Linda Cardellini

Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American television and film actress. She is best known for her roles as CJ from Regular Show, as high school student Lindsay Weir on Freaks and Geeks, as Velma Dinkley in the live-action Scooby-Doo films, and as Samantha Taggart on ER. She voices the main character Wendy Corduroy in Gravity Falls.

Early life
Cardellini was born in Redwood City, California, the daughter of Lorraine (née Hernan) and Wayne David Cardellini. She made her first public appearance at the age of 10, when she sang in a school play. Subsequent to that performance, she acted in several school productions, and started attending drama classes. She graduated from nearby Mountain View's Catholic St. Francis High School in 1993, then moved to Los Angeles to seek roles in television and film.

Career
Cardellini received her first big break in 1996 when she landed a starring role as Sarah on ABC's Saturday morning live-action children's series, Bone Chillers. Following this, she made guest appearances on prime-time programs such as Step by Step, Clueless, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Boy Meets World as Lauren, a girl that came between the show's star couple. Cardellini co-starred in the AMC mini-series The Lot in 1999, and spent the summer in Europe as part of a touring production of Lancelot, a 14th century Dutch tragedy.

Cardellini had her first major success when she landed one of the starring roles in the NBC series Freaks and Geeks, which debuted during the 1999–2000 season. As Lindsay Weir, an honor student in the midst of an identity crisis, the actress earned positive response that subsequently catapulted her to fame. Cardellini starred in the live-action adaptation of Scooby-Doo in 2002, in which she brought to life the cartoon character of Velma Dinkley. She would later reprise her role of Velma in 2004's Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. She joined the cast of the hospital drama ER in 2003 as Samantha Taggart, a free-spirited nurse. Cardellini acted for six seasons on ER, until the series finale, "And in the End...", and with the cast won the TV Land ensemble Icon Award in 2009.

Her other film work includes roles in Dead Man on Campus, Legally Blonde, Brokeback Mountain (for which she was nominated for the ensemble Gotham and Screen Actors Guild awards), and a starring role in the Happy Madison film Grandma's Boy as Samantha. She was the voice of Ursula in the role-playing video game, Gladius, and played the voice of Bliss Goode on the Fox animated series The Goode Family. In 2007, Cardellini was chosen to play lovelorn Clara in the CBS miniseries Comanche Moon, a prequel to 1989's Lonesome Dove.

In 2010 and 2011 Cardellini returned to the stage with the Dr. God comedy group in Los Angeles and San Francisco, appeared in Kill the Irishman and Super, and starred in the independent film Return.

She appeared with cast members and producers of Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared at the Paley Center for Media PaleyFest on March 12, 2011.

Personal life
Cardellini attended Loyola Marymount University's College of Communication and Fine Arts, graduating in 2001 with a degree in theatre arts.

Cardellini dated her Freaks and Geeks co-star Jason Segel for a few years following the show's cancellation. She enjoys art (especially that of Margaret Keane) and takes martial arts classes.

On October 18, 2011, Cardellini and her boyfriend, Steven Rodriguez, announced that they were expecting their first child in 2012. On February 29, 2012, Cardellini gave birth to her daughter Lilah-Rose.

Filmography

 * See Linda Cardellini#Filmography

Awards
Cardellini, as part of the cast of the movie Brokeback Mountain, was nominated for a 2005 Gotham Award and a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2009, as part of the cast of the television series ER, she won the Icon Award, which was presented at the TV Land Awards.