Andrea Harrison

December 17, 1969 (age 49)
 Nationality
 Citizenship
 Alma mater
 Occupation
 Years active
 Home town
 Parent(s)
 Relatives
Christopher Holden (brother)
Michael Anderson Jr.(stepbrother)

**Heather Laurie Holden** (born December 17, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress, producer, model, and human rights activist. She is known for her roles as Marita Covarrubias in *The X-Files* (1996–2002), Adele Stanton in *The Majestic*(2001), Cybil Bennett in *Silent Hill* (2006), Amanda Dumfries in *The Mist* (2007), Olivia Murray in *The Shield* (2008), Andrea in *The Walking Dead* (2010–2013) and Renee in *The Americans* (2017-2018).

## Early life[edit]

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Toronto,[1][2] Holden holds dual citizenship in the United States and Canada. After her parents, actors Glen Corbett and Adrienne Ellis, divorced, her mother married director Michael Anderson. Laurie then split her time between Los Angeles and Toronto. She has a younger brother, Christopher Holden, and a half-sister.

Holden received her first film role when she was a young child. While on the set visiting her stepfather, director Michael Anderson, a child actress hired to play Rock Hudson's daughter in *The Martian Chronicles* never arrived, so Laurie filled in. "All of a sudden, I'm Rock Hudson's daughter." As a teenager, she won The *Look of the Year* modeling contest in Toronto and was given a minor role as a babysitter in Anderson's comedy *Separate Vacations* (1986).

After graduating from the Bishop Strachan School, she attended McGill University, where she studied economics and political science.[3] Holden transferred to University of California, Los Angeles and received a degree in theater and film in 1993.[4] At UCLA, she was a member of the National Honor Society and received the prestigious Natalie Wood Acting Award. Holden then pursued a master's degree in human rights at Columbia University.[5]

## Career[edit]

Early in her career, Holden made a name for herself by co-starring opposite Burt Reynolds in *Physical Evidence* (1989), Vanessa Redgrave in *Young Catherine* (1991), and William Shatner in the TV Movie *TekWar: TekLab* (1994). She also played Mabel Dunham in the TV Movie *The Pathfinder* (1996) (based on the novel of James Fenimore Cooper). Onstage, she starred in *Time and the Conways*, written by J. B. Priestley, and *The Winter's Tale*, based on the play by William Shakespeare. Other stage roles include Regina in *Ghosts* and Procne in *The Love of the Nightingale*.

Laurie Holden at San Diego Comic Con in 2007 to promote *The Mist*

After making various guest appearances on *Due South*, *Murder, She Wrote*, and *Poltergeist: The Legacy* (when she played a dual role), Holden found some success playing a memorable recurring role on the seminal sci-fi series *The X-Files*: Marita Covarrubias, a mysterious government worker who becomes an informant to Special Agent Fox Mulder, from seasons four through nine (1996–2002). She also had a supporting role, as Mary Travis, opposite Michael Biehn and Ron Perlman, in the CBS TV series based on the MGM classic, *The Magnificent Seven* (1998–2000) and a role as Debra Campbell on *Highlander: The Series*.

Some of Holden's most notable roles include starring opposite Jim Carrey in Frank Darabont's film *The Majestic* (2001) (It was while performing on stage in *Cat on a Hot Tin Roof*, that Holden was discovered by Darabont). As Carrey's long lost love, she received critical acclaim for her performance.[6] She also co-starred alongside Dean Cain, Jennifer Tilly, and Tim Curry in the Canadian comedy *Bailey's Billion$*. Other movie roles have included those of Michael Chiklis' character's former love interest in *Fantastic Four* (2005), Cybil Bennett in Christophe Gans' artistic-horror video game adaptation of *Silent Hill* (2006),[7] Amanda Dumfries in *The Mist* (2007), and Olivia Murray in *The Shield*.

From 2010 to 2013, she played the role of Andrea, a civil rights attorney and survivor of a global zombie plague in *The Walking Dead*, an AMC television horror drama series.[8] In 2013, she worked on the movie *Honeytrap* as an executive producer.[9] In 2014 she played the role of Ann McGinnis in the third season of *Major Crimes*. Also in 2014, she co-starred in the movie *Dumb and Dumber To*, opposite Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels and Kathleen Turner.[10] She played Adele Pinchelow, the main antagonist of the Farrelly brothers comedy.

In 2015, she appeared as Dr. Hannah Tramble, an ER surgeon, in the third season of *Chicago Fire*. It was announced Holden would reprise her role as Dr. Tramble in a planned spinoff, *Chicago Med*. Holden was set to co-star opposite Epatha Merkerson and Yaya Dacosta in the ensemble medical drama. The series is being conceived and written by *Chicago Fire* creators/executive producers Derek Haas and Michael Brandt.[11] However, she dropped out of the project for "family reasons".

In 2016, she appeared in *The Abolitionists*, a documentary film by Darrin Fletcher.[12] In 2017, Holden joins the cast of *The Americans* in the fifth season, when she plays Renee.[13] She has been cast in indie thriller *Pyewacket*, a movie directed by Adam MacDonald.[14]

In 2018, Laurie Holden has joined the crime thriller *Dragged Across Concrete*, starring Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn.

Holden joins the cast of American legal drama television series *Proven Innocent* (set to premiere in 2019 on Fox), when she plays Greta Bellows.

## Charity work and human rights activism[edit]

Holden is a founding board member of the Canadian *Somaly Mam Foundation*,[15] which campaigns against human trafficking, and an advisory board member of the Somaly Mam Foundation in the U.S.

In 2014, Holden worked with Operation Underground Railroad, a volunteer organization that aims to hunt down and arrest child sex traffickers. The group aided authorities in Cartagena, Colombia, in breaking up a sex-trafficking ring that used drugs to force underage boys and girls into prostitution. The operation resulted in the arrests of 12 people and the rescue of 55 sex-trafficking victims, one just 11 years old.[16][17]

She also works with the nonprofit *Home From Home*, which helps HIV-infected children.