Bonnie Somerville (born February 24, 1974) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

actress and singer. She has had roles in a number of movies and

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

, most notably as Mona in ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'', ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensembl ...

'', ''

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe refers to an affluent coastal area next to Detroit, Michigan, United States, that comprises five adjacent individual cities. From southwest to northeast, they are: * Grosse Pointe Park * Grosse Pointe * Grosse Pointe Farms * Grosse ...

'', '' The O.C.'', ''

Cashmere Mafia ''Cashmere Mafia'' is an American comedy-drama television series which ran on ABC from January 6, 2008 to February 20, 2008. The series was created by Kevin Wade, who also served as executive producer alongside Darren Star, Gail Katz, Jeff Rake ...

'', ''

Without a Paddle ''Without a Paddle'' is a 2004 American adventure comedy film directed by Steven Brill, written by Jay Leggett and Mitch Rouse, and based on a story by Harris Goldberg, Tom Nursall, and Fred Wolf. The film stars Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, D ...

'', and '' Golden Boy''. She starred as Dr. Christa Lorenson in season one of the CBS

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the characters' jobs and portray som ...

'' Code Black''.

Early life

Somerville was born and grew up in the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She started acting and singing at a young age, appearing in high school plays at

Poly Prep Country Day School Poly Prep Country Day School (commonly known as Poly Prep) is an independent, co-educational day school with two campuses in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The Middle School (5th to 8th grades) and Upper School (9th to 12th grades) are loc ...

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...

in Brooklyn. Somerville studied Musical Theater at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

. At the age of 22 she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, assembled a band and got an agent.

Career

Somerville's first acting job was as an extra in the 1996 film ''

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

''. She had a lead role as Lyne Danner in the CBS

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

'' Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story'' (1999), in which she also sang. In 2000, Somerville starred in the series ''

'' which aired on

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

from September 2000 to February 2001. The series followed the set of a fictitious WB nighttime soap, also called ''Grosse Pointe'', and several characters were based on real-life actors. Somerville played

Ross Geller Ross Geller, portrayed by David Schwimmer, is one of the six main characters of the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. Ross is considered by many to be the most intelligent member of the group and is noted for his goofy but lovable demeanor. His relatio ...

's girlfriend, Mona, for seven episodes in the eighth season of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

sitcom ''

''. She had small roles in films '' Bedazzled'' (2000), ''

Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Michael Chabon. Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, it is the ...

'' (2004) and ''

'' (2004). In 2003, Somerville landed a recurring role as Rachel Hoffman, a former colleague of Sandy Cohen, in the first season of Fox's teen drama series '' The O.C.''. She appeared on the cover of ''Stuff'' magazine's May 2004 issue titled, "Girls of ''The O.C.''" and later on the cover of the magazine's November 2005 issue. In 2005, Somerville starred in the short-lived sitcom '' Kitchen Confidential'' opposite Bradley Cooper. During the final season of ''

'', she had a supporting role as Det. Laura Murphy, appearing in fifteen episodes. Her song "Winding Road" was included on the ''Garden State'' soundtrack, a film written and directed by

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

. She sang backup vocals on

Joshua Radin Joshua Radin (born June 14, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter. He has recorded nine studio albums, and his songs have been used in a number of films and TV series. His most successful album, '' Simple Times'', was released in 2008. Beginni ...

's first album, '' We Were Here'' (2006). Somerville was a singer in the charity cover band

Band from TV Band from TV is a charity cover band whose members are all actors from American television series. They donate the proceeds of their performances and recordings to the charities of their choice. Band history Actor Greg Grunberg had the idea f ...

with

Greg Grunberg Gregory Phillip Grunberg (born July 11, 1966) is an American film and television actor best known for starring as Eric Weiss in the ABC series ''Alias'', Matt Parkman in the NBC series ''Heroes'', Temmin "Snap" Wexley in '' Star Wars: The Force ...

, Bob Guiney,

James Denton James Thomas Denton Jr. (born January 20, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Mike Delfino on ABC's comedy-drama series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2012) and Dr. Sam Radford on Hallmark Channel's come ...

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...

among others. In 2008, portrayed Caitlin Dowd in ABC's comedy-drama series ''

'', her third

Darren Star Darren Star (born July 25, 1961) is an American writer, director and producer of film and television. He is best known for creating the television series '' Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–2000), ''Melrose Place'' (1992–1999), '' Sex and the Cit ...

-produced television show. ''Cashmere Mafia'' followed the lives of four ambitious women as they try to balance their glamorous and demanding careers with their complex personal lives in

. ABC decided not to renew the series for a second season. She portrayed Suzie Cavandish in the

ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

romantic comedy film '' Labor Pains'' (2009) starring

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

. She also appeared in films ''

Shades of Ray ''Shades of Ray'' is a 2008 independent film written and directed by Jaffar Mahmood. The film stars Zachary Levi as a half-white, half- Pakistani male wrestling with his mixed identity while waiting for his girlfriend to respond to his marriage ...

''(2008), ''

The Ugly Truth ''The Ugly Truth'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. The film was released in North America on ...

'' (2009), ''

The Search for Santa Paws ''The Search for Santa Paws'' is a 2010 Christmas adventure fantasy film released on November 23, 2010. The film is the tenth film in the ''Air Bud'' franchise and is also a prequel to '' Santa Buddies'', as well as a spin-off from the '' Air Budd ...

'' (2010), ''

Seven Below ''Seven Below'' (stylized as ''Se7en Below''; US title ''Seven Below Zero'') is a 2012 horror-thriller American film directed by Kevin Carraway starring Val Kilmer, Ving Rhames and Luke Goss in lead roles. Despite its similar name, it is not a seq ...

'' (2012), '' Fire with Fire'' (2012) and '' Treasure Buddies'' (2012). Somerville portrayed Sam in the comedy film ''

The Best and the Brightest ''The Best and the Brightest'' (1972) is an account by journalist David Halberstam of the origins of the Vietnam War published by Random House. The focus of the book is on the foreign policy crafted by academics and intellectuals who were in Pr ...

'' (2010) opposite

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...

. She had guest roles on several television shows, including ''

Gary Unmarried ''Gary Unmarried'' is an American sitcom created by Ed Yeager, which ran on CBS from September 24, 2008, to March 17, 2010. The series focuses on a recently divorced couple (Jay Mohr and Paula Marshall) sharing custody of their kids while startin ...

'', '' Royal Pains,

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show fol ...

'' and ''

Motive Motive(s) or The Motive(s) may refer to: * Motive (law) Film and television * ''Motives'' (film), a 2004 thriller * ''The Motive'' (film), 2017 * ''Motive'' (TV series), a 2013 Canadian TV series * ''The Motive'' (TV series), a 2020 Israeli T ...

.'' In 2011, Somerville starred in the

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...

Christmas television film ''

A Holiday Engagement ''Holiday Engagement'' (originally titled ''A Thanksgiving Engagement'') is a 2011 film starring Bonnie Somerville, Shelley Long and Jordan Bridges. It premiered on Hallmark Channel on November 28, 2011. Plot Always struggling in life and love, ...

'', in which she sings the song "

Angels We Have Heard On High "Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol to the hymn tune "Gloria" from a traditional French song of unknown origin called "", with paraphrased English lyrics by James Chadwick. The song's subject is the birth of Jesus Christ as narr ...

". In 2013, Somerville played Detective Mackenzie on CBS's crime drama series '' Golden Boy'' which aired for one season. She played Dr. Christa Lorenson, a mature first-year resident, in the first season of the medical drama series '' Code Black''. She filmed a cameo for the musical drama film '' A Star Is Born'' (2018) but her scenes were deleted.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

* ''Songs from Another Life'' EP (2009)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Bonnie 1974 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American film actresses American television actresses Boston College alumni Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Living people Musicians from Brooklyn Singers from New York City 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Poly Prep alumni