Katherine Moennig
Encyclopedia
Katherine Sian Moennig is an American actress known for her role as Shane McCutcheon
on The L Word
, as well as Jake Pratt on Young Americans
. In 2009, she starred as Dr. Miranda Foster on CBS
Three Rivers
.
dancer Mary Zahn and violin maker William H. Moennig 3rd. Moennig has a half-sister and a half-brother from the first marriage of her father. Moennig is also the niece of actress Blythe Danner
(who is the half sister of Moening's father) and cousin of Oscar
winner Gwyneth Paltrow
and Jake Paltrow
. Moennig is of German, Scottish and Irish descent.
. There she began a modeling career, and also performed on stage.
In 1999, she had the central role in the Our Lady Peace
video
"Is Anybody Home?
". She also took a role in a Fleet Bank commercial and appeared in a Red Cross Campaign benefitting victims of Hurricane Katrina
. Moennig and acted as a presenter at the 17th annual GLAAD awards and appeared at the 10th annual Ribbon of Hope Celebration.
Her first major role was in the television series Young Americans
, playing Jake Pratt, a girl who enters the Rawley Boys Academy by passing as a boy and ends up falling in love with Hamilton (Ian Somerhalder
), the Dean's son.
Moennig has played lesbian roles, such as that of Shane McCutcheon
in The L Word
and of a lesbian artist—a former lover of Sophia Myles
' character—in Terry Zwigoff
's 2006 Art School Confidential. She has also pursued transgender
roles, auditioning for the part of Brandon Teena
in Boys Don't Cry
, (a role which ended up going to actress Hilary Swank
), and playing Cheryl Avery, a young transsexual woman, in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(episode "Fallacy").
On April 12, 2006, Moennig made her Off Broadway debut, opposite Lee Pace
, in Guardians
, by Peter Morris. In it, she plays "American Girl"—a young United States Army
soldier from West Virginia who becomes a scapegoat
in a scandal involving abuse at an Iraqi prison. The story is loosely based on that of Lynndie England
.
In 2007, the documentary "My Address: A Look At Gay Youth Homelessness" in New York was launched with Moennig in cooperation with the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), directed by Gigi Nicolas.
In 2009, Moennig joined the cast of Three Rivers
, a medical drama set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a hospital specializing in transplants. Moennig played Dr. Miranda Foster, a surgical fellow with a rebellious streak and fiery temper who strives to live up to her deceased father's excellent surgical reputation. On November 30, 2009, it was announced that CBS had pulled Three Rivers from the schedule, with no plans to return it.
In 2010, Moennig played a tattoo artist in the Dexter
episode "First Blood"
In 2011, she played the small role of Gloria, a drug-addicted prostitute, in the film The Lincoln Lawyer
.
Shane McCutcheon
Shane McCutcheon is a fictional character from the American Showtime television drama series The L Word, played by Katherine Moennig.-Backstory:...
on The L Word
The L Word
The L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
, as well as Jake Pratt on Young Americans
Young Americans (TV series)
Young Americans is an American television drama created by Steven Antin. The show debuted on July 12, 2000 on The WB network as a summer replacement for, and spin-off from, another Columbia TriStar Television production, Dawson's Creek. The series was originally ordered for the fall 1999-2000...
. In 2009, she starred as Dr. Miranda Foster on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Three Rivers
Three Rivers (TV series)
Three Rivers is a medical drama, which premiered on CBS on October 4, 2009 and aired Sundays at 9 pm Eastern Time/Pacific Time. The series was set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a fictional hospital specializing in transplants, with Alex O'Loughlin starring as a famous transplant surgeon...
.
Personal life
Moennig was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
dancer Mary Zahn and violin maker William H. Moennig 3rd. Moennig has a half-sister and a half-brother from the first marriage of her father. Moennig is also the niece of actress Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner is an American actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...
(who is the half sister of Moening's father) and cousin of Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
winner Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
and Jake Paltrow
Jake Paltrow
Jacob Danner "Jake" Paltrow is an American film director.- Personal life :Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, to film director Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner. He is the younger brother of Gwyneth...
. Moennig is of German, Scottish and Irish descent.
Career
Moennig moved to New York City at the age of 18 to study at the American Academy of Dramatic ArtsAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
. There she began a modeling career, and also performed on stage.
In 1999, she had the central role in the Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...
video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
"Is Anybody Home?
Is Anybody Home?
"Is Anybody Home?" is a song by Canadian Alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, and was the second single released from their third album, Happiness...Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch...
". She also took a role in a Fleet Bank commercial and appeared in a Red Cross Campaign benefitting victims of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. Moennig and acted as a presenter at the 17th annual GLAAD awards and appeared at the 10th annual Ribbon of Hope Celebration.
Her first major role was in the television series Young Americans
Young Americans (TV series)
Young Americans is an American television drama created by Steven Antin. The show debuted on July 12, 2000 on The WB network as a summer replacement for, and spin-off from, another Columbia TriStar Television production, Dawson's Creek. The series was originally ordered for the fall 1999-2000...
, playing Jake Pratt, a girl who enters the Rawley Boys Academy by passing as a boy and ends up falling in love with Hamilton (Ian Somerhalder
Ian Somerhalder
Ian Joseph Somerhalder is an American model, actor and producer, best known for playing Boone Carlyle in the TV drama Lost and Damon Salvatore in the TV drama The Vampire Diaries.-Early life:...
), the Dean's son.
Moennig has played lesbian roles, such as that of Shane McCutcheon
Shane McCutcheon
Shane McCutcheon is a fictional character from the American Showtime television drama series The L Word, played by Katherine Moennig.-Backstory:...
in The L Word
The L Word
The L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
and of a lesbian artist—a former lover of Sophia Myles
Sophia Myles
-Early life:Myles was born in London. She is the daughter of Jane, who works in educational publishing, and Peter Myles, a retired Anglican vicar in Isleworth, west London. Her maternal grandmother was Russian, and she refers to herself as "half-Welsh, half-Russian". She grew up in Notting Hill,...
' character—in Terry Zwigoff
Terry Zwigoff
Terry Zwigoff is an American filmmaker whose work often deals with misfits, antiheros, and themes of alienation. His fiction films are the features Ghost World , Bad Santa , and Art School Confidential...
's 2006 Art School Confidential. She has also pursued transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
roles, auditioning for the part of Brandon Teena
Brandon Teena
Brandon Teena was an American trans man who was raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska. His life and death were the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, which was based on the documentary film The Brandon Teena Story.-Life:Teena was born Teena Renae Brandon in Lincoln,...
in Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't Cry (film)
Boys Don't Cry is a 1999 American independent romantic drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and co-written by Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man played by Hilary Swank, who pursues a relationship with a young woman, played by Chloë...
, (a role which ended up going to actress Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
), and playing Cheryl Avery, a young transsexual woman, in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
(episode "Fallacy").
On April 12, 2006, Moennig made her Off Broadway debut, opposite Lee Pace
Lee Pace
Lee Grinner Pace is an American actor. Pace has been featured in film, stage and television. He is known best for his starring role as Ned in the ABC series Pushing Daisies for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2008.-...
, in Guardians
Guardians (play)
Guardians is an Off-Broadway play written by Peter Morris. It debuted at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, winning the "Fringe First Award" and made its New York debut on April 11, 2006 at The Culture Project.-Synopsis:...
, by Peter Morris. In it, she plays "American Girl"—a young United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
soldier from West Virginia who becomes a scapegoat
Scapegoat
Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
in a scandal involving abuse at an Iraqi prison. The story is loosely based on that of Lynndie England
Lynndie England
Lynndie Rana England is a former United States Army reservist who served in the 372nd Military Police Company. She was one of eleven military personnel convicted in 2005 by Army courts-martial in connection with the torture and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad during the occupation...
.
In 2007, the documentary "My Address: A Look At Gay Youth Homelessness" in New York was launched with Moennig in cooperation with the Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), directed by Gigi Nicolas.
In 2009, Moennig joined the cast of Three Rivers
Three Rivers (TV series)
Three Rivers is a medical drama, which premiered on CBS on October 4, 2009 and aired Sundays at 9 pm Eastern Time/Pacific Time. The series was set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a fictional hospital specializing in transplants, with Alex O'Loughlin starring as a famous transplant surgeon...
, a medical drama set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a hospital specializing in transplants. Moennig played Dr. Miranda Foster, a surgical fellow with a rebellious streak and fiery temper who strives to live up to her deceased father's excellent surgical reputation. On November 30, 2009, it was announced that CBS had pulled Three Rivers from the schedule, with no plans to return it.
In 2010, Moennig played a tattoo artist in the Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
episode "First Blood"
In 2011, she played the small role of Gloria, a drug-addicted prostitute, in the film The Lincoln Lawyer
The Lincoln Lawyer (film)
The Lincoln Lawyer is a 2011 American thriller film adapted from the novel of the same name by Michael Connelly, starring Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy and Marisa Tomei...
.
Film
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The Ice People The Ice People The Ice People is a 1999 science fiction novel by Maggie Gee, set in a future world dominated by a new ice age. The novel examines different elements of contemporary society: the fundamental roles and relationships of men and women, sexuality, politics and the issue of global warming.Global warming... |
Wanja Kasczinksy |
| 2001 | The Shipping News The Shipping News (film) The Shipping News is a 2001 drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by E. Annie Proulx.It stars Kevin Spacey as the protagonist Quoyle, Judi Dench as Agnis Hamm and Julianne Moore as Wavey Prowse... |
Grace Moosup |
| Love the Hard Way Love the Hard Way Love the Hard Way is a 2001 crime drama film directed by Peter Sehr. It is about the story of a petty thief who meets an innocent young woman and brings her into his world of crime while she teaches him the lessons of enjoying life and being loved.... |
Debbie | |
| Slo-Mo | Raven | |
| 2004 | Invitation to a Suicide | Eva |
| 2006 | Art School Confidential | Candace |
| 2009 | Everybody's Fine | Jilly |
| 2011 | The Lincoln Lawyer The Lincoln Lawyer (film) The Lincoln Lawyer is a 2011 American thriller film adapted from the novel of the same name by Michael Connelly, starring Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy and Marisa Tomei... |
Gloria |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Young Americans Young Americans (TV series) Young Americans is an American television drama created by Steven Antin. The show debuted on July 12, 2000 on The WB network as a summer replacement for, and spin-off from, another Columbia TriStar Television production, Dawson's Creek. The series was originally ordered for the fall 1999-2000... |
Jacqueline "Jake" Pratt | 8 episodes |
| 2001 | Law & Order Law & Order Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,... |
Melissa Cobin | 1 episode (For Love or Money) |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced... |
Cheryl Avery | 1 episode (Fallacy) |
| 2004 | The L Word The L Word The L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood... |
Shane McCutcheon Shane McCutcheon Shane McCutcheon is a fictional character from the American Showtime television drama series The L Word, played by Katherine Moennig.-Backstory:... |
70 episodes, 2004 – 2009 |
| 2008 | CSI: Miami CSI: Miami CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.... |
Mary Landis | 1 episode (Rock and a Hard Place) |
| 2009 | Three Rivers Three Rivers (TV series) Three Rivers is a medical drama, which premiered on CBS on October 4, 2009 and aired Sundays at 9 pm Eastern Time/Pacific Time. The series was set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at a fictional hospital specializing in transplants, with Alex O'Loughlin starring as a famous transplant surgeon... |
Dr. Miranda Foster | 10 episodes |
| 2010 | Dexter Dexter (TV series) Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer... |
Michael Angelo | 1 episode (First Blood) |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Guardians | American Girl |
| - | As You Like It As You Like It As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility... |
Shepherdess |
| - | The Theory of Total Blame | Cheryl Avery |
| - | Comedy of Art | Isabella |
| - | Morning in the City Nolan | Karen |
| - | Love Letters | Dr. Melissa |
| - | The Shadow Box | Felicity |
| - | The Murder of Lidice | Byeta |
| - | Two Gentlemen of Verona | Lucetta |
| - | A Late Show | Pat |
| - | Burn This | Anna |
| - | Alone at the Beach | Chris |
| - | Lovers | Maggie |
| - | Anna K | Anna |
External links
- Katherine Moennig at The L WordThe L WordThe L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood...
official site