Alessandra Olivia Toreson (born May 29, 1987), known professionally as Alessandra Torresani, is an American actress. She is known for playing Zoe Graystone in the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

television series ''

Caprica ''Caprica'' is a 2010 American science fiction drama television series, which is a prequel spin-off of the 2004–2009 series ''Battlestar Galactica''. ''Caprica'' is set 58 years before the main series, and shows how humanity first created the ...

'' and Claire in ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady for CBS. It aired from September 24, 2007, to May 16, 2019, running for 12 seasons and 279 episodes. The show originally centered on five charact ...

''.

Early life

Alessandra Olivia Toreson was born on May 29, 1987, in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. Coming from a wealthy family, she is the daughter of James Sylvester Toreson, overseer of a number of multimillion dollar technology startups at Freedom Motors Inc. and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Toreson Industries, Inc, a company he founded in 1983, and wife Marcia Glow,

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. She began studying dancing and singing when she was two years old. At the age of 8, she landed a job doing interviews between cartoons on

The WB Television Network The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on br ...

. She holds a black belt in

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

. She has stated that she is "half-

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Career

Torresani's television debut was at age nine when she hosted the "

Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming block that originally aired on The WB from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006, and later on The CW from September 23, 2006, to May 17, 2008. Initially launched as a co ...

Club" for San Francisco's KBWB (Channel 20). She co-starred in the

Disney Channel Original Movie Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1 ...

'' Going to the Mat''. Her other television credits include guest appearances on ''

Even Stevens ''Even Stevens'' is an American comedy television series produced by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 17, 2000, to June 2, 2003, airing a total of 65 episodes spanning three seasons. It follows ...

'', '' JAG'', '' ER'', '' The War at Home'', ''

Malcolm In The Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons consisting of 151 episodes. The ...

'', ''

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

'', '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'', and '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' among others. In May 2008, Torresani was cast as Zoe Graystone in Syfy's ''

'', a prequel spin-off of ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...

'', which debuted in 2009. In 2009, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' announced that she was cast to play

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born September 19, 1958) is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, and then embarked on a successful glam metal solo career tha ...

in ''

The Runaways The Runaways were an American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. Formed in 1975 in Los Angeles, the band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are " Cherry Bomb", " Holl ...

'', a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

about the all-girl punk band of the same name. ''Variety'' later reported that it was Scout Taylor-Compton who would play Ford. In 2010, Torresani was featured as a Girl of ''Maxim''. In 2013, Torresani starred in the comedy web series ''

Husbands A husband is a man involved in a marital relationship, commonly referred to as a spouse. The specific rights, responsibilities, and societal status attributed to a husband can vary significantly across different cultures and historical perio ...

'', which first aired on September 13, 2011. In 2016, she appeared in five episodes of ''

'', playing the role of bartender and aspiring screenwriter Claire. Torresani lives with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

and hosts ''EmotionAL Support with Alessandra Torresani'', a mental health podcast. She is married to Sturgis Adams and has one daughter, Lady Francis Adams.https://people.com/parents/alessandra-torresani-husband-sturgis-adams-welcome-baby-girl/

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torresani, Alessandra 1987 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Palo Alto, California American female taekwondo practitioners Living people Jewish American actresses People with bipolar disorder