Meet Linda Cardellini’s fiancé of 13 years and their one daughter whose birth was ‘very traumatic’

Happy birthday Linda Cardellini!

The actress, who turned 51 on June 25, has quietly been one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood, constantly earning acclaim for TV and movie work, the most recent being the show DTF St. Louis.

However, despite being such an ever-present presence on screen, when it comes to her personal life, Linda is fiercely private. She has been engaged to her fiancé for over a decade, and they share one daughter, but they both keep out of the spotlight.

Here’s all you need to know about the Scooby-Doo actress’ private bliss with her fiancé and daughter…

Meet Linda Cardellini’s fiancé, Steven Rodriguez

Steven Rodriguez works in Hollywood as well, although his work is behind the scenes: he’s a make-up artist. In fact, he’s Linda’s regular make-up artist. “We had been friends for a long time, and then one day 10 years ago, somebody mentioned to me that he had moved to LA to do makeup,” she recalled to Into the Gloss. “I ran into him and was like, ‘Do my makeup! It’ll be really fun for both of us!'”

Speaking of his approach as a make-up artist, she continued: “He has a philosophy, which is that most people go out of their way to cover their flaws. They concentrate on what they don’t like about themselves and they forget to concentrate on the things that make them look the most beautiful and unique. He takes what’s there and accentuates it.”

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Steven is her childhood crush

The Legally Blonde star actually first met Steven when they were in elementary school, and he was her childhood crush. “He was the new kid at my school,” she told People. “He could do amazing bike tricks and I was impressed. Not afraid to say it.”

When he moved to LA, they reconnected, and one thing led to another. “It didn’t take long to figure out we were amazing friends and we could probably be great partners,” she gushed.

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The birth of their first child was “very difficult”

In 2011, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child together, with Linda giving birth to their daughter Lilah-Rose on February 29, 2012.

However, the birth was actually a lot more complicated than expected. Lilah-Rose arrived with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, requiring an emergency C-section. “It was a very traumatic period,” she told People.

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“I had a really scary pregnancy and a very difficult delivery. My daughter and I are lucky to be alive,” she continued. “I had to go on medication and because of that my weight fluctuated up and down in a really erratic way. It was hard to get a handle on it.”

They got engaged soon after

Just over a year later, in June 2013, Linda confirmed during an appearance on The View that Steven had proposed. “We were sitting after we watched Lucky Guy, the play – my friend Maura Tierney’s in it.”

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She continued: “We’re all sitting there having dinner – my baby, he brought my baby out. And we’re all sitting there and he started getting choked up and he got down on his knee, and it was very beautiful.”

The couple are quite private, and don’t share any photos of each other on social media. They have made a few red carpet appearances together over the years, though, the most recent being in 2013.