Alison Brie attends the premiere of Sleeping With Other People on August 25, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Getty)
GLOW, the latest original series from Netflix, is about to premiere. In the series, Alison Brie stars as a struggling actress who joins a wrestling promotion called GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling). This is the most significant live action role for Brie since Mad Men and Community both ended in 2015, although she also lends her voice to the hit Netflix animated series Bojack Horseman.
In real life, Alison Brie is 34 years old, and she was born and raised in California. She is the only actor in her family, although she says that her sister was interested in the arts when she was younger.
Ahead of the premiere of GLOW, here’s what you need to know about the family of actress Alison Brie.
1. Her Mother Has a Background in Education
Alison Brie attended a fictional community college for six seasons, but her mother worked at a real one for a long period of time. According to Complex, Brie’s mother, Joanne Schermerhorn, is an educator who has experience working at a community college. She also worked as Director of Early Childhood Services for Para Los Ninos, a nonprofit.
On Mother’s Day this past year, Alison Brie posted a photo of herself with her mom and wrote, “Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there…and especially to this special lady who’s kept me laughing my whole life, through thick and thin…through many fashions and hairstyles. Love you so much momma. ???”
Joanne Schermerhorn is Jewish, and Alison says that this was a big part of her identity growing up.
“My mother, God love her, she’s a very proud Jew and would always really make sure we knew we were Jewish,” Brie said on an episode of WTF with Marc Maron. “I remember being 6 years old or something and she’d be like, ‘Oh, you guys are Jewish. If Hitler came today he would take you.’ And then I would go to sleep just picturing someone murdering me in my sleep.”
However, Brie went on to say that her mother did not go to temple much.
2. Her Father is an Entertainment Journalist
Alison Brie’s father. (Twitter/AlisonBrie)
Alison Brie’s father, Charles Terry Schermerhorn, works as an entertainment journalist, Brie said on an episode of WTF With Marc Maron.
“He handles more I think like celebrity divorces and more like getting court documents authenticating reports like that…but he hates it…he doesn’t love that he does that,” Brie said on the podcast.
Brie went on to say that what her father really loves, though, is music, which he still plays and writes. His band is The Terry Charles Band, which Alison Brie herself has promoted on her social media pages a few times.
My dad’s band, The Terry Charles Band, is playing @theVIPERroom tomorrow night at 7pm sharp! They’re awesome!! Be there or be square!
Brie also said on WTF that growing up, her dad used to play at a local ice cream and coffee place, and she would sing with him sometimes.
3. Her Parents Got Divorced When She Was Five
Alison Brie in GLOW. (Erica Parise/Netflix)
Alison Brie’s parents have been divorced for most of her life. She said on an episode of WTF With Marc Maron that her parents got divorced when she was five years old, and so she doesn’t really remember it happening.
Brie also said that her parents originally lived together and raised the children in Montecito Heights, Los Angeles, but after the divorce, they both moved out, with her mom and dad both getting separate places in South Pasadena. They wanted to say close together because Alison and her sister Lauren swapped between their parents every week.
Neither of Brie’s parents remarried, and Brie said on WTF that as a result, she and her sister try to get their parents to spend holidays together.
“We’ve come back around to making them spend holidays together, which is kind of fun for my sister and I, like ‘Look, we’re older now, we’re not going to split these holidays up anymore, you’re just going to have to come to our house,'” Brie said on WTF with Marc Maron.
Brie said, though, that her parents get along and that they’re “pretty good together.”
4. She Has a Sister, Lauren
Alison Brie has an older sister, Lauren, who works as a financial advisor. In an episode of WTF With Marc Maron, Brie joked that her sister went the complete opposite direction than she did career-wise.
When they were younger, though, both Alison and Lauren were interested in acting. According to The Pasadena Weekly, when she was five years old, Alison would perform for neighbors with her sister.
Brie has said that she based her performance as Trudy Campbell in Mad Men partially on her sister Lauren, who she called a perfectionist.
“She’s like Martha Stewart; she hosts Thanksgiving at her house, and her place settings are amazing,” Brie said of her sister in an interview with New York Magazine.
Lauren is now married; Alison Brie announced this on her Twitter page back in 2009, saying that she was so happy for her sister that she cried.
My sister just got engaged!! When I heard I was so excited for her, I cried. Ahhhh, sisters.
5. She Is Married to Dave Franco
Alison Brie and Dave Franco. (Getty)
In 2017, Alison Brie married into the Franco family. She had been dating actor Dave Franco since 2012; they were engaged in August 2015 and finally married in March 2017.
Brie and Franco have worked together a few times, including in the Funny or Die “Dream Girl.” In the sketch, Alison and Dave participate in a series of challenges which concludes with Dave being allowed to receive a sex act from Olivia Munn.
Another instance of the two working together came in BoJack Horseman season 3. Brie, of course, plays Diane on the Netflix animated series, and Franco appeared in the season 3 episode “Love And/Or Marriage.”
In an interview with People, Alison called Dave ““just the sweetest man I know. And he’s so funny and incredible in every way.”
She also said that she never thought that she would get married until she met Dave Franco.
“I was just like, ‘Well, that’s not my life path, because I’m choosing this crazy lifestyle,'” she told The New York Post. “And then, you know, I fell in love. So, blah blah blah, amazing. Acting is fulfilling, but it’s also not the only thing.”
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Alison Brie’s Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know