# Troian Bellisario

Troian Avery Bellisario (born October 28, 1985) is an American actress. A graduate of the University of Southern California, she had her breakthrough role as Spencer Hastings in the Freeform teen drama series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017). In 2025, she starred in the police procedural series On Call.

## Early life

Troian Avery Bellisario was born and raised in Los Angeles. Her parents are producers Deborah Pratt and Donald P. Bellisario; her father created Magnum, P.I., Quantum Leap, and NCIS, among other TV series. She has a younger brother, three half-sisters, two half-brothers, and two stepbrothers, actor Sean Murray and producer Chad W. Murray. Her father is of Italian and Serbian descent, and her mother is of African American descent.
Attending Campbell Hall School in Studio City, California, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, Bellisario was the valedictorian of her class. After high school, she attended Vassar College for several months before taking a break for the sake of her mental health, feeling that the institution aggravated her perfectionist tendencies. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California in 2009.

## Career
### Early work

Bellisario made her acting debut in the 1988 film Last Rites at the age of three, which was directed, written and produced by her father, Donald P. Bellisario. In 1990, she guest-starred in an episode of her father's series Quantum Leap. In 1998, she co-starred with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in the film Billboard Dad. Beginning in 2006, Bellisario began appearing in a number of independent short films namely, Unspoken, Archer House and Intersect.

### 2010s

In November 2009, Bellisario was cast as Spencer Hastings in the TV series Pretty Little Liars based on the book series of the same name by Sara Shepard. In October 2011, Bellisario announced she was in the process of writing and creating her own film, which was successfully funded through Kickstarter on November 16, 2011. Filming ended in December 2011 and the film was officially completed by August 2012.
In 2014, she starred in the music video for The Head and the Heart's song "Another Story". Bellisario also starred in Immediately Afterlife, a short film about two cult members who are the only survivors of their group's mass suicide, playing Bennett, alongside her Pretty Little Liars co-stars Shay Mitchell (Emily), Ian Harding (Ezra Fitz) and Nolan North (Peter Hastings). In 2015, she was cast in a leading role in the American remake of the French-Canadian film Martyrs. In 2015, Bellisario and fiancée Patrick J. Adams filmed the short film We Are Here in Haida Gwaii, which Bellisario wrote and starred in. In 2017, Bellisario starred in her feature film, Feed, which she also wrote and produced. The film was written based on Bellisario's own experiences with an eating disorder.
On April 7, 2016, it was announced that Bellisario would be directing season 7, episode 15 of Pretty Little Liars. This made her one of the first in the cast, alongside Chad Lowe, to direct an episode on the series. In 2020, Bellisario appeared as the bride character Jenna Marshall from the episode "Til Dex Do Us Part" in Stumptown.
Further in television, she costarred with Australian actress Jacki Weaver in the television drama film Sister Cities (2016), and opposite Bradley Whitford in the Me Too drama Lauren (2012–2013). In film, Bellisario has received recognition for her performances in C.O.G. (2013), Feed (2017), Clara (2018) and Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019).

### 2020s

In March 2020, Bellisario played the lead role of Claire in the CBS political drama pilot Ways & Means, written by Mike Murphy and Ed Redlich. The pilot, which also starred Patrick Dempsey, focused on a secret alliance between a disillusioned career politician and an idealist up-and-comer in the gridlocked American system. The show was not picked up.
In 2022, she appeared in the comedy Doula alongside Arron Shiver (who also wrote the film) and Will Greenberg. The film, produced by Chris Pine and directed by Cheryl Nichols, deals with Bellisario's character hiring her midwife's son as the latter's replacement when she passes away.

## Personal life

Bellisario began dating Suits star Patrick J. Adams after they met on the set of the play Equivocation in 2009. The couple briefly separated before Adams' guest appearance as Hardy in Pretty Little Liars but reunited in 2010. Since working on Equivocation and Pretty Little Liars, the couple also worked together on the 2012 short film The Come Up, Suits, and the short film We Are Here. Bellisario and Adams were married on December 10, 2016, in Santa Barbara, California. They have two daughters, Aurora and Elliot.
In an episode of actress Katie Lowes' podcast, Katie's Crib, Bellisario and Adams said their second child was born in the backseat of their car at the hospital parking lot due to an accelerated labour, with Adams delivering the baby. Hospital staff assisted within minutes of the delivery, and Bellisario and the baby were found healthy.
Bellisario said in January 2014 that she endured personal problems during high school, resulting in self-harm and an eating disorder. "I was the youngest daughter, the perfect little girl. My school was a very intense college prep school. So it was about wanting to please my father and mother and wanting to be perfect to everybody."
In 2014, Bellisario returned to her alma mater, USC School of Dramatic Arts, delivering the commencement speech.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Last Rites | Justin's daughter | |
| 1998 | Billboard Dad | Kristen Bulut | |
| 2006 | Unspoken | Jani | Short film |
| 2007 | Archer House | Tatum | Short film |
| 2009 | Intersect | Victoria | Short film |
| 2009 | Before the Cabin Burned Down | Meg | Short film |
| 2010 | Consent | Amanda | |
| 2010 | Peep World | Film set P.A. | |
| 2011 | A November | Girlfriend | Short film |
| 2011 | Pleased to Meet You | Carson | |
| 2012 | The Come Up | Jessica | Short film |
| 2012 | Joyful Girl | Belle | Short film |
| 2013 | C.O.G. | Jennifer | |
| 2013 | Exiles | Juliet | Short film; also writer and executive producer |
| 2014 | Immediately Afterlife | Bennett | Short film |
| 2015 | Surf Noir | Lacey | Short film |
| 2015 | Martyrs | Lucie Jurin | |
| 2015 | Still a Rose | Juliet | Short film |
| 2015 | Amy | Amy | Short film |
| 2016 | In the Shadows of the Rainbow | | Short film |
| 2017 | Chuck Hank and the San Diego Twins | Claire | |
| 2017 | Feed | Olivia Grey | Also writer and producer |
| 2018 | We Are Here | Woman | Short film; also producer and writer |
| 2018 | Clara | Clara | |
| 2019 | Where'd You Go Bernadette | Becky | |
| 2019 | Like Turtles | Molly | Short film; also producer |
| 2020 | Life on Mars | Stella | Short film; also writer |
| 2021 | Poppet | Maeve | Short film; also producer and writer |
| 2022 | Doula | Deb | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | Quantum Leap | Teresa Bruckner | Episode: "Another Mother" |
| 1992 | Tequila and Bonetti | Teresa Garcia | Recurring role; 2 episodes |
| 1998 | JAG | Erin Terry | Episode: "Tiger, Tiger" |
| 2002 | First Monday | Kimberly Baron | Recurring role; 2 episodes |
| 2005–2006 | NCIS | Sarah McGee | Guest role; 2 episodes |
| 2010–2017 | Pretty Little Liars | Spencer Hastings | Main role; 160 episodes |
| 2010–2017 | Pretty Little Liars | Alex Drake | Recurring role (season 7); 6 episodes |
| 2015 | Suits | Claire Bowden | Guest role; 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Sister Cities | Baltimore Baxter | Television film |
| 2020 | Stumptown | Jenna Marshall | Episode: "Til Dex Do Us Part" |
| 2022 | Celebrity Jeopardy! | Herself | Contestant |
| 2023 | Plan B | Miranda Delano | Television miniseries; 4 episodes |
| 2025 | On Call | Traci Harmon | Main role; 8 episodes |

### Radio

| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
| 2020 | The Adventures of Superman | Girl | DC FanDome | |

### Web

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012–2013 | Lauren | Sergeant Lauren Weil | Main role; 14 episodes |
| 2014 | Pa-gents with Chris Pine | Cathryn Crest | |
| 2015 | Instagram Intervention with Troian Bellisario | Herself | |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Role | Artist | Ref. |
| 2014 | "Another Story" | Girl | The Head and the Heart | |
| 2018 | "Fading Light" | Woman | Nights & Weekends | |

### Director

| Year | Title | Episode(s) | Notes |
| 2017 | Pretty Little Liars | "In the Eye Abides the Heart" | Directorial debut |
| 2018 | Famous in Love | "Guess Who's (Not) Coming to Sundance?" | |
| 2019–2023 | Good Trouble | 6 episodes | |
| 2020 | Life on Mars | — | Short film |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2010 | Vision Fest | Best Acting – Female Lead | Consent | Won |
| 2010 | Philadelphia First Glance Film Festival | Best Actress | Consent | Won |
| 2011 | Young Hollywood Awards | Cast to Watch (shared with Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale and Shay Mitchell) | Pretty Little Liars | Won |
| 2011 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Summer TV Star: Female | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
| 2012 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Summer TV Star: Female | Pretty Little Liars | Won |
| 2013 | New York Festivals | Best Performance by an Actress | Lauren | Won |
| 2013 | Streamy Awards | Best Female Performance – Drama | Lauren | Nominated |
| 2013 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress: Drama | Pretty Little Liars | Won |
| 2014 | IAWTV Awards | Best Female Performance – Drama | Lauren | Nominated |
| 2014 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress: Drama | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
| 2015 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Summer TV Star: Female | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
| 2016 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress: Drama | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
| 2017 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Actress: Drama | Pretty Little Liars | Nominated |
| 2018 | Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award | Best Actress in a Canadian Film | Clara | Nominated |
| 2020 | Northeast Film Festival | Best Actress in a Short Film | Like Turtles | Won |