Paget Brewster
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Paget Valerie Brewster (, ; born March 10, 1969) is an American actress and singer. She was first recognized for her recurring role as Kathy on the fourth 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 ''
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 ...
''. Her breakthrough role came as FBI Supervisory Special Agent
Emily Prentiss Emily Prentiss is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama ''Criminal Minds'', portrayed by Paget Brewster. Prentiss first appeared in "The Last Word" (episode nine of season two), replacing Agent Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), who had qui ...
on the CBS crime drama ''
Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...
''. She was a regular cast member on the series from 2006 to 2012, then made two guest appearances before returning as a regular in 2016. Her other roles include voicing Elise and Mr. Mumbles on '' Dan Vs.'', portraying Debra Chambers and Frankie Dart in the fifth and final seasons of ''
Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
'', respectively, and voicing Judy Ken Sebben / Birdgirl in ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. A spin-off of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', the ...
'' and '' Birdgirl''. Brewster has also played Sara Kingsley on the Fox
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
'' Grandfathered'' and voiced
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...
's twin sister Della in the 2017 series of ''DuckTales''.


Early life

Brewster was born in
Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the co ...
. Both her mother, Hathaway Brewster ( Tew), and father, Galen Brewster, worked as school administrators. Brewster grew up in
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
and moved to
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 ...
to attend
Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...
. During her first year, she made her acting debut and eventually dropped out of design school to pursue her acting career. In the mid 1990s, Brewster moved to
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
and enrolled in acting classes.


Career

Between 1994 and 1995, Brewster hosted a late-night talk show in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...
called ''Paget'' for 65 episodes at
KPIX-TV KPIX-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's CBS network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside ...
. She first came to prominent attention in her recurring role as Kathy in the fourth season of
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 ...
's ''
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 ...
''. She appeared in '' Andy Richter Controls the Universe'' and '' Huff''. On film she played Ms. Indestructible, the female lead in James Gunn's low-budget superhero comedy ''
The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynv ...
'' (2000). She played Amy Pierson, a calculus teacher afraid of the water, in the independent film ''
The Big Bad Swim ''The Big Bad Swim'' is a 2006 American independent film about a group of adults who enroll in an adult education beginner's swim class. The film takes place in southeastern Connecticut, in the town of Uncasville. It premiered at the 2006 Tribeca ...
'', which premiered at the 2006
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...
. In 2005, she began voice work as Judy Ken Sebben / Birdgirl, a recurring character on the animated series ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. A spin-off of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', the ...
'' (and later played a similar guest character on ''
American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...
''). Brewster had a long run with the show ''
Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...
'', playing multilingual Supervisory Special Agent
Emily Prentiss Emily Prentiss is a fictional character on the CBS crime drama ''Criminal Minds'', portrayed by Paget Brewster. Prentiss first appeared in "The Last Word" (episode nine of season two), replacing Agent Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), who had qui ...
until the show's sixth season, when she and
A. J. Cook Andrea Joy Cook (born July 22, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau on the CBS crime drama ''Criminal Minds'' (2005–2020, 2022). Cook has also appeared in ''The Virgin ...
were released from their contracts by CBS in a cost-cutting move. Owing to complaints from fans, both she and Cook were rehired and kept for the following season. In February 2012, Brewster announced via Deadline that she was leaving ''Criminal Minds'' at the end of the season to return to her comedic and sitcom roots. Brewster reprised her role as Emily Prentiss in season nine for the 200th episode, and season 11 as a special guest star. In 2016, Brewster returned to ''Criminal Minds'' once again as a series regular. Brewster subsequently portrayed bureau chief PDA Paula Foster in the Public Integrity Unit of the District Attorney's office on NBC's long-running police drama '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Her character handled the case against SVU commanding officer Captain Donald Cragen (
Dann Florek Ezekial Dann Florek (born May 1, 1950) is an American actor and film director. He is best known for his role as New York City Police Captain Donald Cragen on NBC's ''Law & Order'' and its spinoff '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and Dav ...
), suspected of murder after awakening next to a dead woman in the 13th-season finale. Brewster was a regular on ''
The Thrilling Adventure Hour ''The Thrilling Adventure Hour'' was a staged production and podcast in the style of old time radio that was held monthly at Largo, a Los Angeles nightclub located in the former Coronet Theatre. The show ran from March 2005 to April 2015. Each ...
'', a staged production in the style of old-time radio that was recorded monthly at Largo in Los Angeles. She played the recurring character of Sadie Doyle, the alcoholic socialite who can communicate with the supernatural alongside her husband, Frank (
Paul F. Tompkins Paul Francis Tompkins (born September 12, 1968) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television on such programs as ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'', '' Real Time with Bill Maher'', and ''Best Week Ever'', later ...
), in the "Beyond Belief" segments. In early April 2013, Brewster appeared in ''
Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of th ...
'' as Trish in episode 20, "Flip Flop", playing an art expert who is dating Gloria's ex-husband, Javier. In August 2013, Brewster appeared in episode 106 of the ''
Drunk History ''Drunk History'' is an American educational comedy television series produced by Comedy Central, based on the Funny or Die web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner in 2007. They and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the show's ...
'' television series on Comedy Central. In January 2015, Brewster began appearing on ''
Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
''. In February 2014, it was announced that she had been cast in a new ABC comedy called ''St. Francis''. In August 2016, it was announced that she would be reprising her role as Emily Prentiss on ''Criminal Minds'' and would once again be a series regular. Brewster also regularly appears on ''Will You Accept This Rose'', a
Nerdist Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast (The Nerdist Podcast) created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium conte ...
podcast hosted by
Arden Myrin Arden VanAmringe Myrin () is an American actress and comedian. Myrin was a cast member on the Netflix series '' Insatiable'', playing the role of Regina Sinclair, and starred in the world premiere of Steve Martin's play ''Meteor Shower'' at the ...
about '' The Bachelor'' franchise.


Personal life

On the March 30, 2006, episode of ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
'', Brewster revealed that she had received a handwritten note indicating
Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...
would like her to pose for ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
''. She seriously considered the offer, but even though she said that she admired ''Playboy'' more than magazines such as ''
Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
'' and ''
FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...
'', and her parents gave her their blessing, she eventually turned it down. She has volunteered as an actress with the Los Angeles Young Storytellers Program. On March 17, 2013, Brewster became engaged to Steve Damstra, a member of the bands Folded Light and Whirlwind Heat. Brewster and Damstra married on November 28, 2014, in Los Angeles, in a ceremony officiated by
Matthew Gray Gubler Matthew Gray Gubler (, ; born March 9, 1980) is an American actor, filmmaker, fashion model, painter, illustrator, director, and author. He is best known for his role as criminal profiler Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show ''Criminal M ...
, their close friend and Brewster's ''Criminal Minds'' co-star. , the couple resides in Los Angeles.


Filmography


Film


Television

Web


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brewster, Paget 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Actresses from Massachusetts American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Living people People from Concord, Massachusetts Television personalities from San Francisco 1969 births