Joanna Garcia

JoAnna García Swisher (née García; born August 10, 1979) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Sam in Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1994–96), Vicki Appleby in Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000), and Cheyenne Hart-Montgomery on The WB/CW sitcom Reba (2001–07). She has also gained popularity with her acting roles in Privileged (2008–09), Better with You (2010–11), Animal Practice (2012), Once Upon a Time (2013–18), The Astronaut Wives Club (2015), and Sweet Magnolias (2020-present). García also stars as Lindsey Johnson in Hallmark Channel's As Luck Would Have It (2021). She hosted The Ultimatum: Queer Love on Netflix in 2023. Early life García was born in Tampa, Florida, to Loraine, a homemaker and former elementary school teacher of Spanish descent, and Jay García (1945-2019), a gynecologist from Cuba. She has one brother, Michael García. She began performing at age 10 when she auditioned for a local theater production and landed the lead. Disney Channel discovered her, but her parents put school first and she acted in local plays to keep up with her passion. She was the homecoming queen at Florida's Tampa Catholic High School. Career While in Florida, García guest starred in seaQuest DSV, Second Noah, and Superboy and several films of the week. While attending high school, she was re-discovered by Nickelodeon and starred for three seasons as Samantha on Are You Afraid of the Dark?. She commuted from Florida to Montreal, Canada, where the show was filmed. She was cast at the age of fifteen on the 1994 television drama Party of Five, playing the recurring character Hallie. She had a recurring role on Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000) portraying the character of Vicki Appleby, the popular freshman cheerleader who spent seven minutes in heaven with the ultimate geek, Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr). She then briefly attended college at Florida State University where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority, but later quit school to pursue acting full-time, moving to Los Angeles, California.