Portia de Rossi is an Australian actress, working in the United States. She was born Amanda Lee Rogers on January 31, 1973, in Melbourne, Victoria and grew up in Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong. She took on her present name at the age of 15.

Her first significant role was as a young, impressionable model in the 1994 film Sirens. She followed this with a role in Scream 2.

She garnered international attention when she joined the main cast of Ally McBeal playing regular lawyer Nelle Porter in 1998. She remained with the show until its end in 2002.

In 2001 she starred in Who is Cletis Tout? with Christian Slater. From 2003, de Rossi has starred as Lindsay Bluth Fünke on Fox Television's critically acclaimed Arrested Development, which is currently airing its third season.

From 2000 to 2004, Portia dated singer Francesca Gregorini, the daughter of actress Barbara Bach and a stepchild of Ringo Starr. During this period, she declined to discuss the relationship or her sexuality in interviews, but was somewhat open to being pictured with Francesca while in public. According to press reports, the two women were planning to cement their relationship in a commitment ceremony or marriage. The couple broke up in late 2004 as Portia began dating comedian Ellen DeGeneres. She then became more open to discussing her sexuality with the media.