Most of us probably know Alison Brie as the cute, yet slightly neurotic “Annie” from NBC’s show Community, but as any die-hard fans will tell you, being cute is not the only reason to love her. This girl can dance, ad lib, do comedy or drama, and she sure does know how to steal a scene. It would be tempting to call her one of Hollywood’s new up and coming starlets, but let’s face it folks- this girl has some staying power. If what she has done so far is any indication, we will certainly be seeing a lot more great work from her in the future. Besides, as one of Maxim’s hot 100, what’s not to love?

Alison Brie was born in Hollywood, California, and grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of South Pasadena. Bitten by the acting bug relatively early in life, she began her career performing in community theatre shows at the Jewish Community Center in Los Feliz. She first performed onstage as Toto in The Wizard of Oz when she was about five or six years old and continued being involved in community theater and school plays. Half-Jewish on her mother’s side, Alison identifies with her family history without letting it be all that defines her, an attitude that allows her to play a variety of characters. After high school Alison attended California Institute of the Arts where she received her B.F.A. in acting. During her time there, she was one of the original cast members in the world premiere of “The Peach Blossom Fan,” performed as the inaugural theatre production at Disney’s REDCAT Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. and also studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland.

One of the most notable things about Alison as a performer is that she does not limit herself to just one form of media. Since graduating, she has worked in film, television and theatre. Alison has performed in the Blank Theatre company’s Young Playwright’s festival and in shows at the Odyssey, Write-Act, and Rubicon Theaters, receiving an Indy Award for her haunting performance as Ophelia in the Rubicon’s production of Hamlet. In 2004, she did a short drama called Stolen Poem and in 2006, Brie made her debut on television with a guest appearance on Miley Cyrus’ Disney hit show Hannah Montana. She did a handful of films before landing the her breakthrough role as the upscale East Side wife of Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser) on the Emmy-award-winning cable drama Mad Men.

Already three seasons into the series, Alison’s character is quickly becoming a favorite for many Mad Men fans. On the show she plays “Trudy”, a woman who seems to have a lot more going on than people initially give her credit for. She is considered to be one of “the better wives” by many viewers, a woman who is always on the forefront of fashion and who does what it takes to support her guy. But don’t let her “good wife” persona fool you. As any long time fan will tell you, Trudy is a lot feistier than you might guess. She even has the guts to stand up for herself, even while dealing with her own shame over being infertile. This girl has the whole package- brains, looks, and guts. It’s no wonder she’s a must see character for season four.

With her talent on Mad Men it shouldn’t be a surprise that Alison also pulls off a totally great comedy character. As we all know, she plays “Annie” on NBC’s hit show Community. The very fact that she can hold her own against a comedy giant like Donald Glover, not to mention all the other great talent on the show, lets us know that this girl is going places. Though 26 in real life, Alison plays a 19-year-old former high school pill-popper with more than a few issues. Though often a little awkward in the midst of her study group buds, she gets the last laugh, or shall we say kiss, at the end of the first season finale when she kisses Jeff, played by Joel McHale. In this season we have definitely seen Annie come into her own as she changed from the neurotic kind-of outcast to the less neurotic, slightly more self assured girl willing to take a few risks. Annie is certainly full of surprises and it will be great to see what next season brings and her character becomes more of a key player on the show.

So what’s next for Alison? In 2009, she worked with veteran actress Olympia Dukakis and former child actor Haley Joel Osment in the dramedy Montana Amazon. Could it be that she has more movies or another great hit show in the works? Stay tuned to the site to find out all the latest news on our favorite girl with major star power. So far nearly everything she touches seems to turn to gold. We can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Oh yeah, did we mention that she was in Maxim!? All that talent and she’s hot, enough said!