She Played 'Kandi' On Two and a Half Men, See April Bowlby Now At 42

April Bowlby was born in Vallejo, California, on July 20th, 1980. This 5’ 7” (1.7 m) actress has been active in the industry since 2004. She is known for her work on Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother and Doom Patrol.

When she was a child, she and her family moved to Manteca, California. As a child, she dreamed of being a ballerina. Eventually, she would graduate from East Union High School. Later she would attend Moorpark College and study ballet, French, and marine biology. Following her time at Moorpark College, she would start a modeling career for a time before turning her attention to acting, taking time to study drama with Ivana Chubbuck.

Acting Career

April Bowlby’s early roles were small parts in running television shows, usually for an episode or two. Her first credited role was in an episode of CSI: NY in 2005 titled “Crime and Misdemeanor.”

That same year she would appear in an episode of Freddie and an episode of Stacked. She would land one of her first film roles in the 2009 comedy The Slammin’ Salmon, playing the role of Mia. The year before, she had a minor role in the family drama film All Roads Lead Home.

How I Met Your Mother

April Bowlby would start landing more significant roles in 2007, beginning with a series of notable appearances in the show How I Met Your Mother.

Over the course of seven years, she would appear as Meg/Crazy Meg for a few episodes, first seen in 2007’s “Dowisetrepia” with her final appearance in 2014’s “Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra.”

Drop Dead Diva

Shortly after her first appearance in How I Met Your Mother, she was cast in a leading role in the series Drop Dead Diva. She would appear in all 78 episodes of the show from 2009 to 2014.

The show was about a model name Deb who dies in a car crash but is brought back to life as an overweight lawyer named Jane. April Bowlby played Stacy Barret, one of the few characters in on the secret of Jane and Deb.

Two and a Half Men

In 2005, she would be cast as a character named Kimber in an episode of Two and a Half Men titled “Madame and Her Special Friend.” Two and a Half Men was a sitcom about a hedonistic songwriter who takes in his brother and ten-year-old nephew.

April Bowlby would continue to appear in the show, as the same character, only with the name Kandi. She would first appear as the renamed character in the 2006 episode “Humiliation Is a Visual Medium.”

She was one of the many recurring guest on the show along with Melanie Lynskey, Jennifer Taylor , Courtney Thorne-Smith, Brooke D’Orsay, Kelly Stables, Emmanuelle Vaugier, and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe.

She would continue to appear in episodes of the show into 2015. She would appear in 17 episodes in total. The character of Kandi would go on to be the 2nd ex-wife of Alan (Jon Cryer).

What is April Bowlby doing now?

April Bowlby has achieved a whole new legion of fans in her most recent role in the cult superhero television series Doom Patrol. Since 2019 she has played the character of Rita Farr, a former actress who receives superpowers and goes by the team identity of Elasti-Woman.

The series is an adaptation of the quirky DC Comics team of the same name originating in June of 1963. Rita Farr would be the most level-headed of the group of superpowered oddities but would have her own hangups and difficulties with her powers. She would appear in 34 out of 35 episodes of the show to date as of 2021.

To preper for her role as Rita, April purchased and read the Silver Age Omnibus original Doom Patrol comic. She also read the Grant Morrison version of Doom Patrol as well.

April Bowlby is also a voracious reader; one of her projects is a podcast. She is the co-host of 75 Reads, along with Jo Bozarth.

April mentions that her and her co-host are huge David Bowie fans and that they stumbled upon his reading list that contained 75 books and they decided to create a podcast/book club around those 75 books.

Every month they read a book from his list and try to figure out how the book maybe inspired David Bowie in his music or in his life.

April Bowlby can be found on social media. She can be found on Instagram and Twitter.

What is April Bowlby’s relationship status?

April Bowlby is currently married to writer and filmmaker Matthew Cooke. While the information on when they met isn’t widely known, they did get married in December 2020, according to multiple sources.

Matthew Cooke is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, writer, and actor. He has done some acting but does most of his work behind the camera. He has directed for film and television, including the show Bad Dad and the documentary Survivors Guide to Prison. Matthew Cooke can be found on Instagram.

April Bowlby does not appear to have children. There have been no social media posts or news articles suggesting that she has children.