Emily Bergl

Bergl was born in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, to an Irish mother and an English architect father. She has one brother. Bergl’s family relocated to the United States when she was six, initially residing in Denver, Colorado. When she was ten, the family then relocated to Glenview, Illinois, where she spent the remainder of her upbringing. She attended Glenbrook South High School and Grinnell College, where she was the lead in several school productions. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and theatre. During her college years, she spent a semester (spring 1996) studying with the National Theater Institute at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. She received additional acting training at HB Studio in New York City.

Since 2010, Bergl has performed a cabaret show called Kidding on the Square, which had a run in the summer of 2010 in Los Angeles and New York City, then later in Chicago. In September 2011, with the show in New York, The New York Times wrote of her performance:

Recently, Bergl played in Becky Shaw at Second Stage Theatre in New York in the beginning of 2009. As of the season's second episode Bergl played Paul Young's new wife, Beth, in the seventh season of Desperate Housewives.

She was nominated in 2000 and 2003 for a Saturn Award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for Best Performance by a Younger Actor/Actress for The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) and for Best Actress in a Television Series for Taken (2002), respectively.

Bergl began acting in theater, appearing in a production of Romeo and Juliet opposite Neil Patrick Harris at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre in 1998. Bergl's big break came with the lead role of Rachel Lang in the 1999 film, The Rage: Carrie 2, the sequel to the 1976 supernatural thriller Carrie. Much of her acting also takes place on television. Bergl has appeared in episodes of the TV shows Gilmore Girls, CSI: Miami, Medium, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, NYPD Blue, and Star Trek: Enterprise. She also appeared in the psychological thriller Chasing Sleep, opposite star Jeff Daniels. Bergl had a major role in the Steven Spielberg 2002 miniseries Taken.

Anne Emily Bergl (born 25 April 1975) is an English-American actress. She is best known for her role as Rachel Lang in the supernatural horror film The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), Annie O'Donnell on the ABC television show Men in Trees (2006–08), Beth Young on Desperate Housewives (2010–11), Tammi Bryant on the TNT drama series Southland (2009–2013) and Sammi Slott in Shameless (2014–2015). She also performs as a cabaret singer.