Early work Bellisario made her acting debut in the 1988 film
Last Rites at the age of three, which was directed, written and produced by her father,
Donald P. Bellisario. In 1990, she guest-starred in an episode of her father's series
Quantum Leap. In 1998, she co-starred with
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in the film
Billboard Dad. Beginning in 2006, Bellisario began appearing in a number of independent short films namely,
Unspoken,
Archer House and
Intersect.
2010s In November 2009, Bellisario was cast as
Spencer Hastings in the TV series
Pretty Little Liars based on the
book series of the same name by
Sara Shepard. In October 2011, Bellisario announced she was in the process of writing and creating her own film, which was successfully funded through
Kickstarter on November 16, 2011. Filming ended in December 2011 and the film was officially completed by August 2012. In 2014, she starred in the music video for
The Head and the Heart's song "Another Story". In 2015, she was cast in a leading role in the American
remake of the French-Canadian film
Martyrs. In 2015, Bellisario and fiancée Patrick J. Adams filmed the short film
We Are Here in Haida Gwaii, which Bellisario wrote and starred in. In 2017, Bellisario starred in her feature film,
Feed, which she also wrote and produced. The film was written based on Bellisario's own experiences with an eating disorder. and Troian Bellisario at 2019
German Comic Con On April 7, 2016, it was announced that Bellisario would be directing season 7, episode 15 of
Pretty Little Liars. This made her one of the first in the cast, alongside
Chad Lowe, to direct an episode on the series. In 2020, Bellisario appeared as the bride character Jenna Marshall from the episode "Til Dex Do Us Part" in
Stumptown. Further in television, she costarred with Australian actress
Jacki Weaver in the television drama film
Sister Cities (2016), and opposite
Bradley Whitford in the
Me Too drama
Lauren (20122013). In film, Bellisario has received recognition for her performances in
C.O.G. (2013),
Feed (2017),
Clara (2018) and ''
Where'd You Go, Bernadette'' (2019).
2020s In March 2020, Bellisario played the lead role of Claire in the
CBS political drama pilot
Ways & Means, written by Mike Murphy and
Ed Redlich. The pilot, which also starred
Patrick Dempsey, focused on a secret alliance between a disillusioned career politician and an idealist up-and-comer in the gridlocked American system. The show was not picked up. In 2022, she appeared in the comedy
Doula alongside Arron Shiver (who also wrote the film) and Will Greenberg. The film, produced by
Chris Pine and directed by Cheryl Nichols, deals with Bellisario's character hiring her
midwife's son as the latter's replacement when she passes away. ==Personal life==