18 Things to Know About Jewish Actress Alison Brie

The "Community" and "Mad Men" star got her start doing children's theater at a Jewish Community Center.

Ever since her break out roles on “Mad Men” and “Community,” Alison Brie has become one of the busiest working actresses today. Her roles are versatile, from the love interest of an animated horse to one of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling on “Glow.” If any time you watch one of her projects you’re prone to Googling, “Is Alison Brie Jewish?”, here’s your answer: Yes, yes she is.

Here are 18 things to know about her.

1. Alison Brie was born on Dec. 29, 1982 in Los Angeles.

2. She’s a Capricorn.

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3. Alison grew up with an interfaith background. Her parents were divorced and her father would take her to Sunday school and his Christian-Hindu hybrid church. Meanwhile, her mother was not shy about instilling Jewishness into her kids.

“My mother, God love her, is a very proud Jew and would always make sure we knew we were Jewish,” Alison told Marc Maron on his podcast in 2013. “I remember being 6 years old and her saying, you know you guys are Jewish. If Hitler came today he would take you.”

4. Here is aforementioned proud Jewish mother. Can you see a resemblance? We sure do!

5. She fell in love with acting at age 5 and performed children’s theater at the JCC in Los Feliz. You can listen to her talk about the experience on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon”:

6. Alison graduated from South Pasadena High School, where she was president of the drama club, in 2001. She later graduated from CalArts.

7. Her first TV role came in 2006 when she was featured in an episode of “Hannah Montana.”

8. One of her breakout roles was as 18-year-old Annie Edison on “Community.” Like Alison, Annie has a Jewish mother and a father with a Christian background.

“My memories of shooting Community are just laughing until we’re all crying, and having to lean over so that the tears aren’t ruining our makeup. It’s like that every time we get together,” Alison said in an interview in 2024.

9. Starring as Trudy Campbell in “Mad Men” gave Alison confidence in her career.

“I didn’t start working on ‘Mad Men’ and immediately start getting amazing job offers,” Brie said. “But I definitely had more confidence because I was working and I could quit my job at the front desk at the yoga studio.”

10. Alison met fellow actor Dave Franco in 2011. They started dating in 2012, got engaged in 2015 and were married in 2017.

You can read their full relationship timeline here.

11. In 2023, Alison very casually came out as bisexual.

12. Alison and Dave have collaborated on multiple projects together from “The Disaster Artist” to “Somebody I Used to Know.”

“More than anything it’s just nice to be together. You spend so much time apart when you’re shooting on location and in different cities, so to be able to go together to Italy for a month in the springtime was great,” Alison explained in an interview for the movie “The Little Hours.” “The same thing just even about working with friends and people that I know and love — it’s just so much more fun, you get to skip that period of time where you’re trying to get to know everyone and being polite. You just get to be intimate with each other and have a great time.”

13. She can breakdance — kinda!

14. Alison starred on the show “GLOW” from 2017 to 2019. In it, she played Gorgeous Lady of Wrestling Ruth Wilder aka Zoya the Destroya and did all her own stunts! She told Vulture that being in the ring was “the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever experienced.”

15. But, initially, the co-creators of “GLOW” didn’t think she was right for the part.

The fact that they didn’t think I was right for the role made me want to do it even more because I was really looking to showcase the different sides of myself and prove to the world that I can play a different type of character,” Alison said in an interview. “It was an amazing clue that they were like, ‘We don’t think you’re capable of this.’ And I’m like, I’m going to prove you wrong.’

16. After “GLOW” was canceled, Alison started writing and producing more of her own projects. However, she has yet to direct anything.

“I’ve been thinking more and more about directing a film, which I really want to do, but it’s the same type of thing where it’s just like, What’s the project that’s going to ignite the passion enough to carry me through that kind of time commitment? And just the fear, the scariness of taking that leap and the vulnerability that comes with that,” she explained to Vanity Fair.

17. Alison and Dave have two cats! Their names are Max and Otis.

18. Dave and Alison’s latest project is horror movie “Together,” which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. “It’s an exploration of intimacy and when intimacy turns into codependency and what happens when being in a longterm relationship you start to lose your own identity,” Alison told IMDb.

Evelyn Frick

Evelyn Frick (she/they) is a writer and associate editor at Hey Alma. She graduated from Vassar College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. In her spare time, she's a comedian and contributor for Reductress and The Onion.

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