Emily Bergl

Anne Emily Bergl[1] (born 25 April 1975) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Rachel Lang in the supernatural horror film The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999), Annie O’Donnell on the ABC television show Men in Trees (2006–08), Beth Young on Desperate Housewives (2010–12), Tammi Bryant on the TNT drama series Southland (2009–2013) and Sammi Slott in Shameless (2014–2015). She also performs as a cabaret singer. She also played Francie in Gilmore Girls.

Bergl was born in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, to an Irish mother and an English architect father.[2] She has one brother.[3] Her family emigrated to the United States when she was six, initially residing in Denver, Colorado.[3] When she was ten, they moved to Glenview, Illinois, where she spent the remainder of her upbringing.[4] She attended Glenbrook South High School and Grinnell College, where she was the lead in several school productions.[5] She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and theatre.[5] During her college years, she spent a semester (spring 1996) studying with the National Theater Institute at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. She received additional acting training at HB Studio[6] in New York City.