Sonal Shah (actress)

Sonal Shah is an American actress who is best known for playing Dr. Sonja "Sunny" Dey on TV's Scrubs.

Early life and education

Shah was raised in Wheaton, Illinois. Her parents, Bhadresh and Mrudula Shah, are Gujarati Jains who moved from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India to the United States in 1970.[1][2][3]

Shah graduated from Wheaton Warrenville South High School. She was named the 1998 DuPage County Fair Queen in July 1998.[4]

Shah graduated cum laude from Loyola University in Chicago with a major in theatre, minors in psychology, biology and chemistry, and a concentration in pre-medicine. While a student at Loyola, Shah joined the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority. "I sincerely planned to go to medical school," Shah told a Wheaton, Illinois newspaper in March 2009. "I love studying science, but I realized that my passion for performing outweighed my passion for wanting to be a doctor."[1]

After graduation, Shah became a staple in the Chicago Theatre Community and performed with The Tony Award Winning Goodman Theatre among others. She is a founding member of Rasaka Theatre Company, which explores South Asian plays and playwrights, and supplemented her acting education at The Moscow Art Theatre School at Harvard University.[5]

Acting career

Shah moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and began appearing in commercials and sketch comedy. She also has acted with Second City theatres in Chicago and Los Angeles.[1]

In 2009, Shah began appearing on Scrubs as Dr. Sonja "Sunny" Dey, who is one of the young interns newly cast in the show's eighth season. In addition, Shah appeared in the show's webisode series Scrubs: Interns. Shah returns as a guest star on the ninth season of Scrubs, in the fifth episode.

Shah also has a role in the 2009 teen comedy film Ratko: The Dictator's Son, a National Lampoon production.

Selected filmography

2018 Mike Boy (completed) Darsha
2017 Casting Call (TV Movie) (post-production) Coffee Auditioner
2016 Princess Rehab (Short) (completed) Jamie
2015 Limitless Love (Short) (completed) Dr. Vicky
2013 Anarkali Blossoms (Short) (completed) Satya
2016 The Day Of (Short) Chandra
2016 New Girl (TV Series) Flight Attendant
2016 Les Supers Nanas (TV Series) Sapna
2016 Showcase: One Network's Search for White Diversity (Video short) Network Executive
2016/II Cold Alex
2015 Grace and Sumitra (TV Series) Sumitra
2015 Miss India America Volunteer 1
2015 The Startup (TV Series) Sophie
2014 Spring Training (Short) Kelly
2014 Transparent (TV Series) Female Student
2014/II Bro (Short) Olivia
2013 Straight Out of the Closet (TV Movie) Alecia
2013/II Reunion (Short) Beth
2013 Barrel 28 (Short) Veronica
2013 Black Coffee (Short) Ms. Flag
2013 Back to School Night (Video short) Mrs. Patel
2013 Baby Mentalist (TV Series short) Reporter
2012 Squad 85 (TV Series) Reporter
2012 ...Or Die (Short) Parv's Friend
2012 Incident on Marmont Avenue (Short) Becca
2012 The First Date (Short) Amanda
2011 Ek Bar Phir, Ek Saath Phir (Short) Aishwarya
2011 Sati Shaves Her Head (Short) Sati
2011 Snooze, Charlie (Short) Charlie
2011 The Old Leave Behind (Short) Jess
2011 Losing Control Danger
2009 Scrubs (TV Series) Sunny
2009 Scrubs: Interns (TV Series) Sunny
2009 Ratko: The Dictator's Son Layla
2007/I Robot Love (Short) Silver Robot
2006 The PTA (TV Series) Waif
2004/II Homecoming (Short) Mona
2004 World of Weird (Short) Jenny

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grant, Jennifer (March 6, 2009). "Wheaton native Sonal Shah shines as Dr. Sunny Dey on hit comedy show". Wheaton Sun. p. 3.
  2. Archived March 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. NATASHA KHAN. "Sonal Shah : From Stage to "Scrubs"". Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015. Her Jain parents, Gujarati born and Mumbai raised, settled in the suburbs of Chicago where Shah was born and raised, she describes them as “the most wonderful people alive.”
  4. Kadin, Deborah (July 12, 1998). "Wheaton teen named queen of DuPage fair". Daily Herald. p. 6.
  5. Khan, Natasha (June 2009). "Sonal Shah: From Stage to Scrubs". SAPNA Magazine. pp. Arts + Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2015-09-12.
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