Born Anne Elizabeth Gish on March 13, 1971 in Albuquerque, NM, this striking brunette moved with her family to Cedar Falls, IA at the age of two. Her parents were both teachers; her father Robert was an English professor at the University of Northern Iowa, her mother Judy taught at Malcolm Price Laboratory School. Performing in community theater productions throughout her childhood, Gish began her professional acting career at the age of eight by appearing in a number of commercials. She made her screen debut at the age of 13 in the film "Desert Bloom" (1986) opposite Jon Voight, a performance which earned the young actress critical praise from film critic Roger Ebert. Also that year, Gish made her television debut in the ABC TV movie "Hero in the Family" (1986). While still in high school, Gish starred in the films “Hiding Out” (1987) alongside Jon Cryer, “Mystic Pizza” (1988), which helped launch costar Julia Roberts’ career into the stratosphere, and the 60’s-era “Shag” (1989) with Phoebe Cates and Bridget Fonda. Gish also appeared in her first leading role in "When He's Not a Stranger" (CBS, 1989) portraying a college freshman victimized by acquaintance rape. Gish went on to graduate from Cedar Falls’ Northern University High School in 1989. In addition to acting, Gish took time to focus on her academic career and attended Duke University. Studying English as well as theater, she graduated summa cum laude in 1993 with a BA in English.
After college, Gish appeared in the NBC TV movie "Silent Cries" (1993), delivering a gritty portrayal of a young woman interned by the Japanese during World War II, and as Anne Hampton in the laughable “Gone With the Wind” sequel, "Scarlett" (CBS, 1994). Gish also landed roles in Lawrence Kasdan’s western “Wyatt Earp” (1994), Oliver Stone’s “Nixon” (1995), and the ensemble comedies “The Last Supper” (1995) and “Beautiful Girls” (1996) alongside Timothy Hutton. Making her television series debut in 1995, Gish portrayed a young lawyer on the short-lived drama "Courthouse" (CBS, 1995) opposite Patricia Wettig. Next, Gish starred in a number of television movies; she appeared in “Don’t Look Back” (1996) alongside Eric Stoltz, “What Love Sees” (1996), and the western “True Women” (1997) opposite Angelina Jolie and Dana Delaney. Gish soon landed supporting roles in the edgy comedy “SLC Punk” (1998) and the thriller Ashley Judd thriller “Double Jeopardy” (1999).
After the departure of series star David Duchovny (Agent Mulder) in 2000, Gish joined the cast of the cult sci-fi series “The X-Files.” Portraying Special Agent Monica Reyes in the series’ final two seasons, Gish was brought in along with Robert Patrick in an effort to boost ratings for the show and give Agent Scully (Gillian Anderson) someone to bounce stuff off of, in lieu of Agent Mulder. Though Gish and Patrick gave nuanced performances on the series, audiences missed the Mulder-Scully chemistry and back-story. As ratings fell, the series came to an end in 2002.
Receiving positive exposure on “The X-Files”, Gish went on to appear in an episode of “CSI: Miami” (CBS, 2002- ) and in a recurring role on Emmy Award-winning drama “The West Wing” (NBC) as President Bartlett's eldest daughter, Elizabeth Bartlett Westin. Gish also appeared in the independent comedy “Knots” (2004) with John Stamos and the TV movie “Detective” (2005) opposite Tom Berenger and Cybil Shepherd. In 2006, Gish landed a role in the film adaptation of “The Celestine Prophecy,” portraying the role of Julia. Also that year, Gish continued to deliver solid work, appearing in the creepy Stephen King miniseries “Desperation” (ABC, 2006) alongside Tom Skerritt and Steven Weber, as well as the Showtime original series, “Brotherhood” (2006- ) portraying the wife of an Irish-American politician.