Taryn Manning is an American actress, fashion designer, singer, and songwriter. She is the vocalist for electronic duo Boomkat. Taryn was born in Tucson, Arizona. Her parents divorced in 1981, and her mother, Sharyn, worked as a secretary and waitress in order to support Taryn and her older brother Kellin. Her father, Bill Manning, was a musician and hotel manager. When she was 14, her troubled father committed suicide. Her childhood in a trailer park was tough but happy. Taryn grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where her mother moved to after her divorce, and later in Los Alamitos, California, where she attended Orange County High School of the Arts.

Manning began acting in the late 1990s, appearing in small roles in several film and television productions, including episodes of The Practice, Get Real, Boston Public, NYPD Blue and Popular. She also auditioned for the American version of Popstars, which aired in early 2001 on The WB.

Her first role in a major motion picture was in the Kirsten Dunstand Jay Hernandezromantic-comedy Crazy/Beautiful in which she played the best friend of Dunst's character. Crazy/Beautiful was followed shortly by a prominent role in the 2002 feature film, Crossroads, where she played one of two best friends of pop star Britney Spears Her subsequent film roles included supporting roles in White Oleander, 8 Mile, A Lot Like Love and the historical epic Cold Mountain.

In 2005 she appeared in the drama film Hustle & Flow, opposite Terrence Howard playing a troubled prostitute in Memphis, Tennessee. The film received critical acclaim and was generally considered a success. Manning was nominated in Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards in category Best Breakthrough Performance for: Hustle & Flow.

Her next film was Weirdsville, a comedy co-starring Scott Speedmanand Wes Bentley In 2007, she played Ivy Chitty on the short-lived but critically acclaimed Fox television series Drive, which was a drama about various people competing in an illegal cross-country road race. In a comedy film After Sex, Manning played the supporting role of Alanna. She currently plays Cherry on the Fox series Sons of Anarchy.

Manning is also co-starring in Jack and Jill vs. the World with actor Freddie Prinze Jr.The film tells the story of a cynical guy who falls for a girl with a joie de vivre and a secret, a cultural revolution ensues. Manning stars in 2008 film "Shifter" with Bai Lingand singer Samantha Mumba

Regarding her music career, in 2002 she sang a rendition of "I'll Take You There" with Tweet in several Gap commercials directed by Peter Lindbergh. In 2003, Manning and her brother Kellin formed the band Boomkat. Their debut album, Boomkatalog.One, was released on March 18, 2003. Boomkat released two singles "The Wreckoning" and "What U Do 2 Me". The first single, "The Wreckoning", hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

In an interview in October 2005's issue of Nylon magazine, Taryn mentioned that Boomkat would be back eventually, and that she is writing songs for the new album once they find another record label. DreamWorks Records was Boomkat's record label from 2002 to 2004.

After a break from music, Boomkat released their first single in four years, called "Runaway" on April 8, 2008. Despite being the lead single of their second album, "Runaway" failed to reach the heights of their previous singles. She is currently working on a new untitled project with music producer Tony DeNiro at the helm of the project. It will be available for release in 2009 and will be her most commercial body of work to date.

Taryn has also a clothing line called Born Uniqorn with best friend Tara Jane. She was ranked #60 on 2008's “Hot 100″ list from Maxim magazine.