Swallow was born on December 18, 1979, in Washington, D.C. She grew up in Sterling, Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida. While at Stanton College Preparatory School in Jacksonville, she began acting in various college, amateur, and professional theatre productions. She graduated in 2001 with a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Virginia, and then studied for an MFA in Acting from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Swallow started her career in Broadway theatre, where she performed in various productions, including High Fidelity, King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Guthrie Theater, Much Ado About Nothing for Shakespeare in the Park, and the world-premiere of off-Broadway shows Romantic Poetry and Measure for Pleasure.
In 2008, Swallow made her film debut in the military drama The Lucky Ones. She starred in world premieres of Donald Margulies' play The Country House at Los Angeles' Geffen Playhouse, opposite Mark Rylance in Louis Jenkins' play Nice Fish at the Guthrie Theatre,[citation needed] and in John Patrick Shanley's musical Romantic Poetry at Manhattan Theater Club.[citation needed] She won the Falstaff Award for best Female Performer in 2010 for her performance as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew.

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