Cardellini was born in Redwood City, California, the daughter of Lorraine (née Hernan) and Wayne David Cardellini. She is of Irish and Italian ancestry. She made her first public appearance at age 10, when she sang in a school play. After the performance, she plunged into several school productions and started attending drama lessons. She graduated from nearby Mountain View's St. Francis High Read more...

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 spent the summer of 1999 Read more...