Erika Christensen

Erika Christensen dated cyclist Cole Maness for a while before she got engaged to him in 2014. The couple tied the knot in September 2015.

In March 2016, the couple announced that they were expecting a child. They had a daughter, Shane, in June that year. The couple had another daughter, Polly, in August 2018.

Erika believes in Scientology, which is known as a very orthodox faith. She has defended the organization publicly on many platforms.

Erika Christensen was born in Seattle, Washington, on August 19, 1982, to Kathy and Steven Christensen. Her father worked as an insurance agent, and her mother was a construction manager. She grew up with three brothers. One of her two younger brothers, Dane, was an actor, too.

The family moved to Los Angeles when Erika was still young. By the time she turned 12, she knew that she wanted to make a career in the entertainment industry. She started appearing in TV and print commercials. One of her most popular advertisements was for ‘McDonald’s.’ She appeared in the commercial when she was still a teenager.

She trained in dance and acting at a tender age. This helped her a lot while auditioning for film and TV roles.

Her parents were religious people and had been following Scientology for a long time. They raised their children according to the same faith, and Erika continued to follow the faith even after she attained international fame. Gradually, she became one of the major celebrity representatives of the ‘Church of Scientology.’

As she had started appearing in films and TV series since the beginning of her teenage years, she could not attend school regularly. She was thus homeschooled.

Appearing in the ‘McDonald’s’ commercial paved her way to the entertainment industry. The commercial was telecast nationally, and she was noticed by many talent agencies.

She made her acting debut in 1997, with a small role in the series ‘Nothing Sacred.’ The same year, she made her big-screen debut, with the film ‘Leave It to the Beaver.’ It was a critically and commercially successful film that helped her establish herself in the industry.

Soon, she appeared in one-episode roles in series such as ‘Frasier,’ ‘Touched by an Angel,’ and ‘The Practice.’ In 1999, she appeared in the ‘Disney’ science-fiction TV film ‘Can of Worms.’ It was one of the first leading roles of her career. It attained significant success in terms of ratings and reviews.

The same year, she had another major career breakthrough when she appeared in the video for Michael Jackson’s song ‘Childhood.’ She also played a supporting role in the sitcom ‘Thanks’ that year.

In 2000, ace director Steven Soderbergh offered her a role of a drug-addicted teenager in his film ‘Traffic.’ Her character, ‘Caroline Wakefield,’ was one of the key characters of the film. The film received many awards and nominations, and the performances of the actors were appreciated internationally.

Her role of a drug-addicted teenager in the film ‘Traffic,’ earned Erika several awards and nominations. In 2001, she won the ‘Breakthrough Female Performance’ award at the ‘MTV Movie Awards’ and the ‘Standout Performance’ award at the ‘Young Hollywood Awards’ for her performance in the film.

She also won a ‘Gracie Award’ for her performance in ‘Parenthood.’ ‘People’ magazine named her among the ‘Breakthrough Stars of 2001.’