biography

Portia De Rossi was born Amanda Rogers in Melbourne, Austrailia. Portia is the younger of two children raised by her medical receptionist mother. She lost her father to a heart attack when she was only 9 years old. The loss spurred Portia to live life to the fullest. She excelled at school and at the age of 11 she began a modeling career. By 14, she was appearing in commercials and had changed her name to Portia.

It seemed that the beauty was destined to be in showbiz, however she decided to pursue a different avenue and had her heart set on a career in law. She was accepted into the University Of Melbourne where she majored in law.

She was one year into her studies when she auditioned for a role in the film "Sirens" (1994). Her main objective for auditioning was in hopes to meet Sam Neill, one of the stars of the film. Little did she know she would not only meet him she would be starring with him. After filming "Sirens" Portia realized that her true calling was in the acting field. So she ditched law school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her passion full time.

She chose to rid herself of her Australian accent and soon landed a role in the Fox sitcom, "Too Something". However, the show didn't fare well with it's audience and was canceled after only a month. One disastrous show after another followed until she was cast in the role of Sorority sister Murphy in the horror hit "Scream 2".

The role helped her secure the part she is best known for. She was cast as the ambitious Nelle Porter on the hit television series "Ally McBeal". Her latest project was in MGM's religious supernatural thriller "Stigmata," co-starring Patricia Arquette and Gabriel Byrne. Other film credits include, "A Breed Apart" with Andrew McCarthy; "The Invisibles," a two-person film with Michael Goorjian; "American Intellectuals," an ensemble piece about a clique of upper class kids who experiment with smart drugs; and "Girl" a coming-of-age flick with Dominique Swain, Summer Phoenix and Sean Patrick Flannery.

Intelligent and beautiful, Portia seems destined for Hollywood stardom. She resides in Santa Monica in a 2 bedroom home, and owns a Maltese dog named Bean as well as a BMW. She is currently single, after ending her four-year-relationship with film maker Mel Metcalf.