Early life

Fonseca was born in Oakland, California, the daughter of Lima Lynn (née Bergmann) and James Victor Fonseca. Her father is of Portuguese descent, and her mother is of half Portuguese ancestry. Her stepfather, Reid Dworkin, is an attorney, and her younger half-sister is actress, Hannah Leigh Dworkin. Fonseca was raised first in Alameda; after her mother remarried, she moved to Oakland, and then to Moraga. Fonseca graduated from Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in San Francisco and was then discovered by a talent manager in San Francisco. She then relocated to Los Angeles for her first pilot season at age 13, in the middle of the school year. The following year, she landed her breakthrough role, playing Colleen Carlton on The Young and the Restless with a three-year contract. With that, her mother and stepfather moved the whole family to Los Angeles. Since the end of her contract, Fonseca has booked many roles in television and films.

Career

In 2005, Fonseca earned a recurring role as Ted Mosby's future daughter on How I Met Your Mother and as Donna on HBO's Big Love. She starred in the 2005 Hallmark TV film Ordinary Miracles, as a 16-year-old juvenile delinquent who goes to live with a judge (Jaclyn Smith).

In fall 2007, Fonseca played Dawn in the film Remember the Daze. She joined the cast of ABC's Desperate Housewives as the daughter of Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany), a character moving onto Wisteria Lane. In 2008 she was nominated for the Actor award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for Desperate Housewives (2004), shared with the cast.

Fonseca played Katie Deauxma in the 2010 superhero film Kick-Ass, which also featured her Nikita co-star Xander Berkeley in the cast. She appeared in three more US films in 2010, including Hot Tub Time Machine. In 2010, she was cast in the CW television series Nikita as Alex, a new recruit.

Fonseca was listed at No. 62 on the 2010 Maxim Hot 100 and No. 89 on the 2011 list.

Personal life

Fonseca married artist and writer Matthew Smiley in April 2009. The couple split in July 2012 and Fonseca filed for divorce in 2013, citing irreconcilable differences. In February 2016, she announced her engagement to actor Noah Bean, whom she has been dating since 2012.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001-2005	Young and the Restless, TheThe Young and the Restless	Colleen Carlton	Role held: May 30, 2001 - May 17, 2004; December 24, 2004 - February 9, 2005
2003	Boston Public	Jenn Cardell	4 episodes
2004	Malcolm in the Middle	Olivia	Episode: "Lois' Sister"
2004	NYPD Blue	Madison Bernstein	Episode: "Colonel Knowledge"
2004	Switched!	Herself	Episode: "Lyndsy/Jessie"
2005	I Do, They Don't	Sandy Barber	Movie
2005	Ordinary Miracles	Sally Anne Powell	Movie
2005	Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life	Amy	Movie
2005-2014	How I Met Your Mother	Penny Mosby	65 episodes, all scenes filmed between 2005 and 2007
2006	Waterfront	Annabelle Marks	Unaired CBS series
2006-2009	Big Love	Donna	6 episodes
2006	Phil of the Future	Kristy	Episode: "Not-So-Great Great Great Grandpa"
2007	Close to Home	Jessica Conlon	Episode: "Hoosier Hold Em"
2007	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Megan Cooper	Episode: "Fallen Idols"
2007	House	Addie	Episode: "Resignation"
2007	Heroes	April	Episode: "Four Months Later..."
2007-2009	Desperate Housewives	Dylan Mayfair	15 episodes
2010-2013	Nikita	Alexandra "Alex" Udinov	Main role (73 episodes)
2011	Five	Cheyanne	Movie
2015-2016	Marvel's Agent Carter	Angie Martinelli	Recurring role (season 1); guest role (season 2)
2015, 2016	Grandfathered	Frankie	Episodes: "Sexy Guardian Angel", "The Sat Pack"

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Intellectual Property	Jenny
2007	Remember the Daze	Dawn
2010	Kick-Ass	Katie Deauxma
2010	Hot Tub Time Machine	Jenny Steadmeyer
2010	Ward, TheThe Ward	Iris
2011	Fort McCoy	Anna Gerkey
2013	Kick-Ass 2	Katie Deauxma
2015	Moments of Clarity	Danielle
2015	The Escort	Natalie

Accolades

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2008	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Desperate Housewives	Nominated
2009				Nominated
2010	Scream Awards	Breakout Performance - Female	Kick-Ass	Nominated
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Action	Nikita	Nominated
2012				Nominated
2013				Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]