Virginia Elizabeth Gardner is an American actress who played

Karolina Dean Karolina Dean ( ), also known as Lucy in the Sky, L.S.D., or Princess Justice, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in the series '' Runaways.'' Karolina has been described as ...

in the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

original series '' Marvel's Runaways'' (2017–2019), Vicky in

David Gordon Green David Gordon Green is an American filmmaker. He directed the dramas ''George Washington'' (2000), ''All the Real Girls'' (2003), and '' Snow Angels'' (2007), as well as the thriller '' Undertow'' (2004), all of which he wrote or co-wrote. In 2 ...

's horror film ''

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

'' (2018) and Shiloh Hunter in

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

's survival film ''

Fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

'' (2022).

Life and career

Runaways cast at 2017 New York Comic Con

Gardner was born in Sacramento, California. She attended

Sacramento Country Day School Sacramento Country Day School (SCDS) is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory school serving pre-kindergarten through grade 12 since 1964. SCDS is located in the unincorporated Arden Arcade neighborhood of Sacramento, California, and ...

from kindergarten to eighth grade. She took part in many of her middle school's productions. Brian Frishman, head of the drama department, directed Gardner from sixth to eighth grade. In 2011, she took online schooling when she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, but then chose to take the

California High School Proficiency Exam The California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) is an early exit testing program established under California law (specifically, California Education Code Section 48412). Testers who pass the CHSPE receive a Certificate of Proficiency from t ...

when she was allowed to, in October 2011. Her desire to act was due to the 2001

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

film ''

I Am Sam ''I Am Sam'' (stylized i am sam) is a 2001 American comedy film co-written and directed by Jessie Nelson, and starring Sean Penn as a father with an intellectual disability, Dakota Fanning as his bright and inquisitive daughter, and Michelle Pfe ...

''; “In the movie,

Dakota Fanning Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She rose to prominence at the age of seven for her performance as Lucy Dawson in the drama film ''I Am Sam'' (2001), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomina ...

’s dad has autism, and I have a brother with autism and I remember watching that as a young girl and relating to her character and being affected by that,” Gardner explains. “That’s what made me want to get into this industry and make things that can affect people and that people can relate to.” She has a black belt in taekwondo, and also took up boxing and nunchucks. Gardner initially lived with her mother to pursue acting full-time. Gardner lived with her mother for the first year; however, once she started to be more successful and able to handle herself, she moved into her own apartment and began to live on her own. After appearing on the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

series ''

Lab Rats A laboratory rat is a rat of the species ''Rattus norvegicus'' which is bred and kept for scientific research. Labrat, lab rat, or lab rats may also refer to: People and characters * Dunash ben Labrat (920–990), medieval Jewish commentator ...

'', she took a year off from acting to work on modeling. When she became absorbed in modeling, she was going to stop acting, but then heard about the audition for ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

''. She has modeled for

Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawai ...

, Love Culture, HP, Hollister, LF, and

Famous Footwear Famous Footwear is a nationwide chain of retail stores in the United States dealing in branded footwear, generally at prices discounted from manufacturer's suggested prices. The chain is a division of the St. Louis-based Caleres and had more th ...

. In 2015, Gardner starred in the found footage science fiction thriller film ''

Project Almanac ''Project Almanac'' is a 2015 American found footage science fiction film directed by Dean Israelite in his directorial debut, and written by Jason Harry Pagan and Andrew Deutschman. The film stars Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Sam Lerner, ...

'' as Christina Raskin, the main character's younger sister. The movie helped Gardner to establish herself in Hollywood. In February 2017, it was announced that Gardner would star as

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

's ''

Runaways Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

'' (2017), a

original series. She has received wide recognition for her portrayal of the LGBTQ hero. In January 2018, it was announced that Gardner would star as Vicky in the horror film ''

'' (2018), a sequel to the 1978 film of the same name.

Personal life

Gardner describes herself as a feminist. She is engaged to Jed Elliott, bassist of

The Struts The Struts are a British rock band formed in Derby, Derbyshire in 2012. The band consists of lead vocalist Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies. The band has cited its influences as: Queen, The D ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Virginia (Ginny) Gardner
on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Virginia Living people 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles Actresses from Sacramento, California American television actresses American film actresses American child actresses American feminists Year of birth missing (living people)