Jennifer Ann Lien was born on August 24, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She has an older sister and an older brother. Jennifer knew that she wanted to act from a young age. Encouraged by her English and drama teachers, she began performing in a summer theatre and festivals at the age of 13. She had roles in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and "Othello" before moving on to more contemporary dramatic and musical theater. Jennifer's first appeared in front of the camera playing twins in an industrial film for bubblegum. She made her television debut when she guest starred in an episode of the Oprah Winfrey drama series Brewster Place (1990).
