Bell tells the story of arriving in LA with a singular goal: to become the lead of a TV show. She auditioned relentlessly, was told she was too young, too old, too cute, too plain, too smart, too ditzy — 'as if Goldilocks were every casting director.' When she finally got cast on Veronica Mars and achieved everything she wanted, something unexpected happened: she wasn't happy at all. She was lonelier than she'd ever been. It wasn't until a castmate invited her into his life — his community, his birthday party — that everything changed. In retrospect, she realized it wasn't the role she was looking for, or a paycheck, or a titular character. What she really needed was friendship. Her brains, she says, are 'arrogant assholes' — they think they're running the show, but the heart is secretly pulling the strings.