Lyndsy Fonseca

Actress Lyndsy Fonseca may have started her career in family-friendly Disney shows and romantic comedies, but it was her undeniable dramatic bent that made her a true star. She first gained acclaim as a troubled teen on the long-running daytime soap opera, "The Young and the Restless" (CBS, 1973- ). The role opened up new doors and more projects for the talented actress, including recurring spots on the top-rated CBS sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" (2005-14) and on the popular ABC series "Desperate Housewives" (2004-1) as a member of a secretive family.

Fonseca's turns as a superhero's girlfriend in the teen flick "Kick-Ass" (2010), John Cusack's love interest in the comedy feature "Hot Tub Time Machine" (2010), and a lead role as an assassin-in-training on the remake of the film and series "Nikita" (The CW, 2010-14) provided her instant sex symbol status.

Lyndsy Marie Fonseca was born on Jan. 7, 1987 in Oakland, CA. The future star was home schooled, but she attended the Barbizon School of Modeling, where she received awards for dancing and was named Miss Barbizon Young Miss Talent of the Year. At age 13, she moved to Los Angeles and landed minor roles on several Fox hit television series including "Boston Public" (2000-04) as a student at Winslow High School, "Malcolm in the Middle" (Fox, 2000-06), and "NYPD Blue" (ABC, 1993-2005).

In 2005, Fonseca became a series regular on "The Young and the Restless" as the troubled teen daughter of Brad Carlton and Traci Abbott Connelly. Her stint on the popular soap opera was a launching pad for subsequent guest roles on several made-for-TV movies and series like "I Do, They Don't" (Disney Channel, 2005) as a teenager dealing with her newly blended family, and the sci-fi comedy series "Phil of the Future" (Disney Channel, 2004-06).

The versatile actress also proved her mettle on HBO's hit drama about polygamy, "Big Love" (2006-2011), as the frisky, fast food coworker of Sarah Henrickson (Amanda Seyfried), and on the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother," as Ted Mosby's (Josh Radnor) daughter who was always seen sitting on a couch listening to her father's rambling.

Fonseca went back to her dramatic roots on the series "Desperate Housewives" (ABC, 2004-12) as Katherine Mayfair's (Dana Delaney) adoptive daughter who returns to the drama-prone neighborhood of Wisteria Lane after being away for 12 years.

Fonseca's career gained more steam with starring roles in the film version of Mark Millar's comic series, "Kick-Ass" and its sequel "Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall" (2012). In the wicked action-comedies she played the love interest of an average high school kid who became a masked vigilante; a decidedly more mature role that upped Fonseca's sex appeal.

In 2010, she starred as John Cusack's girlfriend in "Hot Tub Time Machine" and was a trained assassin on The CW remake of the television series "Nikita." That same year, Fonseca landed a lead role in the horror film "The Ward," about a group of young women in a 1960s-era psychiatric ward who all died mysteriously.