Alison Pill on AllMovie

Praised by industry insiders for the discernment of her role choice and her ability to segue without a hitch between theatrical and cinematic assignments, baby-faced Canadian actress Alison Pill tackled a series of low-key supporting roles onscreen before achieving her breakthrough with two filmic evocations. She delivered a compelling portrayal as the young Lorna Luft in the superior Alliance Atlantis telemovie Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), and then -- on a very different note -- convincingly played Beth Burns, the goody-two-shoes sister of the title character (Katie Holmes) in the Thanksgiving dramedy Pieces of April (2003). Meanwhile, Pill won coveted stage assignments in such productions as Neil LaBute's The Distance from Here and Christopher Shinn's On the Mountain.

In 2006, Pill returned to television with a regular role as a marijuana-happy minister's daughter, Grace, in the über-controversial religious series drama The Book of Daniel; for better or worse, the controversy surrounding that program failed to magnetize an audience, and it folded soon after. Pill followed it up with a small role in the 2007 Steve Carell feature Dan in Real Life.