Early life

Dickens was born in Huntsville, Alabama, the daughter of Pam (Clark) Howell and Justin Dickens, a country-western singer. She graduated from that city's Lee High School and attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in communication. Dickens soon moved to New York City, where she worked as a waitress, to continue her studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.In the late 1990s she moved to Los Angeles.

Career

1990s

Dickens made her stage debut in a student production of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago, at Vanderbilt University. In 1995, she made her professional screen debut in the Alan Taylor's comedy film Palookaville, playing Vincent Gallo's character's girlfriend. She spent the following year playing supporting roles in the made-for-television films Voice from the Grave and Two Mothers for Zachary. In 1997, Dickens returned to film, playing female leading role opposite Vincent Gallo again in neo-noir thriller Truth or Consequences, N.M. directed by Kiefer Sutherland. Film received negative reviews from critics. In 1998, she appeared in Great Expectations, a film adaptation of the Charles Dickens's novel, and had the female leading roles in Zero Effect with Bill Pullman, Ben Stiller, and Ryan O'Neal, and Mercury Rising with Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin. In 1999, she starred alongside Antonio Banderas in the comedy film The White River Kid.

2000s

In 2000, Dickens had co-starring roles in films Committed opposite Heather Graham, Hollow Man with Elisabeth Shue and Kevin Bacon, and The Gift starring Cate Blanchett. The following year, she played the lead in the independent film, Things Behind the Sun. Dickens received critical acclaim for her performance, and Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead nomination. Later that year, she was regular cast member in the short-lived CBS police drama series, Big Apple. In 2003, she co-starred opposite Felicity Huffman and Eric Stoltz in the Showtime miniseries Out of Order.

In 2000s, Dickens basically worked on television, playing Joanie Stubbs, the madam, in the HBO western Deadwood from 2004 to 2006. She was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2007 for this role. She was regular cast member in the unaired HBO comedy series, 12 Miles of Bad Road starring Lily Tomlin and Mary Kay Place. She had the recurring roles on Lost and Friday Night Lights. In film, Dickens co-starred in House of Sand and Fog (2003) with Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley, Thank You for Smoking (2005), Wild Tigers I Have Known (2006), Red (2008) and The Blind Side (2009).

2010s

From 2010 to 2013, Dickens was a regular on the HBO ensemble drama series, Treme, as Janette Desautel. From 2013 to 2014, she had the recurring role as Colette Jane in the FX crime drama, Sons of Anarchy. In 2015, she had the recurring role in the Netflix political drama House of Cards. In film, she co-starred in Footloose (2011) and At Any Price. In 2014, she had major supporting role as Detective Rhonda Boney in the critically acclaimed psychological thriller film Gone Girl directed by David Fincher. She later was cast in Tim Burton's film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

In 2015, Dickens began playing Madison Clark in the The Walking Dead companion series, Fear the Walking Dead. The series premiered on AMC on August 23, 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Palookaville	Laurie
1997	Truth or Consequences, N.M.	Addy Monroe
1998	Zero Effect	Gloria Sullivan
1998	Great Expectations	Maggie
1998	Mercury Rising	Stacey
1999	The White River Kid	Apple Lisa
2000	Committed	Jenny
2000	Hollow Man	Sarah Kennedy	Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Supporting Actress - Science Fiction
2000	The Gift	Linda
2001	Things Behind the Sun	Sherry	Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
2003	House of Sand and Fog	Carol Burdon
2004	Goodnight, Joseph Parker	Muriel
2005	Thank You for Smoking	Jill Naylor
2006	Wild Tigers I Have Known	The Counselor
2007	Waiting	John's Wife	Short film
2008	Red	Carrie
2009	One Way to Valhalla	Jenny
2009	The Blind Side	Mrs. Boswell
2011	Footloose	Lulu Warnicker
2012	At Any Price	Irene Whipple
2014	Gone Girl	Detective Rhonda Boney	Nominated — Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble Nominated — Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2016	Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	New York News		Episode: "Cost of Living"
1996	Swift Justice	Annie Peters	Episode: "Out on a Limb"
1996	Voice from the Grave	Terry Deveroux	Television film
1996	Two Mothers for Zachary	Nancy	Television film
1997	Spin City	Veronica	Episode: "Kiss Me, Stupid"
1997	Heart Full of Rain	Susan Doyle	Television film
2001	Big Apple	Sarah Day	8 episodes
2003	Out of Order	Danni	Miniseries
2004-2006	Deadwood	Joanie Stubbs	34 episodes Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2006	Numb3rs	Crystal Hoyle	Episode: "Spree" and "Two Daughters"
2006-2009	Lost	Cassidy Phillips	4 episodes
2008	12 Miles of Bad Road	Jonelle Shakespeare	6 episodes
2008	1%	Rhonda	Pilot
2008-2009	Friday Night Lights	Shelby Saracen	11 episodes
2009	FlashForward	Kate Stark	Episode: "137 Sekunden"
2010	Reviving Ophelia	Le Anne	Television film
2010-2013	Treme	Janette Desautel	36 episodes
2013	Second Sight	Samantha Wilde	Pilot
2013-2014	Sons of Anarchy	Colette Jane	7 episodes
2013	White Collar	Jill	Episode: "Quantico Closure"
2014	Red Zone	Helen Weller	Pilot
2015-present	House of Cards	Kate Baldwin	8 episodes
2015-present	Fear the Walking Dead	Madison Clark	Lead Role; 13 episodes Pending — Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television

[ Source: Wikipedia ]