Early life

Callies was born in La Grange, Illinois, the daughter of Valerie Wayne and David E. Callies (born 1943), now divorced and respective English and law professors at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. At age one, Callies moved to Honolulu, Hawaii with her family. Throughout her youth, she expressed an interest in acting through participating in various school plays at the independent Punahou School. After graduating from high school, she entered Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. In conjunction with her studies, Callies remained involved in theatre. She continued her education at Denver's National Theater Conservatory, where she obtained her Master of Fine Arts degree in 2002.

Career

Callies moved to New York in 2003 and then quickly landed her first television role as Kate O'Malley, a recurring part on the short-lived CBS show Queens Supreme. Her first starring role was as Detective Jane Porter on The WB's Tarzan.

Prison Break

After making various guest appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Dragnet (2003), and NUMB3RS, Callies gained a starring role on Fox's Prison Break as Sara Tancredi. Her role lasted from 2005 through 2009. According to Prison Break's executive producer Matt Olmstead, although he, the writers, the network, and Callies herself all wanted her to stay on the show the character was written out related to contract disputes. She stated through a spokesperson to TV Guide in fall 2007:

“

"As hard as we all tried, the Prison Break powers that be and I were unable to find a way to meet both the needs of the story and the needs of my family. We parted wishing each other well. I had a wonderful time working with the creative team and have a world of respect for all of them; they took great care of Sara. I'm also enormously grateful to the fans. They've been so gracious and supportive, and I hope they continue to enjoy the show."

”

However, in March 2008, Olmstead stated that the character of Sara is still alive and would return in Season 4 of Prison Break. Though the character Sara Tancredi appeared to have a violent death, Olmstead stated "...we realized that there was actually a way she could still be alive." When asked by Kirstin of E! whether the fans' overwhelming response to her death had factored in, Executive Producer Matt Olmstead admitted it had indeed influenced the decision.

The Walking Dead

In 2010, Callies was cast in her biggest role to date, main character Lori Grimes on the AMC horror/drama series The Walking Dead, based on the comic book series of the same name, from the show's start until season three. Grimes, her family, and friends are forced to fight relentless evil in the form of flesh-eating zombies and the few surviving humans, some of whom are even more diabolical and dangerous than the zombies themselves. Callies convinced the show's writers to kill her character because that is what had occurred in the comic book version. The drama is the highest rated in that cable channel's history, and the first three seasons have received good reviews from professional critics, whether "universal acclaim" or "generally favorable".

Other projects

Callies has also starred in two feature films - Universal Pictures' Whisper and an independent film, The Celestine Prophecy. In April 2010, she appeared on the Fox Television drama House M.D. as a patient of the week, whose open marriage fascinates House and the team. In August 2010, Callies' first screenplay, an adaptation of Campbell Geeslin's children's book Elena's Serenade, was optioned by French production company Fulldawa Films. Callies starred in the Nigerian movie Black Gold (2011) and one of the female lead roles in the Canadian thriller Faces in the Crowd (2011). In 2015, she co-starred Nicolas Cage, in Uli Edel's thriller film Pay the Ghost. In 2016, she returned to television in the lead role of Katie Bowman in Colony.

Personal life

On July 21, 2002, Callies married Josh Winterhalt, whom she met at Dartmouth College. Winterhalt is a martial arts teacher. On January 23, 2007, her publicist announced that the couple were expecting their first child. In July 2007, Callies gave birth to a girl, Keala Winterhalt.

She was voted one of Maxim's "The Hottest Women of Fall TV '08."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Celestine Prophecy, TheThe Celestine Prophecy	Marjorie
2007	Whisper	Roxanne
2008	Bittersweet	Robyn
2010	Lullaby for Pi	Josephine
2011	Black Gold	Kate Summers
	Faces in the Crowd	Francine
	Foreverland	Fran
2012	Black November	Kate Summers
2014	Into the Storm	Allison Stone
2015	Pay the Ghost	Kristen
2016	The Other Side of the Door	Maria	Post-production
	This Is Your Death	Karina	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jenny Rochester	Episode: "Privilege"
	Dragnet	Kathryn 'Kate' Randall	Episode: "The Brass Ring"
	Queens Supreme	Kate O'Malley	Episode: "Flawed Heroes"
	Tarzan	Detective/Officer Jane Porter	8 episodes
2004	Secret Service, TheThe Secret Service	Laura Kelly	Pilot
2005	Numb3rs	Agent Kim Hall	Episode: "Counterfeit Reality"
2005-2009 2016	Prison Break	Dr. Sara Tancredi	68 episodes
2007	Queens Supreme	Kate O'Malley	4 episodes
2009	Prison Break: The Final Break	Dr. Sara Tancredi	Television film
2010	House	Julia	Episode: "Open and Shut"
	Tangled	Chloe / Sally	Pilot
2010-2013	Walking Dead, TheThe Walking Dead	Lori Grimes	Seasons 1-3 (main role; 27 episodes)
2016-present	Colony	Katie Bowman

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2011	Saturn Award	Best Actress on Television	The Walking Dead	Nominated
2012	Scream Award	Best Horror Actress	The Walking Dead	Nominated
	Satellite Award	Best Cast - Television Series	The Walking Dead	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]