Katherine Moennig

Katherine Sian Moennig, meh-nig; born December 29, 1977 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.

Personal life

Moennig was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Broadway 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.

Career

Moennig moved to New York City at the age of 18 to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. 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.

kate moennig holly miranda

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" (TV series) episode "First Blood"

In 2011, she played the small role of Gloria, a drug-addicted prostitute, in the film "The Lincoln Lawyer".

Film

2000 The Ice People Wanja Kasczinksy

2001 The Shipping News Grace Moosup

Love the Hard Way Debbie

Slo-Mo Raven

2004 Invitation to a Suicide Eva

2006 Art School Confidential Candace

2009 Everybody's Fine Jilly

2011 The Lincoln Lawyer Gloria

Television

2000 Young Americans Jacqueline "Jake" Pratt 8 episodes

2001 Law & Order Melissa Cobin 1 episode (For Love or Money)

2003 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Cheryl Avery 1 episode (Fallacy)

2004 The L Word Shane McCutcheon 70 episodes, 2004 – 2009

2008 CSI: Miami Mary Landis 1 episode (Rock and a Hard Place)

2009 Three Rivers Dr. Miranda Foster 10 episodes

2010 Dexter Michael Angelo 1 episode (First Blood)