Robin Tunney

Tunney was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a car salesman father, Patrick, and a bartender mother, Cathy. Tunney's father was born in Straide, County Mayo, Ireland, and her maternal grandparents were from Clare Island, Ireland. She is a cousin of Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney.

Tunney grew up in Orland Park, a southwest suburb of Chicago. She was raised Irish Catholic, attended Carl Sandburg High School, Saint Ignatius College Prep in Chicago and the Chicago Academy for the Arts in Chicago, and resided in Palos Heights, also in the Chicago area.Tunney moved to Los Angeles and was cast in roles in Class of '96, Law & Order, Dream On, and Life Goes On amongst other works. She appeared in the film Empire Records, released in 1995, which polarized critics and audiences. Tunney realized subsequent success in the role of Sarah Bailey in horror-fantasy film The Craft, in which she starred alongside Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True. The movie was a commercial success, earning $55 million against a budget of $15 million. She later led the independent film Niagara, Niagara which was released in 1997, and earned critical praise; she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 1997 Venice International Film Festival. She was also featured opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1999 supernatural action film End of Days.

Tunney appeared in the 2004 pilot episode of the medical drama series House as a kindergarten instructor who suffers from an aphasic condition. She subsequently portrayed Veronica Donovan on the first season of Prison Break, which was released in 2005 to critical acclaim. Tunney appeared in 2007's Closing the Ring. In the following year, she began one of her longest roles as Teresa Lisbon on the television series The Mentalist, which lasted seven years. In 2018, she led the thriller film Looking Glass alongside Nicolas Cage, which was negatively received although her performance earned praise. In 2019, she starred in the short-lived legal drama series The Fix.

On June 28, 2006, Tunney won her table in the eighth tournament series of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, moving on to the final table. The finale aired on July 5, 2006, where she finished second to Jason Alexander, earning $200,000 for her charity of choice, The Children's Health Fund. In August 2006, Tunney played in the World Series of Poker after having her entrance fee covered by the online cardroom PokerRoom.com.