Amanda Righetti Bio
Amanda Righetti (born April 4, 1983) is an American actress whose career has spanned television dramas, feature films, and holiday movies across nearly three decades. She is best known for her long-running role as Grace Van Pelt on the CBS series The Mentalist, and for appearances in the slasher film Friday the 13th (2009), the teen drama The O.C., and the science-fiction series Colony. Beyond her screen work, Righetti has built a career that includes modeling, recurring television roles, and later leading parts in family-friendly Hallmark productions.
Beginning as a teen model before transitioning to acting in her late teens, Righetti moved from her home in the American Southwest to Los Angeles to pursue a full-time career on screen. Her ability to balance serious procedural drama with lighter romantic roles has made her a recognizable presence across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms.
Early Life and Background
Amanda Righetti was born on April 4, 1983, in St. George, Utah, in the United States. She is the youngest of eight children and was raised in Nevada, outside Las Vegas, in a large and culturally mixed household. Her father, Alexander Dominic Righetti, is of Italian descent, while her mother, Linda Carol Chisum, is of German, French, and English descent. Growing up in a sizable family gave Righetti an early familiarity with performance and storytelling, which later influenced her path into the entertainment industry.
Righetti began modeling at the age of 14, an experience that introduced her to professional photo shoots, on-camera direction, and the discipline required by entertainment work. Modeling provided her with an early platform and the confidence to consider acting as a serious career. By the time she finished high school, she had decided to pursue acting full-time and relocated to Los Angeles at 18 to chase that dream.
Path to Acting
After moving to Los Angeles, Righetti quickly transitioned from modeling into acting, securing a role in the pilot for a proposed series titled No Place Like Home. The opportunity, though it did not result in a continuing series, helped her gain valuable on-set experience and industry contacts. Her first sustained on-screen presence came through a recurring role on the popular Fox teen drama The O.C., where she appeared during the show’s early seasons and gained exposure to a young and engaged audience.
From there, Righetti built a steady résumé across network television. She became a series regular on the primetime soap opera North Shore and, in late 2005, starred in the Fox drama Reunion. She also held a recurring role on the police series K-Ville, made guest appearances on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Entourage, and appeared in the television film Romy and Michele: In the Beginning. These early credits established her as a dependable television actress capable of moving between genres.
Amanda Righetti Career
Early Career (1995–2007)
Righetti’s professional career began in 1995, when she was a young teenager working in modeling. Her transition into on-camera acting came after she moved to Los Angeles, and her earliest verified film work arrived in 2006 when she signed on to star as the female lead in the horror sequel Return to House on Haunted Hill. The film was released direct-to-video in October 2007 and introduced her to feature-film genre work.
During this same period, Righetti continued to build her television profile with roles in The O.C., North Shore, Reunion, K-Ville, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Entourage, and Romy and Michele: In the Beginning. These credits demonstrated her range and gave producers reason to consider her for larger leading parts in higher-profile projects.
Breakthrough (2008–2015)
In April 2008, Righetti was cast as the female lead in the slasher film Friday the 13th, a theatrical reboot of the long-running horror franchise. Production wrapped in June 2008, and the film was released in theaters on February 13, 2009, giving Righetti her widest theatrical exposure to that point. That same year, she was signed to the CBS series The Mentalist, where she took on the role of agent Grace Van Pelt, a part that would define her career for years to come.
On The Mentalist, Righetti became a core member of the ensemble cast, appearing across multiple seasons. During her 2012 to 2013 pregnancy, her character’s storyline was adjusted on screen, with selective camera angles and a focus on desk-based scenes allowing her to continue working. Righetti remained with The Mentalist through season six before departing the series. In September 2011, she also signed with the talent agency UTA, a move that reflected her growing standing in the industry.
Notable Works and Milestones
Among Righetti’s signature works are her long-running turn as Grace Van Pelt on The Mentalist, her leading role in the 2009 theatrical release Friday the 13th, her performance as Maddie Kenner on the series Colony from 2016 to 2017, and her appearance in the 2024 biographical film Reagan, in which she portrayed Nelle Reagan, the mother of United States President Ronald Reagan. In 2017, she starred as a divorced novelist in the Hallmark Channel film Love at the Shore, and in 2021, she took on the role of Kate in the holiday romance Christmas at the Ranch, alongside Lindsay Wagner, Laur Allen, Archie Kao, and Dia Frampton.
Amanda Righetti Award Nominations
No verified award nominations for Amanda Righetti are currently available in the provided sources. Industry recognition for her television and film work has come largely through audience visibility and the commercial success of her projects, including the long-running popularity of The Mentalist and the steady performance of Hallmark holiday films such as Love at the Shore and Christmas at the Ranch.
Amanda Righetti Awards Won
No verified award wins for Amanda Righetti are currently available in the provided sources. Her career achievements have been measured more by the longevity of her television roles and the reach of her theatrical and cable films than by formal award recognition.
Amanda Righetti Family
Amanda Righetti was raised in a large family as the youngest of eight children. Her father, Alexander Dominic Righetti, is of Italian descent, and her mother, Linda Carol Chisum, is of German, French, and English descent. Righetti married director and writer Jordan Alan on April 29, 2006, in a ceremony held on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The couple later had a son together, born in 2013. Righetti filed for divorce in 2017, ending the marriage after eleven years.
Personal Life
Beyond her professional work, Amanda Righetti’s personal life has centered on her family and her long residence in the Los Angeles area, where she has pursued her acting career since relocating from Nevada as a teenager. Her marriage to Jordan Alan, which began in 2006 and concluded with a 2017 divorce filing, overlapped almost entirely with her years on The Mentalist. Righetti became a mother in 2013 with the birth of her son, and she has continued to balance motherhood with her ongoing work in television and film.