Born in New York City, she had her first television appearance in 1988 in a commercial (she has been in over a 100 more) and her first credited role in 1993. She went on to various cameos and then to play Nona Mecklenberg in Pete & Pete and the second Lily Montgomery in All My Children (where she first worked with Sarah Michelle Gellar), both roles lasting from 1994 to 1996. Her first leading role came in the 1996 movie Harriet the Spy but she then returned to television for Meego, which she won a Young Artist Awards for but the show flopped. After a break she had roles in Inspector Gadget (1999), Can't Be Heaven (1999) and Snow Day (2000). From 2000 to 2003 she played Dawn Summers in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is currently making a movie with Alec Berg.