Katherine Moennig

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**Katherine Moennig**

Born:	29 December 1977 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Occupation:	Actress

Katherine Sian Moennig (born 29 December 1977) is an American actress known for her role as Shane McCutcheon on The L Word.

1 Personal life
2 Career
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Personal life

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she is the daughter of Broadway dancer Mary Zahn and violin maker William Moennig. She is also the niece of actress Blythe Danner and cousin of Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow,^[1].

Although there has been much speculation surrounding Moennig's sexual orientation due to the on-screen lesbian and transgender roles she has taken, in a 2000 interview with Rebecca Traister of the New York Observer, Moennig claimed to be heterosexual.^[2] However, her L Word costar Jennifer Beals muddied the issue in an interview with The Advocate. When asked, "Do people still assume that you have to be a lesbian to play one on TV?", Beals responded with, "Not at all... I heard a rumor that somebody... assumed I was bisexual. Which was a huge compliment to me, because often I will go to Leisha or Kate or Ilene or Rose Troche most often and ask, 'OK, is this the right thing to do? Is this not the right thing to do? Am I going to seem like a total chump if I do this?"^[3] However, Moennig has had more experience playing transgendered roles which would give Beals a reason to lump Moennig with the openly gay staff and cast members of the "L Word". Moennig's sexual orientation is still a mystery to the public.

Recently, a profile for Moennig on the OurChart.com website listed the "Quality I most like in a woman" as: "Wit. Confidence. Honesty. Maturity."[1]

[edit] Career

Katherine Moennig as Shane McCutcheon in the television series The L Word.

Moennig moved to New York City at the age of 18 to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. There she began a modeling career, and also performed on stage.

In 1999, she had the central role of the Our Lady Peace video, "Is Anybody Home?"

Her first major role was in the television series Young Americans, playing Jacqueline "Jake" Pratt, a girl who enters the Rawley Boys Academy by passing as a boy and ends up falling in love with Hamilton (Ian Somerhalder), the Dean's son.

She has played many lesbian and transgender roles. She auditioned for the part of Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry - that ended up going to actress Hillary Swank. She played a pre-operative transsexual in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (episode "Fallacy").

Since 2004, Moennig has played one of the main characters in The L Word. She plays Shane McCutcheon, a hairdresser who goes from one girl to another.

On 12 April, 2006, Moennig made her Off-Broadway debut in Guardians, by Peter Morris. In it, she plays "American Girl" - a young United States Army soldier from West Virginia who becomes a scapegoat in a scandal involving abuse at an Iraqi prison. The story is loosely based on that of Lynndie England.^[4]

Moennig had a minor role in the 2006 film Art School Confidential as Candace, the ex-girlfriend of Audrey, the art model who serves as a love interest for protagonist Jerome.

[edit] References

^ Traister, Rebecca (2000-10-09). Androgynous Actress Kate Moennig Is ‘Alt.Gwyn,’ Paltrow's Cousin (English) (HTML) 1. New York Observer. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.
^ Traister, Rebecca (2000-10-09). Androgynous Actress Kate Moennig Is ‘Alt.Gwyn,’ Paltrow's Cousin (English) (HTML) 1. New York Observer. Retrieved on December 28, 2006. “Although she is straight and is currently seeing a Los Angeles actor "who knows what he wants," Moennig recalled a number of instances when, because of her appearance, she was "probably" hit on by women, who either mistook her for a boy or for a lesbian.”
^ Belge, Kathy. Did Jennifer Beals out Kate Moennig? (English) (HTML). About: Lesbian Life. Retrieved on December 28, 2006. “I heard a rumor that somebody—a studio executive in L.A. who saw some of the show—assumed I was bisexual. Which was a huge compliment to me, because oftentimes I will go to Leisha or Kate or Ilene or Rose Troche most often and ask, 'OK, is this the right thing to do? Is this not the right thing to do? Am I going to seem like a total chump if I do this?'”
^ Isherwood, Charles (2006-04-13). 'Guardians' Evokes Abuses of Abu Ghraib and of Fleet Street (English) (HTML). New York Times. Retrieved on December 28, 2006.