Rena Sofer
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"I hate when actors only give soap operas their due as being a 'training ground'. I don't like to just blow off daytime as a training ground. I don't think that's fair to the people who choose them as a career, or fair to the people who produce them and write them and direct them and work on them."Soap operas are not there for us to just 'go to school' and then graduate. Some people want to work there forever and it's a great place to do that. If you stay on a soap forever, does that mean you've failed? Of course not!" --Rena Sofer quoted in New York Vue (Daily News), October 24, 1998.
Biography
An attractive, pouty-lipped, raven-haired player, Rena Sofer first came to prominence through her work in daytime dramas. The California-born, New Jersey-raised actress was still a teenager when she was spotted by a talent agent who helped her land a modeling contract. After working in TV commercials, industrial and student films (notably the award-winning NYU picture "Theresa") and music videos. Sofer landed the role of Joyce Abernathy on NBC's "Another World" in the late 1980s. She shot to stardom, though, as the tough-talking romantic heroine Amelia 'Rocky' McKenzie on the ABC drama "Loving" on which she appeared from 1988 to 1991.
After a featured role as a Hassidic wife in Sidney Lumet's "A Stranger Among Us" (1992), she joined the cast of ABC's "General Hospital" as the street smart record promoter Lois Cerullo, replete with a thick Brooklyn accent. During her three years (1993-96) on the show, Sofer quickly became a fan favorite and found her on and off screen husband in co-star Wallace Kurth (who portrayed a wealthy socialite with musical abilities). She also picked up a 1995 Best Supporting Actress Daytime Emmy.
While still on "General Hospital," Sofer began branching out in features (the direct-to-video release "Twin Sitters") and TV-movies ("Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story" Lifetime 1996). After leaving her role to give birth, she resumed her career as a guest performer on the sitcoms "Caroline in the City" and "Seinfeld." In 1998, Sofer joined the cast of Fox's "Melrose Place" in the role of singer Eve Cleary, a woman with a mysterious tie to Heather Locklear's Amanda.
After stints in a pair of short-lived series (Alan Ball's sitcom "Oh Grow Up" and the prep school drama "The Opposite Sex") and minor roles in films such as "Traffic" (2000) and "Keeping the Faith" (2000), Sofer would next find her way to Stuckeyville and the David Letterman-produced dramedy "Ed" (NBC, 2000 - ), where she had a major recurring role as Bonnie Hane, Ed's courtroom rival-turned-eventual lover. The attention from "Ed" eventually earned Sofer a regular stint on the final season of the venerable sitcom "Just Shoot Me" (NBC, 1997-2003), where she would play Vicki Costas, an earthy girl with no magazine experience hired to help keep the magazine in touch with its readers. But her biggest mainstream exposure came when she was cast as Susan on the NBC sitcom "Coupling" (2003 - ), an adaptation of the randy BBC series and the show largely touted to become the next "Friends." Sofer's Susan was one of a sextet of New York twentysomethings who have dated and bedded each other in various configurations.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1988
Had regular role of Amelia 'Rocky' McKenzie on the ABC serial "Loving"
1988
Made TV acting debut in recurring role of Joyce Abernathy on the NBC soap opera "Another World"
1992
Acted in "A Stranger Among Us", directed by Sidney Lumet
1995
Had small role in the direct-to-video release "Twin Sitters" (filmed in 1993-1994)
1996
Starred in the Lifetime cable movie "Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story"
1997
Starred in USA Network movie "The Stepsister"
1998
Joined cast of Fox's "Melrose Place" as Eve Cleary
1999
Had featured role in the ensemble comedy "Oh, Grow Up" (ABC)
2001
Played recurring role of a prosecuting attorney in episodes of the NBC series "Ed"
2001
Teamed with former "General Hospital" co-star Sean Kanan in the independent feature "March"
2006
Cast in recurring roles on Fox's "24" playing the wife of shady power broker Graham (Paul McCrane) and NBC's "Heroes" as the wife of aspiring politician Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar)
2010
Landed a recurring role on the CBS drama "NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service"
2010
Cast opposite Natasha Henstridge and Tom Everett Scott in the Lifetime Movie Network crime drama "The Devil's Teardrop"
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"I hate when actors only give soap operas their due as being a 'training ground'. I don't like to just blow off daytime as a training ground. I don't think that's fair to the people who choose them as a career, or fair to the people who produce them and write them and direct them and work on them."Soap operas are not there for us to just 'go to school' and then graduate. Some people want to work there forever and it's a great place to do that. If you stay on a soap forever, does that mean you've failed? Of course not!" --Rena Sofer quoted in New York Vue (Daily News), October 24, 1998.
