Grew up on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Attended Wellesley College as a Sociology major and graduated in 1996. She worked with the NYPD as a domestic violence counselor before pursuing acting.
Middle child of three sisters. Older sister is Jenny and younger is Lindsay. Went to the same high school (Bainbridge High School) as SNL 25 castmember Chris Kattan. Snow Falling on Cedars author David Guterson was a teacher at the same school. Appeared in Mona Lisa Smile, set in the 1950s at Wellesley College. Coincidentally, she graduated from Wellesley in 1996. Laura and her fiancé Bruce Weyman were married at the Relais Palazzo del Capitano in Pienza, Italy on September 23, 2006.