Stana Jacqueline Katic was born on April 26, 1978, in Hamilton, Ontario. The daughter of Croatian parents, Stana Katic and her family moved to the United States when she was still a young girl and settled in the small community of Aurora, Illinois. After graduating near the top of her class at West Aurora Senior High School in 1996, Stana Katic decided to relocate back to Canada after she was accepted into the University of Toronto (where she studied international law and biology).
stana katic gets bit by the acting bug
It was around that time that Stana Katic inadvertently stumbled into the world of performance, after a friend asked her to take on a starring role in an obscure 1999 indie short, entitled Acid Freaks. Bitten by the acting bug, Stana Katic enrolled in Chicago’s DePaul University’s prestigious Theatre School (which ranks John C. Reilly, Judy Greer and Gillian Anderson among its alumni) and subsequently began auditioning for a variety of locally shot productions.
After appearing in a number of stage plays (including Romeo & Juliet, The Seagull and Richard III), Stana Katic made her cinematic debut with a bit part in 2003’s gangster drama Shut-Eye. 2004 proved to be her break-out year, however, as the struggling actress booked a series of guest appearances on such well-regarded shows as Alias, JAG and The Shield. Although she followed that up with roles in both movies (2005’s Pit Fighter and 2006’s Truth About Kerry) and TV (The Closer and ER), Stana Katic’s turn as terrorist sympathizer Collette Stenger on 24’s fifth season instantly ratcheted up her visibility within the Hollywood community.
stana katic in quantum of solace
Stana Katic’s reputation as a promising up-and-comer paved the way for appearances within a succession of increasingly high-profile projects, including a small but pivotal role alongside Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear and Selma Blair in the 2007 drama Feast of Love. And although she continued to dabble within the world of film -- most notably with a brief appearance opposite Daniel Craig in 2008’s Quantum of Solace -- Stana Katic primarily pursued opportunities on the small screen as a means of furthering her career.
In addition to her one-off guest spots on programs like Brothers & Sisters and The Unit, Stana Katic also made a few stabs at starting on a show from its inception -- with her starring role opposite Sean Bean in the 2006 pilot Faceless certainly the most notable example of this. Though directed by Smokin’ Aces filmmaker Joe Carnahan, Faceless was relegated to the network scrap heap alongside Stana Katic’s other would-be series (including a 2007 thriller from 24 creator Robert Cochran, entitled Company Man).
stana katic in stiletto
Stana Katic’s luck changed in 2009 when she was cast opposite Nathan Fillion in the quirky ABC detective show Castle, in which she plays a hard-nosed cop who is reluctantly paired up with best-selling author Richard Castle (Fillion). Though the series hasn’t received a second-season pickup yet, Stana Katic remains busy with other projects, including an upcoming revenge thriller entitled Stiletto and a role alongside Natasha Henstridge in the Canadian mini-series Would Be Kings.