Kate Lauren French is an American

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

. She is perhaps best known for her role as Niki Stevens on ''

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene ...

''.

Early life

Kate Lauren French was born in

Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Accepted ''Accepted'' is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Steve Pink (in his directorial debut) and written by Adam Cooper, Bill Collage and Mark Perez. The plot follows a group of high school graduates who create their own fake college after bei ...

''. French's first appearance on the small screen was in 2006, when French starred alongside

Tatum O'Neal Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award, winning at age 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in '' Paper Moon'' (1973) opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal. S ...

in the prime-time telenova

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Wicked Wicked Games ''Wicked Wicked Games'' is a telenovela that debuted on December 6, 2006 on the American television network MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television produced 63 episodes to air weekdays. The limited-run serial was directed by Terry Cunningham, Dennis ...

''. In 2007 she landed her breakout role when she joined the cast of ''

'' playing closeted lesbian actress, and girlfriend of

Jenny Schecter Jennifer "Jenny" Diane Schecter is a fictional character from the American Showtime television drama series ''The L Word'', played by Mia Kirshner. Jenny debuted on-screen during the pilot episode and remained until the series' final episode. Je ...

, Niki Stevens, appearing in seasons 5 and 6. French also had a role in the teen drama series ''

South of Nowhere ''South of Nowhere'' is an American teen drama television series created by Thomas W. Lynch. It first aired on November 4, 2005, on Noggin as part of its teen programming block, The N. The show was produced by Noggin LLC in association with ...

'' as Sasha Miller, a love interest of Aiden Dennison. French then appeared in two episodes of the teen drama ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

'' as Elle, a mysterious nanny. In 2010 French had a recurring role as Renee on ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'' and later had a recurring guest role as Riley Westlake in the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

-set

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

''Beyond The Break''. In 2009 French played a supporting role in the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

horror film ''Sutures'' and then had a leading role in the independent

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

''Language of a Broken Heart'', which was selected for the

Hollywood Film Festival The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place in Los Angeles, California, USA. History The Hollywood Film Festival was established in 1997 by author and producer Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington.P ...

in 2011. French featured in the

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and conc ...

film '' Girltrash: All Night Long'', which was released in 2014. In 2011, French starred alongside

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series '' The Event'', ...

in the short film, ''Atlantis'', a

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

centered around two strangers who fall in love in the lead up to the final launch of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

''. and had a leading role in the independent thriller ''The Red House''. French also had a guest role on the television series '' Up All Night''. In 2012, it was announced that French had a supporting role in the independent thriller ''Channeling''. French had a minor role in the

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

feminist film ''Farah Goes Bang'' directed by Meera Menon. French is attached to the psychological thriller ''Liquorice''. She starred 2014 in the Drama horror film Echoes and was awarded at FilmQuest Cthulhu as ''Best Actress'' for this role.

Other work

In 2010, French appeared in television advertisements for '' Bud Light'' and ''

7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up co ...

''. In 2011, she appeared in advertisements for sunglasses brand ''Raen Optics''. In 2012, French featured in a television commercial for car company GMC and in 2018 she appeared in the ' Fansville' campaign for

Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Euro ...

Personal life

French is good friends with writers Angela Robinson and Alex Kondracke. In her spare time, French enjoys surfing,

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

and

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

with her pet dogs. French supports the Surfrider Foundation. In 2008, she appeared alongside comedian

Kathy Griffin Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show '' Kathy ...

in a pro-same-sex marriage ad urging California voters to vote against

Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cou ...

. On September 25, 2010, French married photographer Jon Johnson at her parents' estate in Quogue. She is sometimes featured in his work. They live in

Eagle Rock, Los Angeles Eagle Rock is a neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, abutting the San Rafael Hills in Los Angeles County, California. Eagle Rock is named after Eagle Rock (geographic point), Eagle Rock, a large boulder whose shadow resembles an eagle.http://ww ...

and have two children: a son, Henry William Johnson; and a daughter, Chapel DeFreine Johnson. French launched a vintage-inspired jewelry line, ''The Inheritance LA'', in 2015.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Kate 21st-century American actresses Living people Actresses from New Jersey Actresses from New York (state) Female models from New Jersey American film actresses American television actresses People from Flemington, New Jersey People from Lambertville, New Jersey People from Quogue, New York People from South Kingstown, Rhode Island Year of birth missing (living people)