Born Alison Marion Lohman in Palm Springs, CA, on Sept. 9, 1979, Lohman showed an interest in acting and singing while very young, landing her first professional role in a production of “The Sound of Music” at the age of nine. Two years later, she was making her debut as a leading lady in “Annie,” which earned her an Outstanding Actress Award from the Desert Theater League. By age 17, Lohman was acting in local theater on a regular basis and providing back-up vocals for national touring acts like Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope. Her obvious wealth of talent won her a scholarship to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, but instead, Lohman headed for Los Angeles after graduating from high school in 1997 to pursue acting on a full-time basis.

For the next few years, Lohman appeared in low-budget and independent features and television series. Most – like “Kraa! The Sea Monster” (1998) and “Planet Patrol” (1999) – were unmemorable at best, but she did make her way into three short-lived network television series – Aaron Spelling’s “Safe Harbor” (The WB, 1999), “Tucker” (NBC, 2000) and Mike White’s primetime soap opera parody, “Pasadena” (Fox, 2001) - which afforded her a great deal of exposure. Clearly, someone had seen her work in the shows, because by 2003, she had moved from unknown newcomer to up-and-comer status with the film adaptation of the best-selling novel “White Oleander.” Though the film did only fair box office business, critics and audiences alike were wowed by her brave performance as the daughter of imprisoned murderess Michelle Pfeiffer. Adding to the challenge of co-starring with Pfeiffer and Renee Zellweger, was the fact that Lohman had to wear wigs throughout her entire time onscreen. Prior to signing on to “White Oleander,” she had filmed a small role as a cancer patient in the Kevin Costner fantasy, “Dragonfly,” for which she was required to shave her head. Her scenes were later cut from the theatrical version of that film.

The press was also taken aback by her turn in her next feature, Ridley Scott’s “Matchstick Men” (2003), in which she played the estranged teenaged daughter of Nicolas Cage’s sadsack con man. Again, the film performed only moderately well, but Lohman received the lion’s share of the positive reviews, many of which focused on her ability to convincingly play a 14-year-old girl despite being 24 years old in real life. Lohman also shined amidst a cast of top-notch talent – including Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Danny Devito, and Jessica Lange – in Tim Burton’s extravagant fantasy, “Big Fish,” in which she played the object of Ewan MacGregor’s affections in flashbacks.

Lohman remained off-screen for 2004; her sole credit was providing a voice for the English re-dubbing of the popular Japanese anime feature, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” (1994). The following year, she starred in her most mature role to date, that of a journalist who becomes sexually entangled with the partners of a former comedy team while trying to unravel the story behind their break-up in, "Where the Truth Lies" (2005). The film was roundly panned, and Lohman, who was involved in some fairly graphic sex scenes in the film (which was rated NC-17), received the lion’s share of the bad reviews, which essentially described her as amateurish and out of her league. Her next feature, a black comedy titled “The Big White,” starred such respected actors as Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Woody Harrelson and Giovanni Ribisi, but never saw a theatrical release. Lohman was quickly gaining a reputation as an actress whose work was highly regarded, but rarely seen.

In 2006, the 27-year-old Lohman gave another convincing performance as a teenager, this time in a film version of the young adult classic “Flicka,” about a teen girl who develops a strong bond with a wild mustang. The film performed moderately well, and critics were suitably impressed by her on-screen work (Lohman had never ridden a horse prior to appearing in the picture), but the film itself was marred by a minor controversy involving the deaths of two horses during production. Lohman also took an agreeable turn into comedy as a pop star that falls for a photographer in Tom DiCillo’s “Delirious” (2006).

Lohman next signed to provide a voice for Robert Zemeckis’ ambitious stop-motion animated adaptation of the epic poem “Beowulf” (2007). She also appeared opposite Oscar winners Benecio Del Toro and Halle Berry as a recovering drug addict in Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier’s drama “Things We Lost in the Fire.”