Lyndsy Fonseca is an American actress whose most notable roles include playing the daughter on How I Met Your Mother and Alex Udinov on the series Nikita.
She was born on January 7, 1987 in Oakland, California. Her parents are Lima Lynn and James Victor Fonseca. Her mother later remarried and had a daughter who is Fonseca’s half-sister.
Fonseca took and completed a course at the Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in San Francisco, California.
Early Career
Fonseca competed in the International Modeling & Talent Association, where she was the second runner-up for the “Young Miss Dancer of the Year.” She was the first runner-up for the “Miss Barbizon Young Miss Talent of the Year.”
She was discovered by a manager and talent agent and then moved to Los Angeles when she was thirteen.
Acting Career
The Young and the Restless
In 2001, Fonseca scored her first credited acting role as Colleen Carlton on the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless. She was a series regular on the show before being replaced in 2006.
Colleen was portrayed as a “daddy’s girl” who wants to be respected as an adult. The character of Colleen had been played by a string of child actors until Fonseca assumed the role. At the time she took over, Collen was fifteen years old.
Boston Public
In 2003, Fonseca landed a stint on the Fox series Boston Public. She played Jenn Cardell on four episodes of the show.
How I Met Your Mother
From 2005 to 2014, Fonseca had a recurring role on the CBS series How I Met Your Mother as Ted Mosby’s daughter in the future and the recipient of his very long-winded story about how he met her mother.
While Fonseca’s appearance on the show was recurring, the series finale episode was actually filmed in 2006 to ensure that the actors playing Mosby’s children would look the same. This meant that Fonseca, and David Henrie who played Ted’s future son, knew how the show would end long before the audience did.
Big Love
Fonseca had a recurring role as Donna on the HBO series Big Love for the first three seasons. The show, which centers around a polygamist family in Salt Lake City, also starred Bill Paxton, Jennifer Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin.
Desperate Housewives
During Season 4 of Desperate Housewives, Fonseca played Dylan Mayfair, Katherine’s daughter. She has no memory of her early years and later finds out something surprising about her past.
In Season 6, Fonseca reprised her role by making a guest appearance.
Kick-Ass
In 2010, Fonseca acted in the movie Kick-Ass along with Aaron Johnson, Nicholas Cage, and Chloë Grace Moretz. Fonseca played Katie Deauxma, the romantic interest of Aaron Johnson’s lead character.
The film has a rating of 7.1/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. Kick-Ass would spawn a sequel in 2013, aptly titled Kick-Ass 2, in which Fonseca reprised her role as Katie.
Hot Tub Time Machine
Also in 2010, Fonseca played Jenny in science-fiction comedy film Hot Tub Time Machine. Jenny is John Cusack’s girlfriend in the film, and the movie also features roles played by Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, and Clark Duke.
Nikita
From 2010 to 2013, Fonseca played a main role as Alex Udinov on all four seasons of The CW series Nikita.
The show stars Maggie Q as Nikita, who escapes from a secret government organization called “The Division”, when she decides it’s time to bring them down. Fonseca’s character, Alex, is a woman that Nikita rescues after The Division kills her family. She later seeks revenge against The Division, with Nikita’s help.
For her role in the show, she was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Agent Carter
In 2015, Fonseca was cast as Angie Martinelli in Season 1 of the ABC series Agent Carter.
Her role was recurring during Season 1, and Fonseca made a guest appearance as Angie in Season 2 as well.
What is she doing now?
Lyndsy is still very much active as an actress and has appeared in various televison shows and television movies.
In 2021, Fonseca landed a main role as Laura Turner in the Disney action-comedy series Turner & Hooch.
The show is based on the 1989 film of the same name and tells the story of U.S. Marshal Scott Turner who inherits a dog named Hooch.
Also in 2021, Fonseca played Angie in the Hallmark movie Next Stop, Christmas and in 2022, Fonseca acted in another Hallmark movie entitled North to Home playing a character named Posy.
Spinning Gold is an upcoming biographical film about Neil Bogart, a record producer who is credited with discovering legendary musical acts. Fonseca will play Joyce Biawitz and star alongside Wiz Khalifa and Jason Derulo. The film is slated to be released in 2023.
In her spare time, Fonseca uses Cameo to raise money for the No Kid Hungry charity. Fans who have purchased messages from Fonseca have rated her as a 5 on the website, indicating her personalized messages are really “kick-ass.”
Marriages and Children
In 2009, Fonseca married Matthew Smiley. After three years of marriage, she filed for divorce and cited irreconcilable differences.
In 2016, Fonseca married her former Nikita co-star Noah Bean. Bean has worked on the television serieses Once Upon a Time, Elementary, and 9-1-1.
Fonseca and Bean had their first child, a daughter named Greta Lilia Bean, in 2018. In 2022, Fonseca and Bean welcomed their second child, another daughter, named Evelyn Estela.