Piper Perabo was born in Dallas, Texas, to Mary Charlotte (Ulland), a physical therapist, and George William Perabo, a poetry professor. Her mother is of Norwegian descent and her father is of German, Irish, and English ancestry (the surname "Perabo" originates in Germany).After graduating college, Piper moved to New York and was cast in a short film called Single Spaced (1997). Her first big role came after that, where she played the girlfriend of a wannabe rapper in Whiteboyz (1999). In 2000 she was cast in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000) as FBI agent Karen Sympathy. However, the role that really got her recognized was in Coyote Ugly (2000). She played Violet Sanford aka "Jersey," who moves to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a songwriter. In 2001, she starred in an independent Canadian movie called Lost and Delirious (2001), playing a boarding-school student who falls in love with another girl. The next year, she starred as a French exchange student in Slap Her, She's French! (2002). In 2003, she had a small role as the oldest daughter in Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), which also starred Steve Martin, Ashton Kutcher, and Bonnie Hunt. She has also appeared in The I Inside (2004), Perfect Opposites (2004), George and the Dragon (2004), Edison (2005), The Cave (2000), and 10th & Wolf (2006).