Anna Torv is an Australian actress who was born on June 7, 1979, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to her mother Susan and her father Hans Torv. She spent her early years growing up in Gold Coast, Queensland with her brother Dylan. Torv attended Benowa State High School and graduated in 1996. She went on to attend Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) where she attained a degree in Performing Arts in 2001.

Just two short years after graduating from acting school, Torv landed a role as Ophelia with the Bell Shakespeare Company in John Bell's "Hamlet". Her success in theater eventually landed her the role of Nikki Martel on Australia's acclaimed series "The Secret Life of Us". She went on to do voice-over work for Scholastic and even voiced Nariko in 2007's video game "Heavenly Sword". Torv would marry her co-star Mark Valley from the show "Fringe" in December of 2008 but the marriage only lasted a year.