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Fresh-faced Linda Cardellini racked
up acting credits with parts in film and television before landing a
breakthrough role as an honor student in the midst of an identity crisis
on NBC's acclaimed high school drama "Freaks and Geeks" (1999-2000) and
while the much admired show was short-lived, she parlayed the critical
accolades into a thriving career in film and television. The attractive
and talented actress came across as strong-willed, smart and sassy on
screen, separating her from the sea of homogenized young adult performers
inundating film and television in the late 1990s.
Cardellini made her series regular debut on the ABC Saturday morning
live-action children's series "Bone Chillers" during the 1996-1997 season,
and was additionally featured in 1997 episodes of "Clueless" (UPN), "Step
by Step" (CBS), "Pacific Palisades" and "3rd Rock From the Sun" (both
NBC). She hit the big screen for the first time with a supporting role in
the 1997 comedy "Good Burger" and could next be seen in the college campus
dark comedy "Dead Man On Campus", playing the silent girlfriend of a
high-strung and violent student (future "Freaks and Geeks" co-star Jason
Segel), whose roommates use his often vacant room to house a series of
troubled undergraduates in the hopes of landing the 4.0 GPA offered to the
suitemates of a suicidal student.
As one of the victims of masochistic internet predator Captain Howdy,
Cardellini was featured in the thriller "Dee Snider's Strangeland" (1998)
and was a prominent and striking figure on the theatrical poster and video
cover, making her face (albeit with sewn together lips) more familiar to
the moviegoing public. More TV work followed, including recurring parts on
two series during the 1998-99 season: ABC's "Boy Meets World", as the girl
who could inadvertently break up uber-couple Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga
(Danielle Fishel); and as a co-worker of one of the "Guys Like Us" (UPN).
She took a supporting turn in the latter network's TV-movie drama "Dying
to Live", portraying the spunky sidekick of a deceased girl who is
exacting justice on her attacker through the help of an angel, before
turning in a strong performance in AMC's miniseries "The Lot" (1999), as
June, a young starlet in this fictionalized look at small time Hollywood
in 1937.
Next up was a regular role on "Freaks and Geeks", where Cardellini served
as the bridge between the two titular high school outcast factions as new
social dropout (and aspiring 'freak') Lindsay Weir, the academically
gifted sister of awkward freshman (and 'geek') Sam Weir (John Daley).
Looking to belong somewhere and unsatisfied with her honor student
lifestyle, Lindsay takes a walk on the freak side, making friends with
intense drummer Bill (Jason Segel) and nihilistic rebel Daniel (James
Franco). The series, noted for its realistic portrayal of high school
circa 1980, received a great deal of advance buzz, and Cardellini's
sympathetic spot on portrayal of a teenager searching for a place to fit
in garnered critical praise and raised her profile considerably. She also
gained considerable exposure and popularity with her role as Velma in
2002's live-action adaptation of "Scooby-Doo" where Cardellini played
alongside teen heavyweights Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and
Matthew Lillard (the cast returned for the 2004 sequel).
As a result of her rising star, she was cast on the venerable NBC medical
drama "ER" in 2003 season, playing nurse and free-spirited single mom
Simon Taggart, part of the series' fresh, revitalizing wave of female
characters. On the big screen, Cardellini had a supporting role in the
oddball "Jiminy Glick in Lalawood" (2005) starring Martin Short as his
chubby, doltish entertainment reporter persona, and she was very effective
as a small town cocktail waitress who has a heartbreaking romance with the
closeted gay ranch hand Ennis (Heath Ledger) in Ang Lee's sensitive drama
"Brokeback Mountain" (2005). |
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The Heaven Project (2008) ....
Julie
"Comanche Moon" (2007) (mini) TV Series .... Clara Forsythe
"ER" .... Nurse Samantha Taggart (89 episodes, 2003-2007)
- Officer Down (2007) TV Episode .... Nurse Samantha Taggart
- In a Different Light (2007) TV Episode .... Nurse Samantha Taggart
- The War Comes Home (2007) TV Episode .... Nurse Samantha Taggart
- The Honeymoon Is Over (2007) TV Episode .... Nurse Samantha
Taggart
- Sea Change (2007) TV Episode .... Nurse Samantha Taggart
(84 more)
"Human Giant" .... Melody Richards (1 episode, 2007)
- Mind Explosion (2007) TV Episode .... Melody Richards
Grandma's Boy (2006) .... Samantha
American Gun (2005) .... Mary Ann Wilk
Brokeback Mountain (2005) .... Cassie
"Robot Chicken" .... Asian Massager / ... (1 episode, 2005)
- Operation Rich in Spirit (2005) TV Episode (voice) .... Velma
Dinkley/Asian Massager/Blueberry Muffin
LolliLove (2004) .... Linda
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2004) .... Natalie Coolidge
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) .... Velma Dinkley
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) (VG) (voice) .... Velma
Certainly Not a Fairytale (2003) .... Adelle/Writer
Gladius (2003) (VG) (voice) .... Ursula
"The Twilight Zone" .... Allison 'Ally' Warner (1 episode, 2003)
- The Path (2003) TV Episode .... Allison 'Ally' Warner
Scooby-Doo (2002) .... Velma Dinkley
The Unsaid (2001) .... Shelly Hunter
Legally Blonde (2001) .... Chutney Windham
"Freaks and Geeks" .... Lindsay Weir (18 episodes, 1999-2000)
- Noshing and Moshing (2000) TV Episode .... Lindsay Weir
- Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers (2000) TV Episode .... Lindsay Weir
- Discos and Dragons (2000) TV Episode .... Lindsay Weir
- Smooching and Mooching (2000) TV Episode .... Lindsay Weir
- The Little Things (2000) TV Episode .... Lindsay Weir
(13 more)
The Prince and the Surfer (1999) .... Melissa
"The Lot" (1999) TV Series .... June Parker (unknown episodes)
"Boy Meets World" .... Lauren (4 episodes, 1998-1999)
- The Psychotic Episode (1999) TV Episode .... Lauren
- Honesty Night (1998) TV Episode .... Lauren
- Torn between Two Lovers (Feeling Like a Fool) (1998) TV Episode
.... Lauren
- Heartbreak Cory (1998) TV Episode .... Lauren
Dying to Live (1999) (TV) .... Leslie Chambers
"Guys Like Us" (1998) TV Series .... Jude (unknown episodes,
1998-1999)
"Kenan & Kel" .... Becky (1 episode, 1998)
- Chicago Witch Trials (1998) TV Episode .... Becky
"Promised Land" .... Amber (1 episode, 1998)
... aka Home of the Brave
- Chasin' the Blues (1998) TV Episode .... Amber
Strangeland (1998) .... Genevieve Gage
... aka Dee Snider's StrangeLand (USA: promotional title)
Dead Man on Campus (1998) .... Kelly
"Step by Step" .... Cassie Evans (1 episode, 1997)
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (1997) TV Episode .... Cassie Evans
"Clueless" .... Oddrey (1 episode, 1997)
- Chick Fight Tonight (1997) TV Episode .... Oddrey
Good Burger (1997) .... Heather
"Pacific Palisades" .... Sara (2 episodes, 1997)
- Sweet Revenge (1997) TV Episode .... Sara
- Desperate Measure (1997) TV Episode .... Sara
"3rd Rock from the Sun" .... Lorna (1 episode, 1997)
... aka 3rd Rock (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Life As We Know It
- Dickmalion (1997) TV Episode .... Lorna
"Bone Chillers" .... Sara (3 episodes, 1996)
- Frankenturky (1996) TV Episode .... Sara
- Art Intimidates Life (1996) TV Episode .... Sara
- Back to School (1996) TV Episode .... Sara |
