Erika Christensen

Erika Jane Christensen is an American actress born on August 19, 1982, in Seattle, Washington. The daughter of Kathy Christensen, a construction manager, and Steven Christensen, an insurance worker and human resources executive, she has an older half-brother named Nick and two younger twin brothers, Dane and Brando. Her family relocated from Seattle to suburban Los Angeles when she was four years old. Christensen was home-schooled by her parents, who are members of the Church of Scientology and raised her in that faith. Her stage work includes The 24 Hour Plays in 2004 and a Broadway appearance in 2006.

Christensen began her professional acting career in 1997 with a supporting role in the comedy film Leave It to Beaver and a guest appearance on the drama series Nothing Sacred. Through the late 1990s she accumulated guest roles on Frasier, The Practice, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Touched by an Angel. She starred in the Disney Channel film Can of Worms in 1999 and that same year played Abigail Winthrop on the short-lived CBS sitcom Thanks. Also in 1999, she appeared in Michael Jackson's music video for the song "Childhood" alongside actress Jena Malone. Her early television work also included commercials for McDonald's and Volvo.

Her film career gained significant attention with Steven Soderbergh's crime drama Traffic in 2000, in which she played cocaine user Caroline Wakefield. The performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Female Performance, the Young Hollywood Awards Standout Performance – Female honor, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture alongside her co-stars. People magazine named her one of its Breakthrough Stars of 2001. She followed Traffic with three feature films in 2002: the teen thriller Swimfan, the crime drama Home Room, and the comedy The Banger Sisters.

In 2003, Christensen starred in MTV's television film adaptation of Wuthering Heights, based on the Emily Brontë novel, and recorded multiple songs for its soundtrack. Her 2004 film credits include the teen heist film The Perfect Score and the horror film Riding the Bullet. In 2005 she appeared in The Upside of Anger opposite Kevin Costner and Joan Allen, The Sisters alongside Maria Bello and Elizabeth Banks, and Flightplan starring Jodie Foster. That same year she recorded a version of "Let's Fall in Love" with John Stevens for his debut album Red. Her twin brother Dane also appeared in The Upside of Anger in 2005.

On television, Christensen starred in the ABC drama series Six Degrees, which debuted on September 21, 2006. Low ratings led to its cancellation after one season, with five episodes left unaired. She went on to guest star as a special agent on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and appeared in single episodes of Lie to Me and Mercy in 2008 and 2009. Her film work during this period included the comedy-drama Gardener of Eden and the independent crime comedy How to Rob a Bank in 2007, the film adaptation of Veronika Decides to Die in 2009, and the romantic drama Mercy alongside James Caan and Dylan McDermott that same year.

From 2010 to 2015, Christensen was a series regular on the NBC family drama Parenthood, portraying Julia Braverman-Graham, the youngest daughter of the Braverman family. The series debuted on March 2, 2010, and concluded on January 29, 2015. Her work on the show earned her the 2014 Gracie Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series. Also in 2010, she co-starred with Jesse Metcalfe in the horror-thriller film The Tortured. In 2013 she starred in the musical film How Sweet It Is, directed by Brian Herzlinger, and served as a guest judge on two episodes of the cooking competition series Knife Fight. The following year she led the cast of the Hallmark Channel television film My Boyfriends' Dogs.

In 2015, Christensen was cast as Betty Beaumontaine, a single mother who becomes romantically involved with a serial killer, in the short-lived ABC crime drama Wicked City. The following year she appeared in the HBO courtroom drama film Confirmation, directed by Rick Famuyiwa and co-starring Kerry Washington, Wendell Pierce, and Greg Kinnear. Also in 2016, she led the Hallmark Channel film Anything for Love opposite Paul Greene and starred in Jon Abrahams' directorial debut Two for One, which premiered at the Napa Valley Film Festival. In 2017, Christensen co-starred with Mike Vogel and Robert Forster in The Case for Christ, a biopic of Lee Strobel in which she played Strobel's wife Leslie. That same year she starred as Ali Petrovich in the ABC drama series Ten Days in the Valley alongside Kyra Sedgwick. Since 2023, she has appeared as Angie Polaski in ABC's Will Trent. On May 17, 2023, she received the Mark of Excellence award at the Annual Medinova NY Dinner Gala, a non-profit organization raising funds for hospitals in underserved areas of Haiti.

In her personal life, Christensen became engaged to cyclist Cole Maness in November 2014. The couple married on September 5, 2015, in Palm Springs, California, and reside in Los Feliz, Los Angeles. They have two daughters together.