5 Things to Know About Alexandra Daddario

Alexandra Daddario, 29, stars in the summer thriller San Andreas as Blake, daughter of Dwayne Johnson, who needs daddy to come to the rescue when the Big One hits California.

Though she lives in Los Angeles now, Daddario grew up on the Upper East Side of New York City, launching her acting career at 16 on the soap All My Children. She picked a slew of fans after starring in the Percy Jackson films, but established herself as a serious actress thanks to a role in the HBO hit series True Detective starring alongside Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. You can see her again in next year’s film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Choice.

Besides having piercing blue eyes and a pup named Levon, here are five things you should know about Alexandra Daddario:

1. She Comes from a Political Family.
Daddario s father, Richard, served as the U.S. Department of Justice’s attach in Moscow before being appointed as the New York City Police Department s Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism in 2010. His father, Connecticut Congressman Emilio Q. Daddario, served 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Guess the San Andreas star didn t want to stick to the family business!

2. She and Woody Harrelson Steamed up the Screen.
Daddario s True Detective character, Lisa Tragnetti, seduces Harrelson s Det. Marty Hart in one of the edgy show’s adult scenes. “I can’t think of a better person to work with in that kind of a scene,” Daddario told PEOPLE. “I think he made me feel really comfortable and he was just – he was a funny, charming guy and it was really cool to be able to work with someone that I’ve looked up to my whole career,” she continued. And the nudity required for the part? “It didn’t faze me,” initially, anyway. She adds, “you get into the reality of the situation and then it’s just, you just sort of do it.”

3. She Plays the Piano.
The actress started taking piano lessons when she was nine years old. In an interview with Marie Claire last year, Daddario attributed memorizing pieces for recitals as “good training for being an actress.” She told the magazine “all the money my mom spent on lessons paid off” in one scene on Parenthood, in which she played ‘Moonlight Sonata.’

4. Charlize Theron is One of her Beauty Icons.
Daddario s style throughout the San Andreas press tour has been on point, so it s no wonder she looks up to someone with equally chic style. “I think [Theron] is pretty remarkable,” the 29-year-old told PEOPLE. “Everything she wears is amazing and I think just she’s just so glamorous and beautiful because it’s sort of the way she carries herself.”

5. You Might Have Spotted Her in Music Videos
Are you a fan of Imagine Dragons or the Jonas Brothers? Then you might recognize Daddario from their videos. She made a (very) quick cameo in the Jonas’s ‘Love Is On Its Way,’ which premiered in the Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience movie. Daddario plays one of the girlfriends strolling through Central Park. From boy band to rock band, the actress also starred in Imagine Dragons’ ‘Radioactive’ video playing a drifter who sets out to save her friends. “I’m having a great time,” she said in making of the video footage.

Bonus: What does Daddario not call her onscreen (San Andreas) father, Johnson? “I don t call him ‘The Rock’ to his face,” she told Jimmy Kimmel. Smart woman.