Amy Louise Acker (born December 5, 1976) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series Angel as Winifred Burkle and Illyria, on Alias as Kelly Peyton and as Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey on Dollhouse. She currently appears in the ABC series Happy Town.
In her junior year of college, Acker enjoyed a short stint of modeling work for the J. Crew clothing catalog. In 1999, she was nominated for a Leon Rabin award for "Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Lead Role" for her performance in the play Thérèse Raquin. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the same year. She worked as a stage actress for several seasons, including a stint at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
Acker made her major television debut when she starred as Winifred "Fred" Burkle on the second through fifth seasons of Angel and also as the character of Illyria for part of the show's fifth and final season. She won the 2003 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television for her portrayal.
In 2005, she joined the cast of Alias for its final season, playing the fan-favorite villainous character Kelly Peyton. Acker graduated from guest star to fully credited cast member as the show entered the final episodes in April and May 2006.
Acker guest starred on fellow Buffyverse actress Alyson Hannigan's show How I Met Your Mother, in which she was reunited with Angel co-star Alexis Denisof (Hannigan's real-life husband), who had a recurring role on the show. On the DVD commentary for the episode "Come On," Neil Patrick Harris says that he and Acker are close friends and was therefore nervous to kiss her in the episode.
She portrayed Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey, a recurring character on Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.[1] Acker guest starred in ten out of the thirteen episodes of the first season, but when her commitment to the new ABC series Happy Town made her only available for three episodes of the show's second and final season Whedon commented that he wished he'd "shelled out the money to make her a series regular."
In 2010, she began to co-star as a series regular in the ABC drama Happy Town, portraying the character Rachel Conroy. She will also co-star in Whedon's upcoming comedy/horror movie The Cabin in the Woods in 2011, which will be her first appearance in a 3-D movie.
On April 25, 2003, Acker and actor James Carpinello were married in California. On January 22, 2005 she gave birth to a son, Jackson James Carpinello, and on September 1, 2006, to a daughter, Ava Grace.
