In 1990, Hunt portrayed Carol Anne Smithson in
Grand. She refused to become a cast member of
Saturday Night Live because the series' producers generally frowned on her preferred improvisational style. In 1991, Hunt joined the cast of
Davis Rules as Gwen Davis, for the show's second season. The following year, she was offered the part of BJ Poteet, a replacement character of the departing Allison Sugarbaker, played by
Julia Duffy on
Designing Women, the part of BJ was ultimately played by
Judith Ivey. was largely influenced by Hunt's blue-collar Catholic upbringing in Chicago. Hunt portrayed Alice Newton in
Beethoven and ''
Beethoven's 2nd, Sarah Whittle/Madam Serena in Jumanji, and Kate Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen and Cheaper by the Dozen 2''. She portrayed the sister of Renée Zellweger's character in
Jerry Maguire and Jan Edgecomb in
The Green Mile. She portrayed Grace Bellamy in
Loggerheads. She has provided her voice for a total of eight
Pixar films: ''
A Bug's Life as Rosie the black widow, Monsters, Inc. as Ms. Flint, Cars, Cars 2, and Cars 3 as Sally Carrera, Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 as Dolly, and Monsters University'' as Karen Graves. In addition, Hunt voiced Bonnie Hopps in the
Walt Disney Animation Studios' film,
Zootopia, which marked her first non-Pixar animated film, as well as its sequel,
Zootopia 2.
The Bonnie Hunt Show In 2007, Hunt taped a pilot episode for
Telepictures. The pilot was approved and the talk show was created.
The Bonnie Hunt Show premiered on September 8, 2008. The set design was a tribute to
Dean Martin and on the walls are pictures of historic television personalities, as well as Hunt's family members. The series was inspired by the format of
Live with Regis and Kelly, with the host and guests often interacting with the audience. Many of the series' staffers were longtime friends of Hunt from Chicago. The series typically started with an opening monologue followed by guest interviews and games played with the audience. Hunt's mother Alice often appeared in
webcasts from her home in Chicago.
The Bonnie Hunt Show taped in Culver City, California, and was viewed in 17 of the top 20 US television markets in the United States. In its first year,
The Bonnie Hunt Show was nominated for three Daytime Emmy Awards, for opening theme, hairstyle, and makeup. It won the Gracie Award for "Outstanding Talk Show" in 2009. In 2010, Hunt was nominated for "Outstanding Talk Show Host" at the Daytime Emmy Awards. The final episode aired on May 26, 2010. ==Personal life==