American actress Emma Caulfield was born on April 8, 1973 in San Diego, California. Raised by a mother who worked as a professional singer, she started her career at a very young age. She took parts in plays staged at the La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego while still in high school. Before her senior year, she trained at The American School in Switzerland’s campus in London; she eventually graduated with Excellence in Theatre Arts honors from her high school. She entered San Francisco State University to take up psychology, but she left halfway through her freshman year to pursue an acting career.
Caulfield began acting for the screen in 1994, taking occasional guest roles. Her first notable role came a year later, when she joined the cast of Beverly Hills 90210. She spent 30 episodes as Susan Walsh, an editor at the California University’s newspaper, and girlfriend of Brandon Walsh (Jason Priestley), before leaving in 1996. After a stint in the daytime soap General Hospital, she took on her most famous role to date, as Anya Jenkins in the hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Initially written for only one episode, her portrayal of a vengeful who inadvertently creates a grim alternate reality was warmly received by fans, and she became a recurring player. From the fifth season, she became a regular player, appearing until the seventh season, when her character was abruptly killed.
Since then, Caulfield has appeared in several films and other television programs. She made her film debut in the 2003 horror flick Darkness Falls, which proved to be a box office hit. (However, her first actual film was the comedy Chance a year before; her scenes were deleted during post-production.) She also starred in films such as Bandwagon, Hollow and TiMER, and appeared as a guest in Monk. She also provided her voice to several characters in the adult animation series Robot Chicken.