Deborah Ann Woll was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on February 7, 1985. Her father is an architect and her mother, Cathy Woll, is a teacher at the Berkeley Carroll School. She is of Irish and German descent. She attended the Packer Collegiate Institute, and received a BFA from USC School of Dramatic Arts at the University of Southern California. She also trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London.
Woll began her career with guest starring roles in several television series, including Life (2007), ER (2008), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2008), My Name Is Earl (2008), and The Mentalist (2008), and had a supporting role in the action-adventure television film Aces ‘N’ Eights (2008).
In 2008, Woll landed her breakout role as Bill Compton’s vampire progeny, Jessica Hamby, in the HBO fantasy drama series True Blood. She originally joined as a recurring character in the first season, but was promoted to a regular cast member for the second season onwards. In 2009, she and her True Blood co-stars won the Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series at the 14th annual ceremony. Woll maintained the role of Jessica until the series’ ending in 2014. In 2009, she made a guest appearance in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portraying a young woman who is found alive after being reported missing by her boyfriend.
In 2010, Woll made her feature film debut in the psychological horror Mother’s Day. In 2011, she starred in the supernatural thriller Little Murder, the sports drama Seven Days in Utopia, the action film Catch .44, and the comedy-drama Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You. The following year, she co-starred in the romantic comedy-drama film Ruby Sparks. In 2013, she performed at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in the play Parfumerie. That same year, she joined the cast of the drama film The Automatic Hate.
In 2015, she starred in the independent romantic drama film Forever. In 2015, Woll has portrayed Karen Page in the Marvel series for Netflix, as the female lead in Daredevil, and as a recurring character in The Punisher and The Defenders.
In 2018, Woll starred in the comedy film Silver Lake. She also appeared in the action thriller film Escape Room in 2019, a role she reprised in its sequel Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021).
Woll starred in the second season of Force Grey: Lost City of Omu (2017), a Dungeons & Dragons web series which focused on the Tomb of Annihilation storyline, and appeared as a guest player in the 45th episode of Critical Role’s second campaign. In 2019, she was the Dungeon Master of the Geek & Sundry show Relics and Rarities, which used a modified version of Dungeons & Dragons. In May 2019, Woll stated that Relics and Rarities had not yet been picked up for a second season and said, “I can say I have written a second season, or at least I’ve outlined it. It’s ready to be fleshed out. Whether or not we get picked up, […][the cast] will be coming over to my house and playing it, cameras or not”. Woll has also appeared in several Dungeons & Dragons charity specials, as both a player and a Dungeon Master, produced by Lost Odyssey Events.
Since 2019, she has been a regular guest in seasons 7 through 9 of the web show GameNight! by BoardGameGeek.
