Caterina Scorsone

Scorsone was born in Toronto, Ontario. She is the middle child of five in her family. Her father, Antonio Bruno Scorsone, is a social worker, and her mother, Suzanne Rozell Scorsone, is a social anthropologist. She is of Italian descent.^[1] Her four siblings include: older twin sisters^{[citation needed]}, Jovanna and Francesca (who serves as a chaplain in the Canadian Army, holding the rank of major),^[2][3] and a younger sister (Deborah Scorsone) and a brother.^[4] She attended the Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts in Toronto, as well as alternative school Subway Academy II. She majored in literary studies and minored in philosophy at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, finishing her studies in 2006.^[5]

Scorsone's first TV appearances were in Goosebumps adaptation of Night of the Living Dummy II the Goosebumps Chillogy miniseries, consisting of three episodes, then she progressed to regular guest spots as a child on the Canadian children's TV show Mr. Dressup.^[6][7] In 1998, she had a role in one installment of CBC Radio's The Mystery Project called Peggy Delaney as Amber, an estranged fifteen-year-old daughter who comes from Vancouver to stay with her mom for a school term in Toronto.

Scorsone had her breakthrough after landing the leading role in the Lifetime crime drama series Missing, from 2003 to 2006. She played the part of Jess Mastriani, a young woman who sees missing persons in visions. After Jess saved some missing persons, she joined the FBI, where a special squad was formed around her, to find missing persons. In 2009, she starred as Alice Hamilton on the Showcase TV miniseries Alice which was later broadcast on Syfy in America.

In 2010, Scorsone joined the cast of Shonda Rhimes' drama series Private Practice in the recurring role of Dr. Amelia Shepherd, the sister of Derek Shepherd from Grey's Anatomy.^[8] She was cast after Eric Stoltz, who was directing one of the show's episodes, heard about the role of Amelia and remembered Scorsone from working with her on My Horrible Year! He mentioned her to Shonda Rhimes and commented on the resemblance Scorsone had to Patrick Dempsey (the actor who plays Derek Shepherd).^[6] Scorsone was promoted to series regular for Private Practice in 2010.^[9] She appeared in the third episode of the seventh season of Grey's Anatomy where Amelia and Derek started to reconcile their differences.^[10]

In March 2014, Scorsone returned to Grey's Anatomy after a two-year absence as a recurring guest star. In June of the same year, it was announced that she was promoted to series regular status for the show's eleventh season.^[11] In October 2025, as part of cost-cutting measures during the show's twenty-second season, Scorsone's minimum episode guarantee was reduced to 10 appearances, with her character, Dr. Amelia Shepherd, taking a seven-episode sabbatical—a gap that marks the actress's longest continuous absence from the series since becoming a regular.^[12]

Scorsone married Rob Giles of The Rescues in June 2009. The couple has three daughters; Eliza,^[13][14] Paloma Michaela "Pippa"^[15] and Arwen Lucinda "Lucky".^[16][17][18]

Her first pregnancy was written into her character's storyline in season 5 of Private Practice, along with her third pregnancy in Grey's Anatomy's sixteenth season.^[19]

She became an outspoken advocate for children with Down syndrome and other cognitive disabilities after her daughter, Pippa, was born with the disorder.^[20][21][22] She received the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award from the Global Down Syndrome Foundation on November 14, 2020, for her advocacy.^[20][23]

Scorsone and Giles separated in March 2020 and filed for divorce two months later.^[24][25][26]