Monica Keena
About
Biography
Biography
A pretty petite rising actress, Monica Keena won a following as the bitchy, trouble-making Abbie Morgan on the drama series "Dawson's Creek" (The WB) from 1998 to 1999. Originally hired as a guest performer in the show's first season, the actress was invited back as a regular adding a much-needed spark as the nemesis of the more wholesome leads.
The New Jersey-born, Brooklyn-raised Keena enrolled at NYC's High School for the Performing Arts and shortly thereafter landed a role in the short "Burning Love" (1993). After playing the lead in the TV biopic "A Promise Kept: The Oksana Bauil Story" (CBS, 1994), she made her feature debut in the ensemble of the hit romance "While You Were Sleeping" (1995) and then undertook her first leading role as a sexually-precocious teenager in the overblown "Ripe" (1997). As the title heroine in "Snow White: A Tale of Terror" (Showtime, 1997), Keena proved a lovely presence and held her own opposite Sigourney Weaver who played her evil stepmother. Although "Strike/The Hairy Bird" (1998), a period film set in the early 1960s, received only a regional release, critics especially singled her out as the beautiful aspiring performer with slightly loose morals. That character could easily be a sister to Keena's rebellious Abby Morgan, a role she essayed with relish and wit before the character was phased out of the show.
Keena sparkled as pert, experimental college freshman Rachel Lindquist in writer-producer Judd Apatow's much-undervalued NBC sit-com "Undeclared" (2001-2002), snagged a role in writer Mike White and director Jake Kasdan's "Animal House"-throwback "Orange County" (2002), and leading her first scream-queen leading lady gig in the horror icon smackdown "Freddy Vs. Jason" (2003), followed by a leading turn in the lesser thriller "Long Distance" (2004). The actress displayed her quirky charms again in the otherwise lackluster comedy "Man of the House" (2005) opposite Tommy Lee Jones as the highly-strung, panic attack-prone cheerleader Evie.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1994
Portrayed Olympic figure skater Oksana Baiul in "A Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story" (CBS)
1995
Feature film debut in "While You Were Sleeping"
1996
Played leading role alongside Daisy Eagan in "Ripe"
1997
Portrayed Lilli, the Snow White figure, in "Snow White: A Tale of Terror"; originally made for theatrical release, film aired on Showtime
1998
Played the recurring role of the nasty Abbie Morgan on "Dawson's Creek" (The WB)
2000
Had female lead in "Crime + Punishment in Suburbia", an Americanized version of the Russian classic; premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
2001
Was featured in the cast of the Fox fall series "Undeclared"
2002
Cast in the teen comedy "Orange County" starring Colin Hanks and Jack Black
2003
Starred in the horror film "Freddy Vs. Jason" based on the characters from the films "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th"
2004
Had a recurring role on the HBO comedy "Entourage"
2005
Starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the comedy "Man of the House"
2007
Co-starred in Michael Corrente's "Brooklyn Rules"
Family
