Upbringing

Brianna spent most of her childhood days in Apple Valley. She grew up with her four siblings Keely, Ivy, Tucker and Asher. She began acting in elementary school and local community productions. She once starred in a high school musical. Brianna is proud of how far she has come as an actress but she’ll always remember how it felt to get started, “When I was little, I was very loud and loved performing in front of people. I was fearless. When I hit puberty, I became very shy and self-conscious. I still get nervous sometimes before shooting and definitely before big auditions.”

She did her studies at St. Olaf College which is located in Northfield, Minnesota. It was in college that her interest in acting started to grow and develop inside her. She didn’t finish college and decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. She was only 19 at the time she decided to move. It was a big risky move her because there have been millions of people that had the same plan but ended up failing. They see Hollywood as this magical land where they can go and become famous. Los Angeles annually gets thousands of people moving in from different states across the country. They are chasing a dream but they often get hit with a reality check. They don’t realize that the cost of living in Los Angeles is much higher than where they came from. Brianna is lucky that she didn’t end up as one of the girls that came to Los Angeles to pursue acting but ended up becoming a waitress.

Before Brianna decided to take the plunge into the acting world and move to Los Angeles, she did a little modeling. She described her modeling experience as “I did a little modeling in Minnesota, but because I was a heavier 'model,' I didn't pursue it much when I lived there.” She did not have enough faith in her body because she didn’t feel it was up to par with the models she saw on TV. She didn’t think there was a market for her body type and decided that moving to Los Angeles to become an actress was a smarter choice.

Acting Career

Her acting career began when she was cast as Ashley the blonde cheerleader in the cult television series Freaks and Geeks in 1999. She played the small role of Kim in the television film Search for the Jewel of Polaris: Mysterious Museum.

The turning point in her career came when she was cast in a supporting role of Alison’s friend in the 2007 cult comedy Knocked Up. She was also the bar girl in The 40-Year-Old-Virgin. She was also cast as Barb, the lead in the 2006 horror movie Night of the Living Dead 3D. She even portrayed the lead role of Sheryl in Timber Falls in 2007.

She has done a number of supporting roles as well as minor roles in several movies which includes The Animal in 2001, Hollywood Homicide in 2003, Spider-Man 2 in 2004, The Storyteller in 2005, Conversations with Other Women in 2005, National Lampoon’s Adam and Eve in 2005, Love’s Abiding Joy in 2006, The Lost Tribe in 2010, The Encounter in 2010 and Screwed in 2013.