Early life

Panabaker was born in Augusta, Georgia, to Donna (née Mayock) and Harold Panabaker. Her younger sister Kay was also an actress, who is currently working as a zoologist. As her father's sales job took them across the country, the family spent time in South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and for a short time around Panabaker's kindergarten year, in Orange, Texas. She took a theater class at a summer camp and discovered her enjoyment of acting, so she started acting in community theatres at the age of 12, later auditioning for commercials.

After moving to Naperville, Illinois, in 2000, Panabaker went to Crone Middle School and later Neuqua Valley High School and participated in the speech team. She graduated from high school when she was only 14 years old. In 2003, feeling it was the only way to land acting roles regularly, Panabaker, her sister, and their mother relocated to Los Angeles, California, so she could pursue an acting career. She attended Glendale Community College, studying acting. In 2005, she earned her associate degree and appeared on the national Dean's List. In the fall of 2006, she began her senior year at the University of California, Los Angeles, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in June 2007, again appearing on the Dean's List.

Career

Panabaker followed her initial appearances in commercials with roles in television, including a part in the series, The Guardian (for which she won a Young Artist Award), as well as other television series including Malcolm in the Middle, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Medium, Summerland, and the Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs. She also appeared in the Lifetime Television productions Sex and the Single Mom and Mom at Sixteen, as well as the well-reviewed miniseries Empire Falls. She considers Empire Falls to be her big break, as it gave her the confidence to pursue her career. In addition, Panabaker appeared in stage productions with roles in musical theater, including West Side Story, Pippin, Once Upon A Time, and Beauty Lou and the Country Beast. In 2004, she starred in the ABC film "Searching for David's Heart", alongside co-former Disney star Ricky Ullman. In 2005, Panabaker co-starred in two widely released theatrical films, Sky High and Yours, Mine and Ours. Her next role was in the film Home of the Giants (2008), opposite Ryan Merriman and Haley Joel Osment. She also had a supporting role in the film Mr. Brooks opposite Kevin Costner. In the Disney Channel original movie Read It and Weep, she plays "Is", an alternate version of Jamie, who was played by her real-life sister Kay.

Panabaker was added to the cast of the CBS television drama pilot Shark, as Julie Stark, the main character's daughter. She had a regular role in the series, which ran for two years. Although she sometimes only appeared in a scene or two an episode, and was absent from three episodes in the series run, she was billed second to the star, James Woods.

In 2009, Panabaker played Jenna, a main character of Friday the 13th (2009) along with Jared Padalecki. Panabaker next starred in the films The Crazies and The Ward.

In 2011, Panabaker starred as Katie Lapp, the lead character in the Hallmark Movie The Shunning, based on the novel of the same name by Beverly Lewis. She was due to reprise her role in the 2013 sequel The Confession, but a scheduling conflict forced her to drop out. The role was recast, going to Katie Leclerc.

In 2013, she starred in another Hallmark Channel Original Movie entitled Nearlyweds. On May 5, 2013, Panabaker joined actors including Philip Baker Hall, Bill Pullman, and Maggie Siff in performing at Cedering Fox's WordTheatre, where they read aloud contemporary short fiction.

In 2014, Panabaker starred in director Bradley D. King's award-winning science-fiction film Time Lapse, for which she won the award for Best Actor/Actress at the 2014 London Independent Film Festival.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Sky High	Layla Williams
2005	Rule Number One	Grace Jones	Short film
2005	Yours, Mine and Ours	Phoebe North
2007	Mr. Brooks	Jane Brooks
2007	Home of the Giants	Bridgette 'Bridge' Bachman
2009	Friday the 13th	Jenna
2010	The Crazies	Becca
2010	The Ward	Sarah
2010	Weakness	Danielle	Direct-to-DVD
2012	Girls Against Boys	Shae
2012	Piranha 3DD	Maddy
2014	Time Lapse	Callie	Direct-to-DVD
2015	This Isn't Funny	Stacey

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Family Affair	Parker LeeAnn Aldays	Episode: "Ballroom Blitz"
2003	The Bernie Mac Show	Chelsea	Episode: "Raging Election"
2003	Malcolm in the Middle	Kathy McCulskey	Episode: "Reese's Party"
2003	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Girl	Episode: "Play with Fire"
2003	The Guardian	Samantha Gray	Episode: "The Father-Daughter Dance"
2003	The Division	Melissa Ringston	Episode: "As I Was Going to St. Ives..."
2003	No Place Like Home		TV movie
2003	Sex and the Single Mom	Sara Gradwell	Lifetime movie
2004	Stuck in the Suburbs	Brittany Aarons	Disney Channel Original Movie
2004	Searching for David's Heart	Darcy Deeton	Movie
2005	Mom at Sixteen	Jacey Jeffries	Lifetime movie
2005	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Carrie Lynn Eldridge	Episode: "Intoxicated"
2005	Empire Falls	Christina "Tick" Roby	Main role
2005	Summerland	Faith	2 episodes
2006	Read It and Weep	Isabella	Disney Channel Original Movie
2006-08	Shark	Julie Stark	Main role
2008	Eli Stone	Genny Clarke	Episode: "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
2009	Grey's Anatomy	Kelsey Simmons	Episode: "Holidaze"
2010	Medium	Summer Lowry	Episode: "Psych"
2010	Family Guy	Hillary (voice)	Episode: "Brian Griffin's House of Payne"
2010	Law & Order: LA	Chelsea Sennett	Episode: "Hollywood"
2010	Chase	Carina Matthews	Episode: "Crazy Love"
2011	The Shunning	Katie Lapp	Hallmark Channel movie
2012	Intercept	Kat	Movie
2011	Memphis Beat	Sister Katherine	Episode: "Flesh and Blood"
2011-13	Necessary Roughness	Juliette Pittman	Recurring role
2012	Grimm	Ariel Eberhart	Episode: "Plumed Serpent"
2012-13	Bones	FBI Special Agent Olivia Sparling	Episodes: "The Gunk in the Garage", "The Shot in the Dark"
2012, 2014	Franklin & Bash	Bonnie Appel	Episodes: "Voir Dire", "Spirits in the Material World"
2013	Mad Men	Daisy McCluskey	Episode: "For Immediate Release"
2013	The Glades	Holly Harper	Episode: "Happy Trails"
2013	Nearlyweds	Erin	Hallmark Channel movie
2014	Recipe for Love	Lauren Hennessey	Hallmark Channel movie
2014	Justified	Penny Cole	Recurring role
2014-2015	Arrow	Dr. Caitlin Snow	3 episodes
2014-present	The Flash	Dr. Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost	Main cast
2015	Fight of the Living Dead	Doctor	Episode: "Pilot"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2004	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress	The Guardian	Won
2005		Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special - Leading Young Actress	Searching for David's Heart	Won
2006		Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast	Yours, Mine and Ours	Won
2014	London Independent Film Festival	Best Actor/Actress	Time Lapse	Won
2015	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress - Fantasy/Sci-Fi	The Flash	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]