Lauren German

Lauren Christine German was born in Huntington Beach, California. She attended Los Alamitos High School and trained as a dancer at the Orange County High School of the Arts. She later enrolled at the University of Southern California to study anthropology before moving to New York City to study at the Actors Studio.

German began performing on stage in productions of Peter Pan and Oliver. Her early training combined dance, theater, and formal acting study before she moved into film and television.

German made her feature-film debut in the 2000 romantic comedy Down to You, playing a lovestruck woman. She gained wider attention in A Walk to Remember (2002), in which she played Belinda, a popular and mean-spirited high school student, opposite Shane West and Mandy Moore. She also appeared in Dead Above Ground, A Midsummer Night's Rave, and The Lone Ranger during this period.

German auditioned to play Erin in the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but ultimately took the role of the hitchhiker. Her subsequent film work included Born Killers, Rx, Standing Still, It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine., What We Do Is Secret, Hostel: Part II, and The Divide. In What We Do Is Secret, she played musician Belinda Carlisle and worked again with Shane West.

Her performance in Hostel: Part II was among her physically demanding film roles. She performed her own stunts for the film, including scenes that required significant physical action.

German appeared in television productions including Undressed, 7th Heaven, Going to California, Sex, Love & Secrets, Happy Town, Human Target, and Memphis Beat. She joined the second season of Hawaii Five-0 as Department of Homeland Security agent Lori Weston, a role she played from 2011 to 2012.

From 2012 to 2014, German portrayed paramedic Leslie Shay on the NBC drama Chicago Fire. Shay's death at the end of the second season was marked within the series by printing the character's name on the door of the ambulance in which she had served. German also reprised the role in two episodes of Chicago P.D. and later appeared in additional Chicago Fire episodes.

In 2016, German began starring as LAPD homicide detective Chloe Decker in the fantasy comedy-drama Lucifer. The series first aired on Fox and later moved to Netflix, where it concluded with its sixth season in 2021.

German appeared in all 93 episodes of Lucifer. Alongside her acting work, she performed songs including "Another One Bites the Dust," "Heartbreaker," and "Heart and Soul" for episodes of the series.