Hicks was born in New York City, the daughter of Jackie and Walter Hicks, an electronics salesman. She has Irish and English ancestry. Her family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona during her childhood. After attending Saint Mary's College (Indiana), across the street from the University of Notre Dame, where she studied theology, Hicks won an acting fellowship to Cornell University. Hicks, whose parents were practicing Christians, is a devout Roman Catholic. She is married to special effects expert Kevin Yagher and they currently live in Bel-Air. The two have a daughter named Catie, who was born in 1992.