A native of Seattle, The Hot Chick gained acting experience and training on stage while attending school. A city highly regarded for its theater circuit, Seattle proved to be a valuable teaching ground for her. There, Faris was cast in numerous productions including Our Town, Danger: Monkey, To Kill a Mockingbird, Heidi, Rain, Some Fish, No Elephants, Life Under Water, Summer Brave and I Never Saw a Butterfly.

A student of English Literature and Drama, Faris has performed on radio as well in presentations of Chekov Short Stories and The Sweet Hereafter.

Her time in Seattle led to her first major role in a film entitled Lovers Lane, a low budget teen-slasher pic about a man with a hook who escapes a mental institution and hunts for teenage victims. This proved not to be Faris' only experience with horror films, for just a short time later, she received the call in Los Angeles to audition for Scary Movie. It was with this film that she won her first lead role. After completing Scary Movie, Faris relocated to Los Angeles and began landing roles in other features such as The Hot Chick (2002) as well as two Scary Movie sequels.