--- title: Kristen Bell Gives Dax Shepard a Birthday Surprise on Ellen description: The Good Place actress surprised her husband for his birthday canonical: https://time.com/5492112/kristen-bell-on-ellen/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-03T15:35:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:40.188Z og:title: Kristen Bell Gave Dax Shepard a Birthday Surprise on Ellen og:description: It left them both in tears og:url: https://time.com/5492112/kristen-bell-on-ellen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kristen Bell Gave Dax Shepard a Birthday Surprise on Ellen twitter:description: It left them both in tears twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Kristen Bell Gives Dax Shepard a Birthday Surprise on Ellen That Left Them Both In Tears ## Video: 5 Stars Who Started on Broadway [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Stars Who Started on Broadway](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RFBTd8HV.m3u8) (1:41)  _Published 2018-05-22. 5 Stars Who Started on Broadway_ by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 3, 2019 3:35 PM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 3, 2019 3:35 PM CUT [Kristen Bell](http://time.com/4352130/kristen-bell-frozen-depression-anxiety/ "undefined") stopped by _The Ellen DeGeneres Show_ on Thursday to help her husband Dax Shepard celebrate his birthday, but somehow they both ended up in tears. Host [Ellen DeGeneres](http://time.com/4728994/ellen-degeneres-1997-coming-out-cover/ "undefined") kicked off the festivities by giving Shepard a very unique birthday gift. “You still love Brad Pitt, right?” she asked the actor, before [presenting him](https://www.ellentube.com/video/dax-shepard-gets-the-brad-pitt-overalls-of-his-dreams.html "undefined") with overalls covering in Pitt’s face. After Shepard slipped into the overalls, DeGeneres took questions from the audience and Bell’s hand was in the air. _The Good Place_ star had a very important inquiry for her husband: “What would you recommend getting someone very special, like a spouse, for their birthday? Or how would you spoil them on their birthday?” “In the bedroom?” asked Shepard, teasing [his wife](http://time.com/4422116/enums/ "undefined"). “Let’s say I have in the bedroom covered,” Bell said with a wink. “I would say please, please, please give that person love and support for 11 years, give them two beautiful baby girls,” he said, making [Bell](http://time.com/5408337/kristen-bell-trump-tweets/ "undefined") tear up. “And, you’re good.” Bell wasn’t embarrassed by her tears, but she was quick to point out to Shepard, “You’re crying, too!” “You sit down, young lady,” Shepard playfully replied. “We’ve heard enough of your question.” DeGeneres wasn’t done with Bell, though. She invited the actress on stage to present Shepard with a cake, which was not an ordinary cake at all. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5492112/kristen-bell-on-ellen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5492112/kristen-bell-on-ellen/"},"headline":"Kristen Bell Gives Dax Shepard a Birthday Surprise on Ellen That Left Them Both In Tears","datePublished":"2019-01-03T15:35:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:40.188Z","description":"If everyone is crying, everyone wins.","url":"https://time.com/5492112/kristen-bell-on-ellen/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","The Ellen Degeneres Show"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5492112/kristen-bell-on-ellen/","name":"Kristen Bell Gives Dax Shepard a Birthday Surprise on Ellen That Left Them Both In Tears"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Stars Who Started on Broadway","description":"5 Stars Who Started on Broadway","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RFBTd8HV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-05-22T20:32:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RFBTd8HV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5492112/kristen-bell-on-ellen/","duration":"PT1M41S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5492112/kristen-bell-on-ellen/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```