American actress Alia Shawkat was born on April 18, 1989 in Riverside, California. Of Iraqi, Irish and Norweigan descent, she is related to actor Paul Burke, her maternal grandfather. She started acting in 1999, appearing in an episode of JAG as a young version of Sarah Mackenzie (Catherine Bell). The same year, she made her film debut, appearing in the award-winning war film Three Kings.
She got her first big break, however, in 2001, when she joined the cast of the sitcom State of Grace. She played one of the lead roles, a Jewish-American 12-year-old named Hannah Rayburn. The series revolved around her and her best friend, wealthy Catholic Emma McKee (Mae Whitman), and their unlikely friendship in a time of social change. The series won several awards throughout its two-year run.
A bigger break for Shawkat came in 2003, when she joined the cast of the comedy Arrested Development. She was the first member of the cast to be selected, as the producers wanted actors that’d look believable as a family. She played the role of Maeby F?nke, the teenaged daughter of Lindsay (Portis de Rossi) and Tobias (David Cross), who constantly finds ways to get into trouble, deliberately or otherwise. The role earned her a Young Artist Award in 2005.
Shawkat’s other films include Rebound, Queen of Cactus Cove, Deck the Halls and Prom Walls. Her guest appearances on television include those for Without a Trace, Presidio Med, The Business and Veronica Mars.