Born on 12th August 1972 in Hazard, Kentucky, & raised in Pinetop, Kentucky Rebecca Gayheart moved to New York at the age of fifteen to finish high school, following a summer modeling job in the city. Rebecca studied at the renown Lee Strasburg in New York. It was after spending a summer modeling in New York that she decided to move there. While studying at the Institute, she landed a role on the now-canceled daytime soap, Loving.

Her stint on the show lasted from 1992 to 1993 and led to further television work, most notably on Beverly Hills 90210. During this time, she also acted in a number of forgettable television shows, and it wasn't until her part as a sorority girl in 1997's Scream 2 that she started to find film work. Her first project after Scream 2 was in Nothing to Lose, but her following film, 1998's Urban Legend, was successful enough to earn her a place among Hollywood's latest batch of up-and-coming starlets. After Legend, Gayheart co-starred with fellow Scream-er Neve Campbell in the obscure Canadian film Hair Shirt (1998). Her next project, the Heathers take-off Jawbreaker, faltered both at the box office and with critics, but did Gayheart the service of casting her in another leading role, helping to increase her fresh-scrubbed profile.

On June 13, 2001, Gayheart struck and fatally injured nine-year-old Jorge Cruz, Jr., as he illegally crossed a Los Angeles-area street. According to the police report, the child was walking home from school and ran across the street approximately 160 feet from a crosswalk. The vehicles in front of Gayheart stopped to permit Cruz to cross. However, unaware of the reason that the traffic in front of her had stopped, Gayheart chose not to stop herself, and instead maneuvered her vehicle around the other cars, pulling into a two-way left-turn lane to pass them. In so doing, she struck the boy with her vehicle. Her attorney, Steven Lerman, subsequently admitted Gayheart had been using a cell phone during impact. Cruz died the next day at Los Angeles Children's Hospital. His parents, Jorge Cruz and Silvia Martinez, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on August 6, 2001, against her, seeking coverage of medical and funeral expenses, and compensation for loss of future earnings. The lawsuit was settled out of court, and settlement terms were not disclosed. Gayheart also faced criminal charges in the incident, and while awaiting that outcome, she was involved in another auto accident. Her father attributed the second accident in part to her anxiety over both the first accident and her resulting criminal case. He commented that he and his wife did not intend to allow their daughter to drive any longer at that time. On November 27, 2001, Gayheart pleaded no contest to vehicular manslaughter in the death of Jorge Cruz, Jr. She was sentenced to three years' probation, a one-year suspension of her license, a $2,800 fine, and 750 hours of community service. She was also ordered to make a public-service announcement regarding the danger of a driver not stopping when other vehicles in front of the driver have stopped.

• For Better or for Worse (2008) (in production)
  
• "Ugly Betty" .... Jordan Dunn (1 episode, 2007)
       - A Tree Grows in Guadalajara (2007) TV episode .... Jordan Dunn
• Bunny Whipped (2007) .... Beatriz Magdalene Johnson
• "CSI: Miami" .... Claire Gibbs (1 episode, 2007)
       - Burned (2007) TV episode .... Claire Gibbs
• "Vanished" .... Judy Nash (13 episodes, 2006)
       - Warm Springs (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
       - The Velocity of Sara (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
       - The Proffer (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
       - The Cell (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
       - The New World (2006) TV episode .... Judy Nash
        (8 more)
• Last Day (2006/II) .... Abra
• "Nip/Tuck" .... Natasha Charles (3 episodes, 2004-2006)
       - Diana Lubey (2006) TV episode .... Natasha Charles
       - Trudy Nye (2004) TV episode .... Natasha Charles
       - Natasha Charles (2004) TV episode .... Natasha Charles
• "Medium" .... Jessica Delaney (1 episode, 2006)
       - Allison Wonderland (2006) TV episode .... Jessica Delaney
• Scarlett (2006) (TV) .... Scarlett
• The Christmas Blessing (2005) (TV) .... Meghan Sullivan
  ... aka Miracle of the Heart (Australia)
• Santa's Slay (2005) .... Gwen Mason
• "The Division" .... Suzanne Richland (3 episodes, 2004)