Cassidy Freeman is an American actress best known for her roles in the television series Smallville and Longmire.
Early Life
Freeman was born on April 22nd, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were both attorneys.
Freeman has three siblings, two of which are also well-known. Crispin Freeman is a voice actor, and Clark Freeman is a musician.
Freeman first learned of her love for performing when she took ballet classes as a child. She then began auditioning but didn’t have much success. Instead, she focused on school.
After attending The Latin School of Chicago, Freeman obtained both a theater degree and a Spanish degree from Middlebury College, graduating magna cum laude.
Acting Career
Freeman never lost her love for the stage, and after graduating, she was encouraged by her brother to move to Hollywood to pursue acting.
Her first roles were in shorts. Freeman’s first acting credit was in a short called Razor Sharp, in which she played Veronica Sharpe.
She then went on to act in the shorts Clock, Finishing the Game as the character Shirley, Starlet in which she played Courtney, and Shades of Gray in the role of Lisa.
Freeman also appeared in for-television films, such as An Accidental Christmas, in which she played Christine, and as Charlie in Austin Golden Hour. In 2008, she received a guest role in Cold Case.
Smallville
2008 would be when Freeman got her first big break, winning the role of Tess Mercer in the CW television series Smallville.
The series detailed the life of Clark Kent before he was superman. Freeman’s character was Lex Luthor’s half-sister and former protégée. Lex Luthor views Clark Kent as a threat to humanity and eventually becomes a supervillain.
In his quest to rid the world of Clark Kent and heroes like him, he places a camera in Tess’s brain in order to track her movements.
Tess eventually learns of Luthor Corp’s real purpose, and Lex’s envious and destructive nature towards Clark Kent, who she discovers has powers. However, she views Clark Kent as a hero to humanity rather than a danger.
Eventually, Tess learns that Lex Luthor has been spying on her via the camera and seeks revenge.
Her character dies after being stabbed in the series finale, murdered by Lex. She injects Lex with a neurotoxin causing him to forget everything he knows about Smallville and Clark Kent.
The toxin bonds Tess’s mind with Lex, and the main characters discover they can download her consciousness into a computer, resurrecting her as an AI. Later, she gets a robot body and is reintroduced into the DC superhero comic line as Red Tornado.
Ultimately, Freeman was in forty-six episodes as a main character on the show, appearing over three seasons from 2008 to 2011.
Fans generally really liked Freeman’s character, and the show helped catapult her into more mainstream roles.
After Smallville ended, Freeman appeared in a handful of CSI episodes as various characters. She acted in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: NY, and CSI: Miami.
She also appeared in the CW series The Vampire Diaries as Sage. Freeman played the character of Sage in three episodes during the third season before her character’s death.
Freeman had parts in a few more shorts, and films, such as You’ve Reached Richarde & Gribbeen, YellowBrickRoad, Buzz, and The Playboy Club.
Longmire
In 2012, Freeman earned a starring role in the A&E drama Longmire. Her character was Cady Longmire, the daughter of Sheriff Walt Longmire, who is the main character played by Robert Taylor. Walt’s wife, Cady’s mother, was murdered.
Cady gives up her law career to move back home, getting a job at a bar called the Red Pony. She works to help her dad turn his life around after the death of his wife. Cady occasionally has a romantic relationship with the deputy, Branch Connally.
Freeman was in all six seasons, totaling sixty-three episodes. She remained on the series during its transition from A&E to Netflix.
What is Cassidy Freeman Doing Now?
Freeman is still acting, appearing in numerous television shows, including Once Upon a Time, NCIS, New Orleans, and Doubt.
She has minor roles in a few films, such as Don’t Look Back, We Go On, Fender Bender, Cortez, and The Forever Purge.
Currently, Freeman has a main role in the HBO television series The Righteous Gemstones. It is a dark comedy about a family of dysfunctional televangelists who run a megachurch. She plays Amber Gemstone, the wife of the main character, played by Danny McBride.
Relationships
Cassidy Freeman was married to Justin Carpenter from 2012 to 2015.
She is currently dating Ben Ellsworth, an athlete, and instructor for the Wim Hof Method (WHM).
Freeman and Ellsworth had their first child, a baby girl, in February 2022. Unbeknownst to fans, she was pregnant while filming much of the second season of Righteous Gemstones.
Freeman has also gone public with sexual harassment accusations against Entourage star Jeremy Piven. On Instagram, Freeman claimed that he was guilty of predatory behavior after Ariane Bellamar accused him of sexual assault.
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