Sarah Clarke

Sarah Clarke (born 1972) is an American actress, best known for her role as Nina Myers on 24, and also for her roles as Renée Dwyer, Bella Swan's mother, in the 2008 film Twilight, Erin McGuire on the short-lived TV show Trust Me, and CIA Officer Lena Smith on the USA Network show Covert Affairs. She recently starred as Eleanor Wish in Amazon Studios' police procedural drama Bosch. Early life Clarke was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Ernest Clarke, an engineer, and Carolyn, a homemaker. Clarke attended John Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri (along with Mad Men star Jon Hamm, her prom date), and Indiana University Bloomington studying Fine Arts and Italian. She dated fellow actor Paul Rudd for a short time. While a student at Indiana University, Clarke became a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She was initiated into the Beta chapter in 1990. Clarke became interested in acting while studying abroad during her senior year in Bologna, Italy. Upon returning to the United States, she began studying architectural photography. She received free acting lessons in return for taking photographs of a cultural arts center, and she studied acting at Circle in the Square Theatre School, Axis Theater Company, and The Willow Cabin Theatre Company.