Cassidy Freeman (born April 22, 1982) is an American actress and musician. She is known for her roles as Tess Mercer in

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

's superhero drama ''

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...

'', Amber Gemstone in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series '' The Righteous Gemstones'', Sage in the series ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'', and Cady Longmire in the A&E/

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

modern western '' Longmire''.

Early life and education

Freeman was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Her father comes from a

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

family, while her mother is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

of English ancestry. She is the youngest of four children, with three brothers. Her brother,

Crispin Freeman Crispin Freeman is an American voice actor, voice director, and screenwriter who is best known for voicing characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime, animation, and video games. Some of his prominent anime roles include Zelgadis Grayw ...

is a voice actor, while her brother Clark is an actor and musician.

Career

CassidyFreemanComicCon - vagueonthehow 4

Acting

Freeman has appeared in several

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

s and television series. Freeman played the leading role of Veronica Sharpe in the 2006 short film ''Razor Sharp'', which won "Best Action Film" at the 2007

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events h ...

International Independent Film Festival. She also starred in the 2010

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

''YellowBrickRoad''. In September 2008, she began starring in

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

-inspired drama ''

'' where she played Tess Mercer after the departure of

Michael Rosenbaum Michael Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972) is an American actor and podcaster. He is known for portraying Lex Luthor (Smallville), Lex Luthor on the television series ''Smallville'', a role that ''TV Guide'' included in their 2013 list of "The 60 Nas ...

Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

and continued in this role until the show ended in May 2011. On January 13, 2012, Freeman was confirmed to have a brief three-episode run as Sage, in the third season of

's fantasy drama ''

''. Between 2012 and 2017, Freeman starred as Cady Longmire in the A&E and (later)

crime drama '' Longmire''. In 2016, she played the Russian spy Eva Azarova in a two-episode crossover in ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'' and '' NCIS: New Orleans''; she returned as Azarova in two 2017 episodes of ''NCIS: New Orleans''. She co-starred alongside

Will Patton William Rankin Patton (born June 14, 1954) is an American actor. He starred as Colonel Dan Weaver in the TNT science fiction series '' Falling Skies''.The Forever Purge ''The Forever Purge'' is a 2021 American action horror film directed by Everardo Valerio Gout and written by series creator James DeMonaco, who also produced along with Jason Blum and Michael Bay. Originally intended as the final installment, it ...

'' (2021), the fifth film in ''The Purge'' franchise. From 2019 to 2025, Freeman starred as Amber Gemstone in the

series '' The Righteous Gemstones.''

Music

Freeman, her brother Clark Freeman, and Andy Mitton formed a band called The Real D'Coy, in which Freeman sings and plays the piano.

Allegations against Jeremy Piven

In November 2017, Freeman accused actor

Jeremy Piven Jeremy Samuel Piven (born July 26, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Ari Gold in the comedy series '' Entourage'', for which he won a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Emmy Awards. He also starred in the Britis ...

of predatory behavior, saying in an Instagram post "I know what you did and attempted to do to me when I was far too young." She came forward with her allegations after actress Ariane Bellamar accused Piven of sexual harassment.

Philanthropy

While a cast member of ''Smallville'', The CW wrote that Freeman was an active member of Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica, California, environmental group. The network also wrote that Freeman volunteered with the Virginia Avenue Project, a Santa Monica nonprofit that uses the performing arts in a free, after-school program.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Cassidy 1982 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Chicago American film actresses American television actresses Latin School of Chicago alumni Living people Middlebury College alumni Singers from Chicago 21st-century American singers