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Paget Brewster is an American actress best known for her roles in the comedy series Friends, Andy Richter Controls The Universe and the crime drama Criminal Minds.

Biography[]

The actress with the self-deprecating humor and once described as "a sexy nut", Paget Brewster was born and grew up in a New England boarding school where her parents were teachers.

After briefly attending Parsons School of Design in New York, she took an auspicious if roundabout path to an acting career. Firstly she sought out fame in New York, where she was the singer for an underground rock band, before getting her first acting job in an off-Broadway production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly.

During the years, her theater credits would include Tartuffe, Four Dogs and a Bone, Chapter Two and Pack of Lies. Brewster has got to volunteer as an actress with the Young Storytellers Program and currently she appears in the The Thrilling Adventure & Supernatural Suspense Hour, a staged comedy production in the style of old-time radio.

Paget Brewster then moved to San Francisco where she became a local television personality, after tending a bar for a time, when her talent for comedy became evident in a public access show, Strange America, conducting interviews and doing sketch comedy, which lead her to get an agent for the first time.

Dark-haired and quick witted, with a winning smile and a mischievous allure, Brewster broke through as a talk show host on the aptly named late-night series The Paget Show, fielding topics that ranged from serious family disputes to drag queen makeovers, she had a likeable, spunky presence and came across well in the genre, even if the show never went past its 65 episodes.

From there, she moved to Los Angeles, where she acted in a string of failed pilots and she filmed the music video network-set MV24. And then Brewster came to prominent attention in her recurring role as Kathy, a medical assistant/actress who dates Joey, only to fall in love with his roommate Chandler in Friends.

Brewster appeared on six episodes of the series, significantly raising her profile and lining up more starring roles in failed pilots, including the police series Ghost Cop and the detective drama The Expert; in the process she got a reputation as a 'show killer' because many shows on which she had been a regular cast member had been cancelled early in their run, even if she struck gold with Love & Money, a pilot picked up for the 1999 fall season, in which she starred as Allison Conklin, a kindergarten teacher and daughter of privilege who falls for her affluent apartment building's blue-collar superintendent.

After that she played several guest star roles before she landed a co-star place in the highly regarded series Andy Richter Controls the Universe where she played Jessica, Richter's friend and boss, and shortly after that, she got the part of Beth Huffstodt in the original series Huff, which aired from 2004-2006.

Her voice could be heard in the animated series American Dad and most notably, provided the voice of Birdgirl for the Adult Swim series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.

In 2006, Brewster joined the cast of the hit Criminal Minds playing FBI profiler Emily Prentiss. At the end of Season Seven, her character left the FBI, though she made guest-reappearances in the show's 200th episode and an episode for its eleventh season. It has been confirmed that Brewster will return to the series as a series regular for its twelfth season.

In film, Brewster's most notable role is Ms. Indestructible, the female lead in the low-budget superhero comedy The Specials (2000). On the big screen she had made her debut with an starring role in the independent feature Let's Talk About Sex, as Michelle, an intimacy-wary and controlling single woman who routinely dates much younger men; that same year she took a starring role as a NASA technician in the action packed Max Q, producer Jerry Bruckheimer's misfired TV-movie debut.

Brewster's other feature film credits include Unaccompanied Minors, Hospital, My Big Fat Independent Movie, Man of the House, 'Eulogy, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Desperate but Not Serious. She also played Amy Pierson, a calculus teacher afraid of the water, in the independent film The Big Bad Swim that premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

Brewster's range of talent was additionally exhibited in her guest appearance in the George Lopez Show where her comedic ability was stellar.

Filmography[]

  • American Dad! (2005-2023) - Multiple Characters (30 episodes, voice)
  • Praise Petey (2023) - Wife Beth (voice, 7 episodes)
  • The Great North (2023) - Ms. Anderson (voice, 3 episodes)
  • How I Met Your Father - 4 episodes (2022-2023) - Lori
  • Criminal Minds: Evolution - 10 episodes (2022-2023) - Agent Emily Prentiss
  • Family Guy (2016-2022) - Gretchen Mercer/Madison (voice, 3 episodes)
  • Birdgirl (2021-2022) - Birdgirl/Judy Ken Sebben (voice, 12 episodes)
  • DuckTales (2018-2021) - Della Duck/Elves (24 episodes, voice)
  • Blood & Treasure (2020) - Sister Lisa
  • Hollywood (2020) - Actress (2 episodes)
  • Criminal Minds - 195 episodes (2006-2020) - Agent Emily Prentiss
  • BoJack Horseman (2019-2020) - Paige Sinclair (4 episodes, voice)
  • Mom (2019) - Veronica (3 episodes)
  • Drunk History (2013-2019) - Narrator/Raisa Surnachevskaya/Emma Folsom (6 episodes)
  • Harvey Birdman, Attorney General (2018) - Birdgirl (voice)
  • The Witch Files (2018) - Strauss
  • Mighty Magiswords (2018) - Veronica Victorious (voice)
  • Another Period (2015-2018) - Dodo Bellacourt (22 episodes)
  • Batman and Harley Quinn (Video) (2017) - Poison Ivy (voice)
  • Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders - Type A (2017) TV episode - Agent Emily Prentiss
  • Axis (2017) - Dr. Lynch (voice)
  • Future-Worm! (2016) - Mrs. Claus (voice)
  • Grandfathered (2015-2016) - Sara Kingsley (22 episodes)
  • Adventure Time (2014-2016) - Viola/Pat (voice, 2 episodes)
  • Gumshoe and Stiletto (2015) - Stiletto (voice)
  • Uncle Nick (2015) - Sophie
  • W/ Bob and David (2015) - Charlene Boyeur
  • Moonbeam City (2015) Charisma Miller/Sophistica Miller (voice)
  • Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015) - Lois Lane (voice)
  • Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles (2015) - Lois Lane (voice)
  • Community (2014-2015) - Frankie Dart/Debra Chambers (14 episodes)
  • Welcome to Happiness (2015) - Priscilla
  • Thrilling Adventure Hour Live (2015) - Sadie Doyle
  • Kroll Show (2015) - Bobby's Mom
  • The Venture Bros. (2013-2015) - Multiple Characters (voice, 3 episodes)
  • Down Dog (2015) - Amanda Asher
  • Key and Peele (2014) - Det. Sally Ferguson
  • Drunk History (2014) - Emma Folsom
  • The Boondocks (2014) - Unknown Character (voice)
  • Gumshoe (2014) - Stiletto (voice)
  • Saint Francis (2014) - Stephanie Quinlan
  • The Birthday Boys (2013) - Keri
  • Modern Family (2013) - Trish
  • Dan Vs. (2011-2013) - Elise/Madame Zelda/Mr. Mumbles (voice, 51 episodes)
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013) - Lana Lang (voice)
  • Spy (2013) - Erica
  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2007-2012) - Bureau Chief Paula Foster/Sheila Tierney (3 episodes)
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1 (2012) - Lana Lang (voice)
  • My Life As an Experiment (2011) - Stacie Wilder
  • King of the Hill (2009) - Myrna (voice)
  • Lost Behind Bars (2008) - Lauren Wilde
  • Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (2008) - Birdgirl (voice)
  • Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (2005-2007) - Multiple Characters (voice, 9 episodes)
  • Sublime (2007) - Andrea/PVS Host
  • A Perfect Day (2006) - Allyson Harlan
  • Stacked (2005-2006) - Charlotte (3 episodes)
  • Unaccompanied Minors (2006) - Valerie Davenport
  • Kidney Thieves (2006) - Melinda
  • Huff (2004-2006) - Beth Huffstodt (26 episodes) Amy Pierson
  • Cyxork 7 (2006) - Bethany Feral
  • Drawn Together (2006) - Child Services (voice)
  • Duck Dodgers (2005) - Rona Vipra (voice, 2 episodes)
  • Amber Frey: Witness for the Prosecution (2005) - Carol Carter
  • My Big Fat Independent Movie (2005) - Julianne
  • Man of the House (2005) - Binky
  • Two and a Half Men (2005) - Jamie Eckleberry
  • Eulogy (2004) - Aunt Lily
  • Rock Me, Baby (2004) - Debbie
  • Sunday Detective Film Theatre (2004) - Unknown Character
  • Time Belt (2003) - Colonel Jocelyn Anchor
  • Brainwarp (2003) - Lipstikk
  • Andy Richter Controls the Universe (2002-2003) - Jessica Green (19 episodes)
  • The Snobs (2003) - Unknown Character
  • Now You Know (2002) - Lea
  • George Lopez (2002) - Ginger
  • Agent 15 (2001) - Agent 15
  • Raising Dad (2001) - Gracie
  • Skippy (2001) - Julie Fontaine
  • DAG (2001) - Patti Donovan
  • Godzilla: The Series (1998-2001) - Audrey Timmonds (11 episodes, voice)
  • Hollywood Palms (2001) - Phoebe
  • Last Dance (2001) - Unknown Character
  • The Trouble with Normal (2000-2001) - Claire Garletti (13 episodes)
  • Love & Money (1999-2000) - Allison Conklin (13 episodes)
  • Star Patrol (2000) - Rachel Striker
  • Desperate But Not Serious (2000) - Frances
  • One True Love (2000) - Tina
  • The Specials (2000) - Ms. Indestructible
  • The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000) - Jenny Spy
  • The Expert (1999) - Dr. Jo Hardy
  • Max Q (1998) - Rena Winter
  • Let's Talk About Sex (1998) - Michelle
  • Friends (1997-1998) - Kathy (6 episodes)
  • Ghost Cop (1998) - Anette
  • Strange America (1993) - Various

External Links[]

For an up-to-date filmography, see here.

Notes[]

  • Photography is a hobby of hers and she works occasionally as a photographer for modeling website SuicideGirls.com. She was previously known as a retro pin-up model in the Los Angeles area, as well as a retro photographer.
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