Danneel Ackles

Danneel Ackles, born Elta Danneel Graul on March 18, 1979, is an American actress and model. Before adopting her married name professionally in 2012, she was credited as Danneel Harris. She is widely recognized for her television portrayals of Shannon McBain on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live and Rachel Gatina on the drama series One Tree Hill.

Elta Danneel Graul was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and raised in Eunice, a small town located in St. Landry Parish. She was named after her great-grandmother; while her given first name is Elta, she uses her middle name professionally, which was inspired by Danneel Street in New Orleans. Her father, Edward E. Graul Jr., is a practicing ophthalmologist, and her mother, Deborah Graul, works as an interior designer. She initially moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling.

Prior to acting, she modeled for brands such as Big Sexy Hair and Juicy Jeans and appeared in a television commercial. Her early screen work included a role in the short film The Plight of Clownana. In 2003, she landed her first television role as Shannon McBain, a student at Llanview University on ABC's One Life to Live, which required her to relocate to New York until her departure from the show in December 2004. Following this role, she made television appearances on series such as JAG, Charmed, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, What I Like About You, NCIS, and Joey.

In 2005, she joined the third season of The WB/CW drama series One Tree Hill in a major recurring role as Rachel Gatina. She was promoted to a series regular for the fourth season, appeared in two episodes during the fifth season, and returned for seven episodes in the seventh season. Although discussions took place regarding a return for the eighth season, scheduling conflicts prevented her appearance.

In January 2007, she filmed her role as female lead Vanessa Fanning in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay in Shreveport, Louisiana. Released in April 2008, the comedy grossed over $43.4 million worldwide, and she reprised her role in the 2011 sequel A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. She also held supporting roles in Fired Up! and The Back-up Plan, and portrayed fashion designer Irene Crew in the 2011 thriller The Roommate, which grossed over $40 million worldwide. In August 2011, she starred as Dr. Sara Maxwell in NBC's short-lived sitcom Friends with Benefits.

Credited as Danneel Ackles starting in 2012, she secured a recurring role in the second season of TV Land's Retired at 35. In December 2017, she was cast as Sister Jo in the thirteenth season of The CW's Supernatural. She subsequently starred in the 2018 Lifetime film The Christmas Contract alongside former One Tree Hill cast members. In her personal life, she married Jensen Ackles on May 15, 2010, in Dallas, Texas. The couple has three children: a daughter born in May 2013, and twins, a son and a daughter, born in December 2016. Together with her husband, she formed the production company Chaos Machine Productions under a deal with Warner Bros. Television.