Amy Acker

Amy Acker is the American actor who portrays Nova and Astrid on ABC's Once Upon a Time.

Biography

Amy Louise Acker was born on December 5, 1976 in Dallas, Texas^[1] to homemaker Judy Bruyer and lawyer Charles Acker.^[1]^[2] As a child, she danced ballet for fourteen years,^[3] but knee surgery forced her to look at other options, which led her to theater classes at Lake Highlands High School.^[4] Subsequently, she earned a bachelor's degree in theater from the Southern Methodist University.

In her junior year of college, she appeared in the J. Crew clothing catalog and also did modeling overseas in Japan. While at university, Amy acted in a number of local professional theaters, including at Undermain Theatre in Therese Raquin, for which she was nominated for a Leon Rabin Award; and at Stage West in 1998, in Richard Kalinoski's Beast on the Moon, about survivors of the Armenian genocide.^[4] She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the same year. She worked as a stage actor for several seasons, including a stint at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin playing Hero in a production of Much Ado About Nothing.^[4]

Her big break came in the form of an audition for Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off, Angel, starring David Boreanaz as a brooding vampire with a soul. She was cast in the part of Fred, who debuted at the end of season two and became a series regular. After Angel came to an end, Amy appeared in shows like Alias, Dollhouse and Person of Interest^[4] and done voice credits for animated series Justice League and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

She is married to theater actor James Carpinello.^[4] They have two children, Jackson James and Ava Grace.^[5]

Trivia

Appears in the music video "Lost Cause" by Scapegoat Wax.^[1]
In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Amy Acker also voices a character named Nova.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Accident	Nina	Movie
2002	Groom Lake	Kate	Movie
2002	Catch Me If You Can	Miggy	Movie
2005	Mr. Dramatic	Jodi	Short film
2006	The Novice	Jill Yarrut	Movie
2009	21 and a Wake-Up	Caitlin Murphy	Movie
2011	Sironia	Molly	Movie
2011	The Cabin in the Woods	Wendy Lin	Movie
2012	Much Ado About Nothing	Beatrice	Movie
2013	The Lord of Catan	Krysta	Short film
2013	The Energy Specialist	Claire	Post-production
2014	Ward's Wife	Geena	Post-production

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Wishbone	Catherine Morland / Priscilla / Venus	3 Episodes
1999	To Serve and Protect	Melissa Jorgensen	TV miniseries
2001	Special Unit 2	Nancy	1 episode
2003	Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt	Bonnie Lindsay	TV movie
2001-2004	Angel	Winifred "Fred" Burkle / Illyria	70 Episodes
2005	Supernatural	Andrea Barr	1 episode
2006	How I Met Your Mother	Penelope	1 episode
2005-2006	Alias	Kelly Peyton	13 Episodes
2007	Drive	Kathryn Tully	3 Episodes
2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Leslie LeZard	1 episode
2007	Ghost Whisperer	Tessa	1 episode
2008	A Near Death Experience	Ellie Daly	TV movie
2008	October Road	Girl in Blue Uniform / Jenny Bristol	2 Episodes
2008	Fire & Ice	Princess Luisa	TV movie
2008	Private Practice	Molly Madison	1 episode
2009-2010	Dollhouse	Dr. Claire Saunders / Whiskey / Clyde Randolph	14 Episodes
2010	Human Target	Katherine Walters	1 episode
2010	The Good Wife	Trish Arkin	1 episode
2010	Happy Town	Rachel Conroy	8 Episodes
2010	No Ordinary Family	Amanda Grayson	2 Episodes
2011-2013	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Sandy Colfax / Sandy Larken	2 episode
2011	Dear Santa	Crystal	TV movie
2012	Once Upon a Time	Nova / Astrid	1 episode
2012	Warehouse 13	Tracey	1 episode
2012	Grimm	Lena Marcenko	1 episode
2012-2015	Person of Interest	Root/Samantha Groves	7 episodes in season 1–2, regular as of Season 3 and Season 4

Voice
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005-2006	Justice League	Helena Bertinelli / The Huntress / Little Girl	4 episodes (Voice credit)
2013	Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated	Nova	4 episodes (Voice credit)

Appearances

Once Upon a Time: Season One
"Pilot":	"The Thing You Love Most":	"Snow Falls":	"The Price of Gold":	"That Still Small Voice":	"The Shepherd":	"The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter":	"Desperate Souls":	"True North":	"7:15 A.M.":	"Fruit of the Poisonous Tree":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Skin Deep":	"What Happened to Frederick":	"Dreamy":	"Red-Handed":	"Heart of Darkness":	"Hat Trick":	"The Stable Boy":	"The Return":	"The Stranger":	"An Apple Red as Blood":	"A Land Without Magic":
Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

Once Upon a Time: Specials
"Magic is Coming":	"The Price of Magic":	"Journey to Neverland":	"Wicked is Coming":	"Storybrooke Has Frozen Over":
Archive	Absent	Absent	Archive	Archive
"Secrets of Storybrooke":	"Dark Swan Rises":	"Evil Reigns Once More":	"The Final Battle Begins":
Absent	Absent	Archive	Absent