Krysten Ritter: Biography

With a statuesque presence and a look that very much recalled the screen sirens of classic Hollywood, raven-haired Krysten Ritter entered the limelight on the fateful day when her path crisscrossed with a group of Elite Modeling scouts at a shopping mall in her Pennsylvania hometown. Witnessing the young woman's innate glamour, that agency, and later Wilhelmina Models, signed her -- propelling her to an international modeling career. She subsequently set her sights on film acting, began training under the tutelage of famed acting coach Marjorie Ballentine, and started accepting film roles in the early 2000s, meanwhile juggling careers as a businesswoman, writer, and recording artist/frontwoman for the band Ex Vivian. Throughout, Ritter exhibited a unique personal style that she later referred to as "rock-&-roll-'90s-ballerina...grungy yet feminine." Her filmed assignments began with a small turn as a 1950s art history student in the Julia Roberts vehicle Mona Lisa Smile (2003). Ritter then landed a multi-episode roles on Gilmore Girls (as Lucy), Veronica Mars (as Gia Goodman), and 'Til Death (as Allison Stark). She gradually ascended to higher billing in features, with supporting turns in a series of romantic comedies that included What Happens in Vegas (2008), Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), and She's Out of My League. ~ Nathan Southern