Panabaker was born in Augusta, Georgia, to Donna and Harold Panabaker. Her younger sister, Kay Panabaker, is also an actress. Panabaker took a theater class at a summer camp and discovered her enjoyment in acting, so she started acting in community theaters at the age of 12, later auditioning for commercials. After moving to Naperville, Illinois, Panabaker went to Crone Middle School and later Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville and participated in the speech team. She graduated from high school as valedictorian when she was only 14 years old. Later, feeling it was the only way to land acting roles regularly, Panabaker relocated to Los Angeles, California in order to pursue an acting career. In 2005, she earned her associate's degree and appeared on the National Dean's List. In the fall of 2006 she began her senior year at the University of California, Los Angeles, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in June 2007.
Panabaker followed her initial appearances in commercials with roles in television, including a part in the series, The Guardian (for which she won a Young Artist Award), as well as other television series including Malcolm in the Middle, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Medium, Summerland, and the Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs. She has also appeared in the Lifetime Television productions Sex and the Single Mom and Mom at Sixteen, as well as the well-reviewed miniseries Empire Falls. In addition, Panabaker also appeared in stage productions with roles in musical theater, including West Side Story, Pippin, Once Upon A Time, and Beauty Lou and the Country Beast. In 2005, Panabaker co-starred in two widely released theatrical films, Sky High and Yours, Mine and Ours. Her next role was in the film Home of the Giants (2008), opposite Ryan Merriman and Haley Joel Osment. She also had a supporting role in the film Mr. Brooks opposite Kevin Costner. In the Disney Channel original movie Read It and Weep, she plays "Is", an alternate version of Jamie, who is played by her sister Kay. Panabaker was added to the cast of the CBS television drama pilot Shark, as "Julie Stark", the main character's daughter. She had a regular role in the series, which ran for two years. Although she sometimes only appeared in a scene or two an episode, and was absent from three episodes in the series run, she was second billed only to James Woods. Panabaker recently played Jenna, a main character of the much anticipated Friday the 13th reboot along with Jared Padalecki. Danielle attended Glendale Community College to study acting. Panabaker next starred in the Jennifer Tilly film Renaissance Girl, as well as the films The Crazies and The Ward. On August, 2011, Danielle Panabaker was confirmed in the TV series The Vampire Diaries, as Veronica, a witch turned into a vampire.Read more about her
