Personal life

Cardellini was born in Redwood City, California to Wayne David Cardellini and Lorraine Hernan. She graduated from nearby Mountain View's St. Francis High School in 1993, and attended Loyola Marymount University's College of Communication and Fine Arts, graduating in 2001 with a degree in theatre.

Cardellini enjoys art, especially that of Margaret Keane. She takes martial arts classes. Cardellini dated her Freaks and Geeks co-star Jason Segel until February 2006.

Career

Cardellini appeared in 1993 as a contestant on The Price Is Right, where she won a fireplace. She was the lead in Bone Chillers (1996), an ABC children's show, and was also the voice of the heroine in the role-playing video game Gladius.

Cardellini may be best known for her roles as high school student Lindsay Weir on Freaks and Geeks and as nurse Samantha Taggart on ER. Her film work includes Dead Man on Campus, Legally Blonde and Brokeback Mountain. She also played Velma Dinkley in the two live-action Scooby-Doo movies: Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. She also starred as Samantha in Adam Sandlers production Grandma's Boy.

She currently is starring on ER.

From Wikipedia