Linda Cardellini

Biography:

Linda Edna Cardellini was born on June 25, 1975, in Redwood City, California, to Wayne David Cardellini, a businessman, and Lorraine (née Hernan), a homemaker. She is the youngest of four siblings and has Italian, Irish, German, and Scottish heritage. Cardellini made her first public appearance at age ten by singing in a school play and later participated in multiple school productions while taking drama lessons. She graduated from St. Francis High School in Mountain View in 1993 and moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. In 1994, she appeared as a contestant on The Price Is Right, winning a fireplace. Cardellini earned a theater arts degree from Loyola Marymount University’s College of Communication and Fine Arts in 1997 and was named a “Distinguished Alumna” in 2007.

Her first significant role came in 1996 as Sarah on ABC’s Saturday morning series Bone Chillers, while she was still in college and working at an ice cream shop. She then made guest appearances on shows such as Step by Step, Clueless, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Boy Meets World. In 1999, she starred in the first season of AMC’s The Lot and spent a summer touring Europe in a production of Lancelot.

Cardellini gained widespread recognition as Lindsay Weir, an honor student navigating an identity crisis, on NBC’s Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000). She portrayed Velma Dinkley in the live-action Scooby-Doo films (2002 and 2004) and joined ER in 2003 as nurse Samantha Taggart, a role she held for six seasons, earning the TV Land ensemble Icon Award in 2009.

Her film credits include Dead Man on Campus, Strangeland, Good Burger, Legally Blonde, Brokeback Mountain (nominated for Gotham and SAG ensemble awards), and Grandma’s Boy. Cardellini provided voices in the video game Gladius and the animated series The Goode Family. In 2007, she appeared as Clara in CBS’s miniseries Comanche Moon.

From 2010–2011, Cardellini returned to stage performances with the Dr. God comedy group, appeared in Kill the Irishman and Super, and starred in Return. She reunited with the Freaks and Geeks cast at PaleyFest in 2011. Between 2012 and 2016, she voiced Wendy Corduroy on Disney Channel’s Gravity Falls and occasionally performed in The Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast.

In 2013, Cardellini played Sylvia Rosen on Mad Men, earning a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress. She portrayed Laura Barton, Hawkeye’s wife, in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and reprised the role in Avengers: Endgame (2019). From 2015 to 2016, she starred alongside Kyle Chandler in Netflix’s Bloodline and appeared in the films Daddy’s Home (2015) and its sequel (2017).

In 2018, Cardellini co-starred with Christina Applegate in Netflix’s dark comedy Dead to Me, receiving critical acclaim and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. She also appeared in Green Book (2018), which won Best Picture, and starred in The Curse of La Llorona (2019).

In 2020, she played Mae Capone in the biographical drama Capone. In 2021, she returned as Laura Barton in Disney+’s Hawkeye and starred in Netflix’s No Good Deed. In 2024, she appeared in Way of the Warrior Kid, and in 2025, she was announced to play Pamela Voorhees in Peacock’s Crystal Lake, a prequel to the Friday the 13th series.

Cardellini previously dated her Freaks and Geeks co-star Jason Segel and later partnered with Steven Rodriguez. The couple announced her pregnancy in 2011, and she gave birth to their daughter in February 2012. They became engaged in June 2013.

She splits her time between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, with a country home in Woodside, California, where she enjoys horseback riding. Cardellini practices Catholicism.