Becki Newton
Rebecca Sara “Becki” Newton was born on 4th July 1978, in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, and is best known for her roles as Quinn Garvey in “How I Met Your Mother”, and as Amanda Tanen in “Ugly Betty”. With over two decades of experience in the entertainment industry, the seasoned actress is of Norwegian, English, French, Scottish and Czech descent, as well as a first cousin once removed of actress Sienna Miller.
Becki was raised by her parents Thomas and Jennifer Newton alongside her brother Matt, who is also an actor. Jennifer herself comes from a musically talented family, as her father was the composer and arranger Bruce Chase, and her mother, Fannie was a skilled violinist.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Becki moved to New York City to try her luck at acting, and began appearing in commercials for the Olive Garden and other big companies, as well as a PSA video about the dangers of drinking.
Acting
After five uneventful years of small roles and working odd jobs to pay the bills, Becki landed her big break with a role in “Ugly Betty”. Her character, Amanda Tanen, was a catty blonde and one of the stars of the show, eventually developing a close bond with Betty and briefly living with her as their friendship flourished.
Beautiful but vain, Amanda worked as a receptionist for MODE Magazine and was closely allied with Wilhelmina Slater and the latter’s assistant, Marc St. James. Wilhelmina was determined to take down Betty and her boss, Daniel Meade, who Amanda just happened to be attracted to. Raised in the Hamptons and believing that her father was an investment banker, Amanda dreamed of marrying into royalty and living an even more lavish lifestyle than the one she was already accustomed to. Despite appearing to be a simple-minded individual, Amanda’s character development and the struggles she faced made her an unlikely fan favorite.
Although many believed that Becki would fail to replicate the success of her “Ugly Betty” heyday, the actress continued to work diligently at her craft, and landed a starring role in the 2011 series “Love Bites”, a romantic comedy created by Cindy Chupack, who worked on “Sex and the City”. NBC announced that it had picked the series up in May 2010, but due to Becki’s pregnancy announcement, her co-star Jordana Spiro’s other contractual obligations, and Cindy’s desire to leave the show, the series didn’t air until July 2011. By then, interest had died down and it was cancelled after just one season.
In November 2011, Becki was cast as fiery stripper Quinn Garvey in “How I Met Your Mother”, making her first appearance in season seven, when she was hit on several times by main character Barney Stinson; after being turned down, Barney spent the rest of the episode complaining about Quinn and eventually revealed that he had slept with her but supposedly didn’t like her.
Over the next few episodes, it was revealed that Quinn worked as a stripper at the Lusty Leopard, which the rest of the gang had no idea about. After seeing her again, Barney tried to ask her out on a date; however, she was only interested in seeing him at the strip club and having him pay for her dances, to avoid getting in trouble with her manager. When Barney’s best friend Ted heard about this, he realized that Quinn was using Barney like she would any other client. However, Quinn felt guilty when Barney got jealous of her flirting with other clients and stormed out of the strip club.
After talking and getting to know each other better, Barney and Quinn embarked on a serious relationship and even became engaged. During season eight, Lily inadvertently revealed that Barney and Robin used to date. A furious Quinn then told Robin that even if she did have a boyfriend, it didn’t matter, because she’d always wonder if she still had feelings for Barney. However, after meeting Nick and seeing that he was more attractive than Barney, her attitude mellowed considerably. In the end, Barney and Quinn broke up; however, she made an appearance in a later episode of the series, as she was hired to dance for Barney the night before his wedding.
Present Day
Post-“How I Met Your Mother”, Becki has appeared in the Fox comedy series “The Goodwin Games”, played Jackie Giannopolis in the HBO series “Divorce”, and replaced Kiele Sanchez as Lorna Taylor in “The Lincoln Lawyer”. The Glamour Award winner is keeping herself busy with work and her family, raising her son and two daughters alongside husband Chris Diamantopoulos, whom she met in a subway station in New York in 2005.
Becki and Chris’s children were born in November 2010, early 2014, and 2020; in July 2022, the actress confirmed that she was expecting her fourth child. Apart from a Glamour Award, other accolades the blonde has been nominated for over the years include a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, an Emmy Award in the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category, and an OFTA Award for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Chris Diamantopoulos is a Canadian actor and comedian recognized by millions for his portrayal of Russ Hanneman in the HBO show “Silicon Valley”. Other notable roles include his performance in “The Three Stooges” and his work in the TV movie “Good Girls Revolt”. Currently, Chris voices Mickey Mouse in the TV series of the same name and “The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse”.
The actor, who is of Greek descent, was born in Toronto in May 1975 and grew up splitting his time between the two countries. He’s a fluent Greek speaker and a practicing member of the Greek Orthodox church; active in the entertainment industry since the age of nine, when he worked in TV commercials and professional theatre productions, he left home aged eighteen to work on Broadway and in national tours. The couple are estimated to have a joint $2.5 million net worth.
