Meet the Faces of ELLE's Women in TV

Allison on why she tends to wear high-end, American designers on the red carpet: "I wanted to establish a baseline: Here's what I look like, I have long brown hair, I wear this kind of dress, this is the deal. You can count on it! Look at Jennifer Aniston: she's America's sweetheart for a reason. You know what she's going to look like when she shows up to something, and there's something so comfortable in that." On where she wants her career to go: "I want to play a villain. I want to play a romantic heroine. I want to play someone who's on heroin. There's nothing I don't want to do. I want to play a guy at some point. I'll gain 100 pounds, I'll cut my hair off, I'll do whatever. I'm not precious about any of it." Allison Williams wears a jersey dress from Anthony Vaccarello and diamond stud earrings from Hearts on Fire.

Amy on the conflict between being a comedian and being a grown-up: "Now that I have kids, I'm up at 5:30AM no matter what. Sleep at this point is just a concept, something I'm looking forward to investigating in the future. But I'd like to say that I maintain that same sense of play and creativity and spontaneity–of being able to get into a room with people and say, 'Let's waste some time.' When you're a creative person, even when you're in a position of power, you still have to be able to straddle both worlds." On why she's heading into directing, production and writing: "I like to do things that challenge me and make me nervous. You learn early as an actor that creating your own material is the only way to have any control. Hollywood is like a bad boyfriend. You can't stand around and wait to be asked to dance." Amy Poehler wears a stretch georgette and satin jacket and stretch cady leggings from Tom Ford and white gold and diamond earrings from Hearts on Fire.

BJ Novak on his ex-girlfriend/current collaborator/best friend, Mindy Kaling: "She's a gangster and guys respond to that. This is not a girl who waits by the phone. This is a girl who picks up the phone and calls whoever she wants." Mindy on how the The Mindy Project getting green-lit served as a desperately needed distraction from her mother's death: "Any person that's been in the business knows they're so lucky to have their show picked up–it happens to such a small fraction of shows. But I was lucky personally, because I needed a distraction so badly from my grief. Still my thoughts flutter toward her in scenes that I'm doing, every night before I go to bed, and every morning when I wake up." Mindy Kaling wears a wool-blend jacket from Theory by Olivier Theyskens and white gold diamond earrings and ring from Hearts on Fire.

Zooey on how growing up in Hollywood affected her: "Definitely none of the kids I grew up with would have ever thought, Zooey will be on television and have her own show. I wasn't the world's most popular child, which gave me built-in tenacity. Nothing has ever come easy for me, and I think that's a really good thing. I learned at an early age that you have to work hard for what you get." On the idea that girliness connotes weakness and how it comes up less and less: "There has been a shift. I really have stood up for myself on multiple platforms. It's sort of the grown-up version of middle-school nastiness, and I'm just like, come on. If there's one thing I'd like to graduate from, it's girl-on-girl hate. I don't believe in it." Zooey Deschanel wears an embroidered net dress from Valentino.