Lyndsy Marie Fonseca (born January 7, 1987)
is an American actress. She began her career by appearing as
Colleen Carlton on the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
daytime soap opera ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...
'', on which she starred between 2001 and 2005. Thereafter, she had a series of other recurring roles, including
Penny Mosby on the CBS sitcom ''
How I Met Your Mother
''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...
'', Donna on
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 ...
's ''
Big Love
''Big Love'' is an American drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer that aired on HBO from 2006 to 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a Mormon fundamentalism, fundamentalist Mor ...
'', and
Dylan Mayfair on the
fourth season of the
ABC television series ''
Desperate Housewives
''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
''.
From 2010 to 2013, Fonseca starred as
Alex Udinov on
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 ''
Nikita'', and from 2015 to 2016 she played
Angie Martinelli on ABC's ''
Agent Carter''. She has also appeared in a variety of film roles, including Jenny in ''
Hot Tub Time Machine'' (2010) and
Katie Deauxma in ''
Kick-Ass'' (2010) and its
2013 sequel.
Early life
Lyndsy Marie Fonseca was born on January 7, 1987, in
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, United States, the daughter of Lima Lynn () and James Victor Fonseca. She has described her ethnicity as "half Portuguese". Her paternal grandmother was an artist who made quilts, doll clothes, and
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
. Fonseca's parents married in 1985 and divorced when she was two years old. Lima, a psychologist, later married attorney Reid Dworkin, through whom Fonseca has a half-sister. Fonseca completed a course at
Barbizon Modeling and Acting School
Barbizon Modeling and Acting School is an international modeling and acting school headquartered in Tampa, Florida. The school provides instructional courses in the domain of modeling and personal development.
History
The first Barbizon Sch ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
at the age of 12.
She soon made her screen debut as Colleen Connelly-Carlton on the soap opera ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...
''.
Career
In 2005, Fonseca played a recurring role as Ted Mosby's future daughter on ''
How I Met Your Mother
''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...
'' and as Donna on
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 ...
's ''
Big Love
''Big Love'' is an American drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer that aired on HBO from 2006 to 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a Mormon fundamentalism, fundamentalist Mor ...
''. She starred in the 2005
Hallmark
A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...
TV film ''
Ordinary Miracles'', as a 16-year-old juvenile delinquent who goes to live with a judge (
Jaclyn Smith). In late 2007, Fonseca played Dawn in the film ''
Remember the Daze''.
She joined the cast of
ABC's ''
Desperate Housewives
''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
'' in the series' fourth season as
Dylan Mayfair, the daughter of
Katherine Mayfair
Katherine Irma Mayfair is a fictional character created by Marc Cherry for the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. The character was portrayed by Dana Delany and first appeared in the series' Now You Know ...
(
Dana Delany
Dana Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television drama ''China Beach'' (1 ...
), a character moving onto
Wisteria Lane.
In 2008, she was nominated for the Actor award at the
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...
for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for ''Desperate Housewives'', shared with the cast.
Fonseca played Katie Deauxma in the 2010
superhero film
Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...
''
Kick-Ass'', followed by appearances in three more American films in 2010, including ''
Hot Tub Time Machine''. In 2010, Fonseca was cast in a starring role in the
CW television series ''
Nikita'' as Alex, a new recruit,
a role she played throughout the series' four seasons. During its run, the ''Nikita'' cast included her ''Kick-Ass'' co-star
Xander Berkeley
Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His films include ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (1991), ''Candyman ...
and her future husband, co-star
Noah Bean
Noah Whipple Bean (born August 20, 1978) is an American actor best known for his roles as Ryan Fletcher on The CW action-thriller series '' Nikita'', as David Connor on the FX legal drama ''Damages'' and his leading performance in the independen ...
.
Fonseca starred in the 2021
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
series ''
Turner & Hooch'', a remake of the
1989 film of the same name.
Personal life
Fonseca married Matthew Smiley in April 2009. The couple separated in July 2012, and Fonseca filed for divorce in 2013, citing "irreconcilable differences".
In February 2016, Fonseca announced her engagement to her ''Nikita'' co-star, actor
Noah Bean
Noah Whipple Bean (born August 20, 1978) is an American actor best known for his roles as Ryan Fletcher on The CW action-thriller series '' Nikita'', as David Connor on the FX legal drama ''Damages'' and his leading performance in the independen ...
. She and Bean married on October 2, 2016, in
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
. Fonseca and Bean have a daughter, born in February 2018. A second daughter was born to the couple in June 2022.
Fonseca was listed at No. 62 on the 2010
''Maxim'' Hot 100 and No. 88 on the 2011 list.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Lyndsy
1987 births
21st-century American actresses
Actresses from Oakland, California
American child actresses
American film actresses
American people of Portuguese descent
American soap opera actresses
American television actresses
Living people