By Jessica Wedemeyer
11:22am PST, Mar 5, 2018
Krysten Ritter stars as the titular superheoine on the Marvel series "Jessica Jones." In honor of the second season, which returns to Netflix on March 8, Wonderwall.com rounded up everything you need to know about the 36-year-old actress. Keep reading for 20 things you might not know (but should!) about Krysten…
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No. 1: She's a TV veteran
Let's start with an easy one: Before she landed on Netflix, Krysten Ritter appeared on many of our favorite television shows. She portrayed Gia Goodman on "Veronica Mars" from 2005 to 2006, had a stint on "Gilmore Girls" as Lucy from 2006 to 2007, broke our hearts as Jane Margolis on "Breaking Bad" (pictured) from 2009 to 2010 and starred as the titular B on "Don't Trust the B—- in Apartment 23" from 2012 to 2013.
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No. 2: She grew up on a farm
Krysten Ritter grew up on a beef and chicken farm in Shickshinny, Pennsylvania. "I had a calf I raised named Jake. He was so small that when I got him, I could pick him up. We took naps together and snuggled. And then he got big — very big. We put him in the pasture," she told the November 2012 issue of Playboy. "When I would go hang out with him, I'd pull him over to the side of the fence, hold on to the scruff of his neck and get on him. And he would start walking. People would drive by and take pictures, like, 'Who is this girl riding a cow?'"
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No. 3: She was discovered at a mall in Pennsylvania when she was 15
"I was scouted at the mall as a model and I was brought to New York and sent around to all the go-sees and magazines and met cool photographers and hot musicians," Krysten Ritter told ELLE in 2017. "All of a sudden, I was like, 'Wow, look at this whole world, look at this city.' I got here with my bag and my Streetwise Manhattan map, a hard-copy map! A whole world opened up to me." The modeling agency put her up in a two-bedroom apartment where she lived with eight to 10 other girls at a time, sleeping in bunk beds. "It was crazy, but not as crazy as people want it to be," she told the November 2012 issue of Playboy. "Sure, we'd go out and drink cosmos and dance on tables. But no sex with rappers or cocaine or eating disorders."
No. 4: She can be vindictive
During an interview for the November 2012 issue of Playboy, Krysten Ritter detailed how she got back at a mean-girl roommate, another model with whom she lived in an agency apartment in New York City: "I worked a lot, and there was one other girl who also worked a lot. She was the queen bee before I came along, and I think she didn't enjoy that she wasn't the only one anymore," the "Jessica Jones" actress said. "She f—— hated me. I would play guitar on the patio — not late; we're talking 8:30 to 9 p.m. — and she would tell the agency I was keeping her up. I got in trouble for that. So I put roaches in her bed. You don't f— with a girl's livelihood." She added, "[My friend and I] caught the roaches and put them in the other model's suitcase too, in hopes she would take them home and infest her house. I'm pretty ashamed of myself."
No. 5: She's a knitting enthusiast
"My gram taught me to knit when I was little, and then I came across my old knitting tools when I was cleaning out my closets after 'Jessica Jones' Season 1, and got right back into it," Krysten Ritter told Women's Health in 2017. "If I have a moment on set, or anytime, I do this. I love it, the repetition. People call it the Secret Keeper, because it's a meditation; it relaxes your mind. After I've knitted for a while, I feel like I just woke up from a nap. And what's awesome is that then you have a product! You have something you made with your hands!" She also created a line of DYI knitting kits — which include yarn, needles and patterns — for weareknitter.com, appeared on the cover of the late winter 2018 issue of Vogue Knitting and taught Stephen Colbert how to knit during an appearance on "The Late Show" on March 1, 2018.
No. 6: She was a video vixen
Krysten Ritter co-starred in the music video for Sevendust's 1999 song "Waffle." In October 2012, when a fan tagged her in a tweet sharing a link to the alt-metal clip, she responded, "Oh dear… didn't think that one would ever surface." Thanks, Internet!
No. 7: Her teen years were rough
"I was always picked on," Krysten Ritter told the November 2012 issue of Playboy. "When I became a model, it got even worse because the girls became meaner — 'Oh my God, I can't believe she's a model. She's not even pretty.' At some slumber party they tape-recorded their night, and it was about me getting bashed. And these were some of my best friends! Not anymore. Someone gave my high school boyfriend the tape. You know, high school is all subterfuge and scandal. I was just counting down the minutes until I turned 18."
No. 8: She's even taller than you think
"A lot of people think I'm going to be shorter when they meet me," Krysten Ritter told the November 2012 issue of Playboy. "When I was starting out, I would get called in for auditions off of my tape. When I'd show up in person, they'd be like, 'Oh my God, you're much taller than we thought.' … Everyone is always like, 'Oh my God, you're so tall. What are you, 6 feet?' I'm 5 foot 9. Relax, everyone. All the other actresses are so little that they get to wear heels. I can't wear heels on set because the set is too small. If they put me in heels, you'd be able to see lighting in the shot. When I met [ex-boyfriend Brian Geraghty], he knew me only from watching me on 'Breaking Bad.' I was wearing heels when I met him, and he was like, 'Oh, wow. You're really tall.' We have a thing: If we're going to a party for me, I can wear big heels. And if we're going to a party for him, I wear the small heels."
No. 9: She has a thing for dating co-stars
Krysten Ritter has reportedly romanced two former co-stars: Ivan Sergei, with whom she starred on "Gravity" in 2010, and Brian Geraghty, whom she met on the set of the 2012 drama "Refuge."
No. 10: She's currently taken
Krysten Ritter has been in a relationship with The War on Drugs frontman Adam Granduciel since 2014. "He's my favorite artist," she told Ocean Drive magazine in 2014. A source told Us Weekly that Krysten's relationship with the rocker "started with her being a fan of the band and then somehow she got in touch with him and went to some shows." She even came up with the concept for her beau's band's "Holding On" music video: "I went out to get our weekend coffees and when I came back Krysten had written up a whole treatment of her own and pitched me her idea," Adam told The New Yorker in 2017. "I thought it was really great from the second she delivered it."
No. 11: She's not the marrying type (not yet, anyway!)
"I was never the little girl who dreamed about a wedding or a big white dress," Krysten Ritter told the November 2012 issue of Playboy while she was in a relationship with actor Brian Geraghty. "It was never my thing, but I don't think I'm sour on marriage. I just don't know if I'm the type. Marriage seems scary to me. I'm in a serious relationship. We have a dog together. We live five minutes from each other. It's heaven. I think that might be the key: separate houses, separate bank accounts. Why mess with that?"
No. 12: She vision-boards
"I have a giant one at all times, with projects that I'm working on and in development," Krysten Ritter told Ocean Drive magazine in 2014. "I also have a note for myself to do more charity work. I want to be doing good things in addition to developing TV shows and acting. … I want to have a big life. I also have pictures of my girlfriends on it. For me, the things that are most important in life are feeling good, having important relationships and deep, meaningful friendships, and going after work that I love, and creating work that I love."
No. 13: She likes to box
Krysten Ritter discovered a passion for boxing while training for the first season of "Jessica Jones." "I felt like such a loser the first time. I didn't know how to throw a punch — why would I? Who knows how to throw a punch? Now I do it all the time, and it makes me feel strong. It's so f—— fun," she told Women's Health in 2017. "You have to focus and be present… because if you aren't present, you're going to get hit in the face," she added.
No. 14: She's a crazy dog lady
Krysten Ritter is wild about her rescue pooch, Mikey. "It's incredible what this dog has done for me as a woman and as an adult, in grounding me," she told Ocean Drive magazine in 2014. "He used to bite people, and he was fearful and obviously abused. He'd been hit by a car when I got him, and now he's a great dog. He goes with me everywhere, and he's so well-trained. When my friends come over, instead of trying to bite them, he's happy to see them. He is a poster dog for rescuing and adoption." She and Mikey have even co-starred in several PETA campaigns, including one about opting to adopt and another about the dangers of leaving pups in hot cars. Speaking of PETA…
No. 15: She starred in a 2016 PETA campaign aimed at SeaWorld
Krysten Ritter posed underwater for PETA's 2016 "Break Free" campaign urging SeaWorld to free their orca whales. "Orcas are highly evolved, emotional, intelligent creatures who should not be confined in this kind of captivity. It's the equivalent of a human living their life in a bathtub," she said in one campaign video. "So we would like to see orcas released to seaside sanctuaries where they can live out their days with their family members and swimming and communicating and not having to do tricks for a snack."
No. 16: She didn't always know she wanted to be an actress
"I didn't really know what I wanted to be," Krysten Ritter told ELLE in 2017. "You know, they'd have those assemblies at school, with the list of careers? Nothing really spoke to me. And there's a lot of pressure. … But I wasn't a little kid who was like, 'Oh, when I grow up, I want to be an actress.' Nobody said, like, 'Chase big dreams.'"
No. 17: She's not just an actress
Krysten Ritter co-wrote, produced and starred in the 2012 indie comedy "L!fe Happens," which centers around the lives of three female roomies after one — Krysten's character — unexpectedly gets pregnant. "We called actors and got them to attach themselves, and we called in every favor you could possible imagine," she told Collider of making the movie. "Originally, I wasn't going to play Kim and [co-writer Kat Coiro] wasn't going to direct. We were just like, 'We'll do whatever we can to get it made. Let's just do this!' And, I'm happy with the way things went." She also developed a show for MTV, though it never made it on the air.
No. 18: She's also a novelist
Krysten Ritter published her debut novel, the psychological thriller "Bonfire," in 2017. "Originally, I thought that this idea would be a great TV series. Then I realized that this idea might lend itself to working as a book," she told ELLE. "After the first season of 'Jessica Jones,' the phone was ringing more and I'm fortunate in that. But the parts were not that good. Jessica Jones is such a great part, and I do serious work on it. I feel really creatively fulfilled. I get to do stunts and great drama and work with great scene partners and also be funny. That's a high bar." Continued the writer-actress, "This gave me the opportunity to explore themes that I wanted to explore, instead of waiting for the phone to ring. I'm a really proactive girl. I don't wait for people to tell me."
No. 19: She's a rocker too!
Krysten Ritter records and plays music under the name Ex Vivian. "I'm happiest when I'm playing guitar and writing and expressing myself in that creative way — it's a great detox from the grind of Hollywood for me," she told Ocean Drive magazine in 2014, describing her music as "cutesy and dark and girly." She released her debut self-titled album in 2012.
No. 20: She has a bizarre fear about hotels
"My biggest fear is that I'll get locked out of my hotel room when I'm naked," Krysten Ritter told the November 2012 issue of Playboy. "The doors always shut on you. I met somebody who carries a wedge with them to hold the door open because they were so sick of hotel doors closing. … There are times when maybe I have a little nightie on and I'll push the room-service tray out really quick. Something could happen. Really."
