Bio
Laura Allen is an American actress best known for her television roles as Laura Kirk English du Pres #2 on the soap opera All My Children (2000-2002); as Lily Moore Tyler in 17 episodes of sci-fi series The 4400 (2004-2005); and as Julia Mallory in the drama series Dirt, from 2007-2008.
She also had a starring role as Hannah Britten, a mother dealing with the loss of her son and a wife trying to reconnect with her husband after a terrible tragedy, on the police procedural fantasy drama television series Awake, in 2012.
Allen got her start on the big screen in Mona Lisa Smile alongside Julia Roberts and Maggie Gyllenhaal. She was also featured in Disney Pictures' Old Dogs and in the independent film Cherry, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in spring 2010.
Her other film credits include independent movies From Within, Hysteria, and How You Look to Me with Frank Langella.
In addition to Awake, Allen's list of television credits includes the Shawn Ryan-produced FX series Terriers and the critically acclaimed FX/Courteney Cox series Dirt as Julia Mallory.
She was also the female lead in the Spike Lee-directed film Sucker Free City for Showtime, and the Emmy-nominated USA Network original series The 4400 as Lily Tyler.
A graduate of Wellesley College, Allen focused her social science studies in criminology. Upon graduation she worked with the NYPD as a domestic violence counselor before pursuing acting.
She soon got involved with the downtown theatre scene, volunteering at New York's prominent off-Broadway theatre MCC. Shortly thereafter, she landed her first acting role in a pilot for Fox, Darren Star's The $treet, and later was chosen for the role of Laura Kirk English on the daytime drama All My Children.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Allen grew up on Bainbridge Island, Washington, outside of Seattle. Along with her father and two sisters, she performed throughout her childhood in community theatre productions and summer stock; she continued her pursuit of live theatre during college and her studies abroad in London and at Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires.
She now resides in Venice, California with her son and husband.