RATINGS: Cast & Crew

DOB: June 25, 1975

Background: Cardellini is an American actress who started acting in school productions at age ten. After graduating high school in 1993, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.

Filmography: She had early guest starring roles on shows like "3rd Rock from the Sun," "Step By Step," and "Promised Land," but made her breakthrough in 1999 playing Lindsay Weir in the short-lived but critically hailed high school comedy "Freaks and Geeks," which also starred James Franco and Seth Rogen. She followed that with roles in "Legally Blonde," the live-action "Scooby-Doo" films, and "Brokeback Mountain." For six years she was a regular on NBC's long-running medical drama "ER," playing Nurse Samantha Taggart from 2003 until the show's series finale in 2009. She starred in "Return" as a soldier who struggled to readjust to civilian life.

SAG Awards:

Best Film Ensemble Nomination
"Brokeback Mountain" (2005); lost to "Crash"