Sonya Walger (born 6 June 1974) is a British actress who also holds American citizenship. She had starring roles in the short-lived sitcoms ''

The Mind of the Married Man ''The Mind of the Married Man'' is a television series that ran on the HBO network for two seasons consisting of twenty episodes between September 2001 and November 2002. The story focused on the challenges of modern-day married life from a male p ...

'' (2001–2002) and ''

Coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mov ...

'' (2003) before landing her role as

Penny Widmore Penelope "Penny" Widmore is a fictional character on the ABC television series '' Lost'' played by Sonya Walger. Penny is introduced in the last episode of the second season of ''Lost'' as the long-lost lover of Desmond Hume as well as the daug ...

in the ABC drama series ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'' (2006–2010). Walger later starred on '' Tell Me You Love Me'' (2007), ''

FlashForward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

'' (2009–2010), ''

Common Law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

'' (2012), ''The Catch'' (2016–2017) and ''For All Mankind'' (2019–2022).

Early life

Walger was born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, London. She was educated at the independent Wycombe Abbey School and at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

, where she studied

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

, receiving a first class degree. Walger is conversational in French and fluent in Spanish, as her father was Argentinian.

Career

Walger began her career on British television. In 1998, she guest-starred in an episode of ITV crime series, ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of ...

''. She had the recurring role in the BBC 1 sitcom '' Goodnight Sweetheart'' in 1999, and appeared in two episodes of the crime/drama ''The Vice''. Also in 1999, she played the daughter of newspaper magnate Max Van der Vuurst, Hilde, in the '' Heat of the Sun'' story "The Sport of Kings". The following year, Walger made her film debut in the biographical drama '' Eisenstein''. In 2001, she moved to the United States and was cast as Donna Barnes on the HBO comedy series, ''

''. The series was cancelled after two seasons. In 2003, she starred on the short-lived U.S. version of ''

'', which aired on NBC. In 2004, Walger played Nicole Noone opposite

Noah Wyle Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter in the television series '' ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emm ...

in the TNT television film, '' The Librarian: Quest for the Spear'', for which she received Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television nomination. From 2006 to 2010, Walger had a recurring role as

in the ABC drama series, ''

''. She also had recurring roles on '' Sleeper Cell'', ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine season ...

'', and '' Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles''. In 2007, Walger appeared in the original Broadway production of '' Frost/Nixon'', as Charlotte Cushing,

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

's then-girlfriend. Then she starred in the controversial HBO series '' Tell Me You Love Me''. The series gained notoriety even before the first episode had aired because of the frequency and extremely realistic nature of its sex scenes. Despite persistent rumours to the contrary, these scenes were eventually confirmed as simulated by several individuals intimately connected with the show. With reference to the manual masturbation apparently performed by Walger on actor Adam Scott at the end of the pilot episode, director Patricia Rozema and Walger's co-stars Ally Walker and

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 19 ...

also explicitly denied that any actual sex took place on set. The series was canceled after a single season. From 2009 to 2010, Walger starred as Olivia Benford, a surgeon and wife of FBI agent Mark Benford (

Joseph Fiennes Joseph Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (), known as Joseph Fiennes, is an English actor of film, stage, and television. Journalist Zoe Williams observed that "he seemed to be the go-to actor for English cultural history". Fiennes is particul ...

) in the ABC series, ''

''. Later in 2010, she appeared as Julia in season 3 of the HBO drama series ''

In Treatment ''In Treatment'' is an American drama television series for HBO, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, based on the Israeli series '' BeTipul'' ( he, בטיפול), created by Hagai Levi, Ori Sivan and Nir Bergman. The series is about a ...

''. She played

John Cusack John Paul Cusack (; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and political activist. He is a son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his ol ...

's wife in the 2011 Direct-to-video crime thriller ''

The Factory The Factory was Andy Warhol's studio in New York City, which had four locations between 1963 and 1987. The Factory became famed for its parties in the 1960s. It was the hip hangout spot for artists, musicians, celebrities and Warhol's superstar ...

''. In 2012, she was regular cast member in the USA Network short lived series ''

''. In 2013, Walger had a brief role in the comedy film '' Admission'', as a Virginia Woolf scholar. From 2013 to 2014, Walger appeared on the NBC drama series '' Parenthood''. In 2014, Walger guest-starred in

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama '' Grey's Anatomy'', ...

' series ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

'' as Katherine Winslow. The following year, Walger was cast in the new Rhimes series '' The Catch'', co-starring opposite

Mireille Enos Mireille Enos (; born September 22, 1975) is an American actress. Drawn to acting from a young age, she graduated in performing arts from Brigham Young University, where she was awarded the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. Having made her acting ...

and

Peter Krause Peter William Krause (; born August 12, 1965) is an American actor, director, and producer. He has played lead roles in multiple television series, portraying Casey McCall on '' Sports Night'' (1998–2000), Nate Fisher on '' Six Feet Under'' ( ...

. In 2019, Walger starred as

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

astronaut Molly Cobb in the first season of the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

original

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

space

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

series ''For All Mankind''. In 2021 and 2022, Walger returned for seasons two and three.

Personal life

Walger married screenwriter/producer Davey Holmes in July 2009. She gave birth to a daughter Billie Rosie Holmes on 14 February 2013. She also gave birth to a son Jake in 2015. Walger became a U.S. citizen on 23 May 2013.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walger, Sonya Living people 1974 births 21st-century English actresses Actresses from London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British actors of Latin American descent English emigrants to the United States English people of Argentine descent English television actresses People educated at Wycombe Abbey American television actresses 21st-century American women