Born July 16, 1987 in Atlanta, GA, AnnaLynne McCord grew up the youngest of three girls in the town of Buford, GA. Interested in acting from a young age, McCord began performing in school plays at the age of nine. Graduating from high school at the age of 15, McCord quickly landed a modeling contract with AMTC and relocated to Miami, FL to pursue a career in modeling. She soon signed with the world renowned Wilhelmina Modeling Agency, where she landed numerous ad campaigns, including one with the high-end makeup line, Estee Lauder.
Making the inevitable transition into acting, McCord landed a small role in the opening sequence of the action sequel “Transporter 2” (2005) opposite Jason Statham. Relocating to New York to pursue acting, McCord enrolled at the William Esper Studio to hone her craft. Heading out to Hollywood, she quickly landed guest roles on episodes of the CBS hit crime series “CSI: Miami” (2002- ), “Close to Home” (CBS, 2005-07), and Fox’s hit teen soap, “The O.C.” (2003-07).
McCord landed her first regular TV role as wild-child Loren Wakefield on the short-lived telenovela remake, “American Heiress” (MyNetworkTV, 2007). Following the cancellation of the series, she went on to appear on “Greek” (ABC Family, 2007- ) and made a cameo as an underage flame of Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius) on the ABC primetime hit, “Ugly Betty” (2007- ) before landing her first major break in 2007. Cast as Eden Lord, the seductive and conniving daughter of Olivia Lord (Portia de Rossi), on the fifth season of the hit FX series “Nip/Tuck” (2003- ), McCord’s vampy bad-girl performance caught the audience’s attention – from the unabashed seduction of Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) to her turn as a lesbian porn star, McCord’s character brought a whole new level of lusty drama to the series.
Fresh off her memorable turn on the FX hit, she landed her first feature film role in the horror remake, “Day of the Dead” (2008) opposite Mena Suvari, before landing the plum role of Beverly Hills’ bad-girl Naomi Clark on “90210,” the much-anticipated return to the famous zip code of the cult hit, “Beverly Hills, 90210.” Portraying West Beverly’s resident spoiled rich girl, McCord became one of Hollywood’s top young stars-to-watch after the series premiered to more than 5 million viewers worldwide. Though the series received less-than-favorable reviews from critics, the series proved popular with fans of the original 1990’s series, as well appealing to a younger generation. With her career on the rise, McCord went on to appear opposite “Gossip Girl” (The CW, 2007- ) star Chase Crawford in the horror film “The Haunting of Molly Hartley” (2008).