An American actress, born in the small town of Kellogg, Idaho. She attended Utah State University to study dance, but graduated with a degree in physics and chemistry teaching, and taught eighth-grade science for a year. She also worked as a counselor at NASA's Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. While studying, she worked on several independent and student short films before making Paradise, where she appeared as a waitress alongside David Strathairn and Barbara Hershey.