Lesbian Shane

Background:

“It's scary how well we all got along. It was this family that was formed in matter of six weeks while filming the pilot.” Kathering Moennig on the cast of “The L-Word”

An American rising star of German and Irish bloodline known for her preference of non-traditional roles, usually those that involve gender-bending, Katherine Moennig is celebrated for her roles as Jake Pratt in “Young Americans” (The WB, 2000), a spin-off of “Dawson's Creek,” and Shane McCutcheon on “The L Word” (Showtime, 2004-present). She also has acted in several movies, including “Love the Hard Way,” “The Shipping News” (both 2001), “Invitation to a Suicide” (2004) and “Art School Confidential” (2006). She made her Off-Broadway debut in 2006's “Guardian,” by Peter Morris.

Off camera, Moennig has trained in fencing, and states she would become a marine biologist or in the FBI if she was not an actress. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a doorman. In a 2001 interview with Rebecca Traister of the New York Observer, Moennig admitted that she was a heterosexual.

Tomboy Kate

Childhood and Family:

Katherine Sian Moennig was born on December 29, 1977, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Broadway dancer Mary Zahn and violin maker William Moennig. She is the first cousins of actresses Hillary Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow, and the niece of producer Bruce Paltrow, actress Blythe Danner and actor Harry Danner. Growing up surrounded by the entertainment industry led Katherine to pursue acting from an early age. After high school, she moved to New York City to train at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Kate, as her close friends and family called her, was a bit of tomboy as a young. She used to spend her free time climbing tress and skateboarding with friends.

Young Americans

Career:

Katherine Moennig got her first taste of acting at age 10, when she landed a role in a Children's Theatre Workshop presentation of “Winnie the Pooh.” After the performance, she and a friend wrote an improvised production of the story and performed it at Philadelphia's Free Library. However, she was forced to put the hope of pursuing an acting career on the backburner during high school because she had to concentrate on her studies. Upon graduating, 18-years-old Moennig made her way to New York City to hone her craft at the elite American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Once living in NYC, she started a modeling career and also performed on stage.

Moennig received an apprenticeship at the famed Williamstown Theatre Festival within two months of her graduation from AADA. During a two-season tenure with the festival, she had an extensive exposure working on such plays as “The Theory of Total Blame,” “Comedy of Art” and “Morning in the City and As You Like It.” In a production of Shakespeare's “As You Like It”in 1999, she had the opportunity to act with her fellow-actress, cousin Gwyneth Paltrow. Her first commercial victory came with the starring role in the music video “Is Anybody Home?,” which was shot in Toronto for the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace in 1999. She went on to make her film acting debut in 2000's “The Ice People,” a lesbian/bisexual short directed by Susanne Oberbeck.

However, Moennig did not experience a defining in career until July 2000, when she landed her first regular role as Jacqueline “Jake” Pratt, a girl pretending to be a boy in order to attend a renowned all-boy school, on The WB series “Young Americans,” opposite Kate Bosworth, Ian Somerhalder, Mark Famiglietti, Rodney Scott and others. Although the show only lasted for 8 episodes, it did give Moennig the exposure to succeed new work in film and TV.

2001 proved to be a busy year for Moennig. After starring with Jimmi Simpson in the award-winning short “Slo-Mo,” by director John Krokidas, she supported Adrien Brody, Charlotte Ayanna and Jon Seda in the drama film “Love the Hard Way,” adapted by Peter Sehr from the novel “Yi Ban Shi Huo Yan, Yi Ban Shi Hai Shui” by Wang Shuo. She also appeared with Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett on the Lasse Hallström-directed film “The Shipping News,” which gave her little attention, despite working with the stellar celebrities. On the small screen, she appeared in an episode of the NBC hit “Law and Order,” playing Melissa Cobin. However, when the year came to an end, Moennig became out of work. She spent the following year searching for bright acting roles, but discovered nothing.

Moennig resurfaced on the small screen in 2003 when she landed a guest spot on the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” episode of “Fallacy,” in which she portrayed the pre-operative transsexual character, Cheryl Avery. It was in early 2004 that the actress was thrust into the limelight when she started her regular role as Shane McCutcheon, a hairdresser who goes from one girl to another, on the Showtime series “The L Word” (2004-present), a drama about a group of lesbian friends in Los Angeles. Among her costars in the popular series are Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey, Laurel Holloman, Sarah Shahi and Mia Kirshner.

Later that same year, Moennig played a supporting role in the black comedy “Invitation to a Suicide,” starring Pablo Schreiber and directed and penned by Loren Marsh. It premiered at the AFI Film Festival in November 2004 and was seen at the Aspen Comedy Festival in February 2005. She returned to the big screen in 2006 with a minor role on the misfired film adaptation of Daniel Clowes’ graphic novel, “Art School Confidential,” playing Candice, the former girlfriend of Audrey (played by Sophia Myles), the art model serves as the lover of protagonist Jerome (played by Max Minghella). John Malkovich also appeared in the film as Professor Sandiford and Anjelica Huston as Art History Teacher. Also in 2006, Moennig made her off-Broadway debut in Peter Morris' “Guardian,” a play about scandal at an American-run military prison in Iraq. There, she portrayed a young American Army soldier who becomes a victim in the scandal.

Moennig is set to star as Jamie in the drama/thriller film “Remorse” (2008), along side Eion Bailey and Hannah Fierman. The upcoming movie is directed by Quinn Saunders and jointly scripted by Andrew Kayros and Peter Cafaro.

Awards:
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