Amanda Crew

With her quiet, girl-next-door looks, Canadian actress Amanda Crew moved quickly from child and teen roles to more mature performances including her breakthrough part in Mike Judge's corrosive satire "Silicon Valley." Born in the Vancouver suburb of Langley, British Columbia, Amanda had her first acting experience in the lead role of her fourth grade school play, an experience that she enjoyed enough to begin acting locally in commercials. By her teens, Crews was a familiar sight on the thriving Vancouver television production scene, landing guest roles on such American series as "Life As We Know It" (ABC 2004-05) and "Smallville" (CW 2001-2011), both shot in Vancouver region. Her real breakout role came when she played the part of rising young tennis star Tanis McTaggert in the coming of age series "15/Love" (Nickelodeon 2004-06). Her stint on this show led to a lead role in the mystery series "Whistler" (CTV 2006-08), which led to offers of film work. Her first major big-screen role came as the female lead in raunchy teen comedy "Sex Drive" (2008). This was followed by more sedate roles as the love interest for troubled teen Zac Efron in the coming of age drama "Charlie St. Cloud" (2010) and in the political drama "Knife Fight" (2013) opposite Rob Lowe and Carrie-Anne Moss. Crew returned to TV as one of the co-stars of Mike Judge's take on life in the world of software development in "Silicon Valley" (HBO 2014-).