Christine Joan Taylor (born July 30, 1971 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American actress.
Taylor began her career in 1989 on the Nickelodeon Network children's television series Hey Dude, where she played the perky Melody. She continued on that show through 1991 while making various guest appearances on other programs. Her physical resemblance to the character of Marcia Brady, coupled with several successful comedic turns as a guest on shows including Ellen, led to her being cast in the 1995 film spoof of the television show The Brady Bunch called, appropriately, The Brady Bunch Movie. Her performance garnered her a sequel, A Very Brady Sequel.
In 1996, she was awarded the lead character in the television series, Party Girl.
Following Party Girl, Taylor's career advanced rapidly, highlighted by guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Friends and Seinfeld. She played the best friend role in the Drew Barrymore/Adam Sandler film The Wedding Singer.
Several other small film roles later, including The Craft, preceded her romance and May, 2000 marriage to actor and writer Ben Stiller, whom she met while filming a never-broadcast television pilot for Fox called Heat Vision and Jack, starring Jack Black. Taylor has appeared opposite Stiller in a number of his films, including Zoolander in 2001 and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story in 2004. On April 10, 2002, Taylor bore Stiller and Taylor's first child, a daughter named Ella Olivia Stiller.
Taylor is considered a gifted comedic actress whose success in television and film acting has been varied but often heralded.