announced, her mother, who at the time was working in a Starbucks in Castle Rock, yelled out "'My daughter was just nominated for an Oscar!"