Karen Sillas was born on June 5, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York, to a Greek father and a Swedish mother. She graduated from the Acting Conservatory of the State University of New York at Purchase.

Karen Sillas began her career with a role in Hal Hartley's 1992 film "Simple Men" and gained critical acclaim for her performance in the 1994 film "What Happened Was...," which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

She starred as Detective Rose Phillips in the CBS series "Under Suspicion" and appeared in films such as "Female Perversions" (1996) and "Sour Grapes" (1998).

Karen Sillas was previously married to actor Peter Stormare and is currently married to writer Ivan Menchell, with whom she has two children.