Angel

Background:

Starting out on stage, Saturn Award winning American actress Amy Acker quickly made the jump to television career and hit the big time with her portrayals of Winifred “Fred” Burkle and Illyria on The WB's fantasy series, “Angel” (2001-2004). She was nominated for four Saturn Awards, which she won one in 2004, and a Satellite Award for her work on the series.

“Looking back at my character, I've gotten to do about 12 different parts because I started out crazy, in a potato sack, in a demon dimension. Now I'm in charge of this multimillion-dollar science lab. The journey between those points has really brought a lot of strength to the role.” Amy Acker (on her character Fred).

Acker continued to earn recognition as Kelly Peyton in the the final season of “Alias” (2005-2006) and for playing Dr. Claire Saunders in the Fox thriller series “Dollhouse” (2009-?), from the same creator of “Angel” Joss Whedon. She has guest starred in the television series “Supernatural,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Ghost Whisperer” and “Private Practice” and acted in the TV films “Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt” (2003), “A Near Death Experience” (2008), “Fire & Ice” (2008). Also a movie actress, Acker is perhaps best recalled for playing Miggy in Steven Spielberg's hit “Catch Me If You Can” (2002).

A former model, Acker appeared in J.Crew's 1998 Spring catalogue and had posed for major publications such as “Maxim,” “FHM” and “Femme Fatales.”

On her private life, Acker and her actor husband James Carpinello have two children. She was rumored to be dating actor Joseph Scarimbolo in 2000. She also was once rumored to be engaged to “Angel” costar Matthew James.

Ballet

Childhood and Family:

Amy Louise Acker was born on December 5, 1976, in Dallas, Texas, to a lawyer and a homemaker. She is the oldest of four siblings. Amy studied ballet, modern and jazz dancing throughout childhood and hoped someday she would be a ballerina. However, her ambition was cut short after she suffered a terrible spider bite and had to undergo knee surgery while in high school. She recalled, “While growing up, I was pretty shy, and dance was a great way to express things without having to talk in front of people.”

Amy took up acting in her sophomore year. After graduating from Lake Highlands High School in 1995, she attended Southern Methodist University and was quickly caught by the acting bug. She then enrolled theater classes and performed in several college stage productions. She graduated with a B.F.A. degree in 1999.

On April 25, 2003, Amy was married to actor James Carpinello (born on August 13, 1975). She gave birth to her first child, son Jackson James Carpinello, on January 22, 2005. Her second child, daughter Ava Grace Carpinello, was born on September 1, 2006 in Los Angeles.

Amy enjoys reading, traveling and yoga in her spare time. She also loves golf, skiing and horseback riding. She said, “Im horrible at golf! It’s pretty stressful if your missing puts and hitting the ball all over the place but I suppose it’s nice to be outside. I don’t mind that I’m bad at it. I still enjoy myself.”

Amy cites Ian McEwan's “Enduring Love” her favorite book and the New York Yankees her favorite baseball team. She is a fan of the TV series “The West Wing” and the movie “Moulin Rouge.”

Dollhouse

Career:

“For all my life growing up, I thought I wanted to be a ballerina. And then I got knee surgery in high school so I couldn't dance, and I started taking acting in high school, I guess my sophomore year. Right after that, I knew that was what I wanted.” Amy Acker

Amy Acker did some modeling while in high school, represented by the Campbell Agency. She went on to have a brief modeling tenure for the J. Crew clothing catalog while in her junior year of college. However, it was acting that attracted her most. An acting major at Southern Methodist University, Acker participated in several school theater productions, and in 1999 she received a Leon Rabin nomination in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Actress in A Lead Role for her performance in the play “Therese Raquin” (1998). After graduating, she worked in Wisconsin and New York before making the move to Los Angeles.

Acker made her television debut in the Emmy Award winning Children's series “Wishbone” in 1998, where she played various character. The next year, she had her first TV miniseries with the NBC thriller “To Serve and Protect” (1999), starring Craig T. Nelson, Richard Crenna, Amanda Detmer, Joanna Cassidy, John Corbett and James Franco. Her big breakthrough arrived when the Texas native joined the cast of the supernatural series “Angel,” a spin off of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” in 2001. Cast as Winifred “Fred” Burkle, she began as a recurring guest in the final four episodes of season 2 before progressing to a series regular cast in the following season. She later also played the character of Illyria, which she played for part of the show's fifth and final season. For her fine acting job, Acker was handed a 2004 Saturn in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, not to mention two Saturn nominations in the same category (2003, 2005) and an additional nomination for Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award, and a 2004 Golden Satellite nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Drama. She recalled, “At first, I thought I was just doing three episodes. I had a normal audition and at the final call-back, I was the only person there, so I kind of thought I was the one who got it. They said that they were looking for another girl character for the show, but they didn't know who it was going to be. So we kind of convinced them to use me. Joss Whedon wrote a little screen test and I went in a filmed that with J. August Richards and Alexis Denisof, and found out about a day later.”

During her time in “Angel,” Acker attempted to find some other roles. She made her feature film debut opposite Sarah Clarke in the John Fletcher-directed/written movie “The Accident” (2001), where she starred as Nina, guested in the short lived comedy/drama series “Special Unit 2” (2002), costarred with William Shatner and Dan Gauthier in the forgettable horror/science fiction film “Groom Lake” (2002), directed by Shatner, and played Mrs. Burt Ward in CBS telepic “Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt” (2003), Jack Brewer and Jason Marsden as Adam West / Batman and Burt Ward / Robin, respectively. During this period, Acker gained further boost when she landed a small but important part of Miggy in the Steven Spielberg critically and commercially successful comedy/drama “Catch Me If You Can” (2002), which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Amy Adams, Martin Sheen and Nathalie Baye.

After “Angel” departed the airwaves, Acker returned to series TV in the J.J. Abrams-created crime/thriller series “Alias,” playing the villainous Kelly Peyton. She was on the show during the final season from October 2005 to May 2006. Acker also appeared in episodes of “Supernatural” (2005, as Andrea Barr) and “How I Met Your Mother” (2006, as Penelope), had the voice role of Huntress in four episodes of the animated series “Justice League” (2005-2006) and costarred with Oliver Hudson and Katharine Towne in the 12 minute comedy “Mr. Dramatic” (2005), written and helmed by John Stalberg. In the drama film “The Novice” (2006), directed and penned by Murray Robinson, she was cast along side Alan Arkin and Frank Langella.

2007 saw Acker play Kathryn, the wife of Alex Tully, in Fox's short lived series, “Drive,” and Leslie LeZard in an episode of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” called “Smile” as well as offer a memorable supporting turn as Tessa in episode “Weight of What Was” of Jennifer Love Hewiit's supernatural series, “Ghost Whisperer.” Next up for Acker, she starred in two television films named “A Near Death Experience” (2008) and “Fire & Ice” (2008), where she played Ellie Daly and Princess Luisa, respectively. The same year, she also appeared in two episodes of ABC's drama series, “October Road.,” and played Molly Madison in an episode of the medical series “Private Practice,” a spin off of “Grey's Anatomy.”

In early 2009, Acker rejoined Joss Whedon, the creator of “Angel,” in his thriller series, “Dollhouse,” which premiered on February 13, 2009. She was cast as Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey. Acker has completed filming “21 and a Wake-Up” (2009), where she will star as Caitlin Murphy. Her costars in the film include Faye Dunaway, Danica McKellar and Ed Begley Jr. She will play Lin in the upcoming horror/thriller movie “The Cabin in the Woods” (2011), directed by Drew Goddard and co-written by Whedon and Drew Goddard, and is rumored to star with Lesley Ann Warren in the forthcoming comedy “The Last Time I Made Straight A's” (2010). On the small screen, she will play Rachel Conroy in the drama series “Happy Town,” scheduled to make its debut on ABC in 2010. The cast of the show also include Geoff Stults, Lauren German and Steven Weber.

Awards:

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn Award, Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, “Angel,” 2004