Sarah Wayne Callies

Early life

Callies was born in La Grange, Illinois, the daughter of Valerie Wayne and David E. Callies, respective English and Law professors at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. At age one, Callies moved to Honolulu, Hawaii with her family. Throughout her youth, she expressed an interest in acting through participating in various school plays at the independent Punahou School. After graduating from high school, she entered Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. In conjunction with her studies, Callies remained involved in theatre. She continued her education at the National Theatre Conservatory, where she obtained her Master of Fine Arts degree in 2002.

Career

Callies moved to New York in 2003 and then quickly landed her first television role as Kate O'Malley, a recurring part on the short-lived CBS show Queens Supreme. Her first starring role was as Detective Jane Porter on The WB's Tarzan.

Prison Break

After making various guest appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Dragnet (2003), and NUMB3RS, Callies gained a starring role on Fox's Prison Break as Sara Tancredi. She played the role in the first two seasons, but her character was killed off for the third season before being brought back for the final, fourth season. According to Prison Break's executive producer Matt Olmstead, although the writers, the network, Callies herself, and he all wanted her to stay on the show, the character was written out related to contract disputes. She stated through a spokesperson to TV Guide in fall 2007:

However, in March 2008, Olmstead stated that the character of Sara is still alive and would return in season four. Though the character Sara Tancredi appeared to have a violent death, Olmstead stated "...we realized that there was actually a way she could still be alive." Executive Producer Matt Olmstead admitted the fans' overwhelming response to her death had influenced the decision to bring the character, and Callies, back to the show.

The Walking Dead

In 2010, Callies was cast in the major role of Lori Grimes on the AMC horror/drama series The Walking Dead, based on the comic-book series of the same name. The drama became the highest-rated show in that cable channel's history. Callies played the role from the show's start until season three. Grimes, her family, and friends are forced to fight relentless evil in the form of both flesh-eating zombies and the few surviving humans. Callies convinced the show's writers to kill her character because that is what had occurred in the comic-book version.

Other projects

Callies has also starred in two feature films - Universal Pictures' Whisper and an independent film, The Celestine Prophecy. In April 2010, she appeared on the Fox Television drama House as a patient of the week, whose open marriage fascinates House and the team. In August 2010, Callies' first screenplay, an adaptation of Campbell Geeslin's children's book Elena's Serenade, was optioned by French production company Fulldawa Films. Callies starred in the Nigerian movie Black Gold (2011) and one of the female lead roles in the Canadian thriller Faces in the Crowd (2011). In 2015, she co-starred with Nicolas Cage in Uli Edel's thriller film Pay the Ghost. In 2016, she returned to television in the lead role of Katie Bowman in Colony.

Personal life

On July 21, 2002, Callies married Josh Winterhalt, whom she met at Dartmouth. On January 23, 2007, her publicist announced that the couple were expecting their first child. Their daughter Keala was born on July 20, 2007. Their second child, an adopted son, Oakes Wayne, was born in August 2013.