Basics

  • Anna was born in Melbourne and lived in Sydney from the age of 2 until she moved to the Gold Coast at the age of 7.
  • She graduated from Benowa High in 1996 and Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 2001.
  • Anna has a brother, Dylan, 7 years her junior.
  • Was raised by her mother, Susan, who has her own company that makes hats, shirts and accessories. Her estranged father, Hans Torv, is a radio announcer.
  • Anna is of Irish, Scottish and Estonian descent.
  • In her free time, Anna enjoys surfing and horseback riding. She also enjoys camping, hiking and mountain biking. With all that, she still calls herself a homebody.
  • Anna’s birthdate has not been confirmed, but as of September 2009, she is 30 years old.
  • Anna married her Fringe costar, Mark Valley, in a small, private ceremony in December 2008.
  • Does the character Nariko from Playstation 3’s ‘Heavenly Sword’ seem familiar to you? That’s probably because Anna voiced and did the motion capture for the video game.
  • Anna was chosen for the role of Olivia Dunham in Fringe by JJ Abrams when he saw a video audition of hers for a different project. There were only 3 days left before shooting commenced when JJ decided Anna was meant for the role, and she was camping in the Outback at the time, so the producers at Bad Robot could not get in contact with her . Anna fortunately got to a gas station just in time to sign and fax the contract back to the porducers in LA and started working in her first American production 3 days later.