Sarah Clarke Biography

Sarah Clarke (born February 16, 1972) is an American actress, best known for her role as Nina Myers on 24, and also for her roles as Renée Dwyer, Bella Swan's mother, in the 2008 film Twilight, Erin McGuire on the short-lived TV show Trust Me, and CIA Agent Lena Smith on the USA Network show Covert Affairs.

Early life

Clarke was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Carolyn, a homemaker, and Ernest Clarke, an engineer.

She attended John Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri (along with Mad Men star Jon Hamm, who was her prom date), and Indiana University, where she studied Fine Arts and Italian. While a student at IU, Clarke became a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She was initiated into the Beta chapter in 1990.

Clarke first became interested in acting while studying abroad during her senior year in Bologna, Italy. Upon returning to the United States, she began studying architectural photography. She received free acting lessons in return for taking photographs of a cultural arts center, and she studied acting at Circle in the Square Theatre School, Axis Theater Company, and The Willow Cabin Theatre Company.

Career

Clarke began her acting career with an appearance in a 1999 award-winning commercial for Volkswagen. She followed this with a role in the 2000 short film Pas de deux and received an Outstanding Performance award at the Brooklyn Film Festival. Clarke's career soon blossomed with minor roles, including films All About George in 2000 and The Accident in 2001, as well as television shows such as Ed and Sex and the City.

In 2001, Clarke auditioned for the role of CTU agent Nina Myers on 24. She won the role on the day that filming began. The wardrobe department didn't have time to fit her, so she had to wear her own outfit for the entire season of filming. In her three seasons with the show, Clarke was featured in a total of 36 episodes. Clarke won a Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series for this role. Clarke also lent her voice to ', as her 24 character, Nina Myers.

She has guest-starred on House and Life. She played Renée Dwyer, Bella Swan's mother, in Twilight. She accepted a leading role on new TNT series entitled Trust Me, opposite Eric McCormack and Thomas Cavanagh. The series premiered on January 26, 2009 to positive reviews, though it was cancelled after one season due to declining ratings. In 2010, Clarke reprised her role as Renée Dwyer in Eclipse, the third movie in the Twilight series.

Personal life

Clarke met her husband, Xander Berkeley, while on the set of 24 (he played her supervisor, George Mason) and they were married in September 2002, a year after meeting. They have two daughters: Olwyn Harper (born on September 23, 2006) and Rowan (born c. March 2010).

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2000	Pas de deux	The Clown
2000	All About George	Catherine	Short film
2000	Interior. Bedroom - Night	Heather Cinicci	Short film
2001	'	Reeny
2002	Emmett's Mark	Sarah
2003	'	Katrina	Short film
2003	Thirteen	Birdie
2004	Human Error	Company Spokesperson
2005	Happy Endings	Diane
2005	Psychic Driving	Selma	Short film
2006	'	Claire
2007	'	Olga	Short film
2008	Twilight	Renée
2009	Women in Trouble	Maxine McPherson
2010	Below the Beltway	Anne
2010	'	Renée
2010	Bedrooms	Janet
2011	'	Renée
2014	The Signal		Filming

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2000	Sex and the City	Melinda Peters	Episode: "Politically Erect"
2001	Ed	Kara Parsons	Episode: "The Test"
2001-2004	24	Nina Myers	36 episodes
2003	Karen Sisco	Barbara Simmons	Episode: "The One That Got Away"
2005	House	Carly Forlano	Episode: "Control"
2005	E-Ring	Jim's Wife	Episode: "Unaired Pilot"
2005	Las Vegas	Olivia Duchey	Episode: "The Big Ed De-cline" Episode: "The Real McCoy"
2006	'	Jackie	TV movie
2006	'	Nina Myers (voice)	Video game
2006	Commander in Chief	Christine Chambers	Episode: "Unfinished Business"
2007	Alibi	Sarah Winters	TV movie
2007	Life	Mary Ann Farmer	Episode: "A Civil War"
2008	Wainy Days	Rebecca	Episode: "Rebecca"
2008	'	Lauren Keenan	Episode: "To Catch a Fed"
2009	Trust Me	Erin McGuire	13 episodes
2009-2011	Men of a Certain Age	Dory	5 episodes
2011	'	Sister Carmel	5 episodes
2011	Nikita	Katya Udinov	Episode: "Guardians"
2012	Nikita	Katya Udinov	Episode: "Pale Fire" Episode: "Arising"
2012	Covert Affairs	Lena Smith	Recurring role