Samantha Sloyan

Samantha Sloyan
Sloyan in 2026
Born	(1979-01-04) January 4, 1979 (age 47) Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actress producer
Years active	2003–present
Parents	James Sloyan (father) Deirdre Lenihan (mother)

Samantha Sloyan (born January 4, 1979) is an American actress. Sloyan is best known for her multiple collaborations with filmmaker Mike Flanagan in Hush (2016), The Haunting of Hill House (2018), Midnight Mass (2021), The Midnight Club (2022), The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), The Life of Chuck (2024), and Carrie (2026). She has also appeared in recurring roles on Scandal (2012–2014) and the twelfth season of Grey's Anatomy (2015–2016). She is the daughter of actors James Sloyan and Deirdre Lenihan.

Early life

Born in Los Angeles County on January 4, 1979, ^[1] Sloyan is one of two children, one girl and one boy, born to actors James Sloyan and Deirdre Lenihan. ^{[2] [3]} Sloyan is also the niece of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Patrick Sloyan. ^[2]

Career

Sloyan first appeared in the 2003 independent feature film My Life with Morrissey as a florist. She continued to appear in a few short films such as No Shoulder, Shamelove, and Autodoc. In 2009, she produced and starred in the short film Plus One. Sloyan has also guest-starred in several television series such as The Beast , The Forgotten , Law & Order: LA , and NCIS . She played a recurring role as a White House employee named Jeannine Locke in the first three seasons of Scandal . Sloyan continued to appear in smaller films, including In the Key of Eli, Tape 407, and the television movie Murder in Mexico: The Bruce Beresford-Redman Story.

In 2014, Sloyan guest-starred on Castle , Parks and Recreation , Hawaii Five-0 , and Rizzoli & Isles . She began a recurring role in the ShondaLand production Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Penelope Blake, first appearing in the eleventh season episode "How to Save a Life", which included the death of lead character, Derek Shepherd, played by Patrick Dempsey. She appeared again in the 12th season, including the show's 250th episode "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", which was mostly focused on Sloyan's character. ^[4]

In 2021, Sloyan portrayed Catholic Beverly Keane in the miniseries Midnight Mass , directed by Mike Flanagan. In 2026, she portrays Margaret White in Flanagan's horror miniseries, Carrie.

On stage, Sloyan acted at the Geffen Playhouse and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. She received the LADCC and LA Weekly awards for her performance in Munched. ^[5]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2003	My Life with Morrissey	Florist	Independent feature film
2005	No Shoulder	Bobbie	Short film
	3 Wise Women	Waitress #2
2006	Shamelove	Julie
2009	Plus One	Lindsay	Short film; also producer
	Autodoc	Emmy Hennings
2011	In the Key of Eli	Megs
2012	Area 407	Lois	Originally titled Tape 407: The Mesa Reserve	[6]
2013	Do You Have a Cat?	Marissa	Short film
2016	Losing In Love	Dr. Barton
	Fantastic	Michelle
	Hush	Sarah Greene		[7]
	Cat Killer	The Mother	Short film
2017	I'm Not Here	Jaime
2019	Pappy Hour	Jean Mulligan
	Miss Virginia	Mrs. Watson
2023	Good Daughter	Rebecca	Short film
	Love You, Mama	Lee
	Invaders From Proxima B	Jane Jankins	Online released in May 2024
2024	The Place Between	Beatrice
	The Life of Chuck	Miss Rohrbacher		[8]
2025	It's Expensive To Be Poor	Narrator	Short film
2027	The Exorcist: Martyrs	TBA	Post-production	[9]
TBA	Grace	Bonnie	Short film
	Silver Anniversary	TBA

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2009	The Beast	Grace Morton	Episode: "No Turning Back"
	The Forgotten	Nurse	Episode: "Railroad Jane"
2010	Law & Order: LA	Rachel Forester	Episode: "Echo Park"
2011	The Cape	Television reporter	Episode: "Endgame"
	NCIS	Emily Goodwin	Episode: "Engaged (Part I)"
2012–2014	Scandal	Sassy Staffer	Episode: "The Trail"
		Jeannine Locke	Recurring role; 7 episodes (seasons 2–3)
2013	The Fosters	ER Doctor	Episode: "Vigil"
2014	Castle	Pam Clark	Episode: "Room 147"
	Parks and Recreation	Erica	Episode: "New Slogan"
	Hawaii Five-0	Sarah Richmond	Episode: "Ho'i Hou"
	Futurestates	Lisa	Episode: "Ant"
	Rizzoli & Isles	Alex Ruebens	Episode: "If You Can't Stand the Heat"
2015–2016	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Penelope "Penny" Blake	Recurring role; 20 episodes (seasons 11–12)	[4]
2015	Murder in Mexico	Gretchen Thorne	Television film
	Criminal Minds	Tracy Senarak	Episode: "The Witness"
2017	Maggie	Dr. White	Episodes: "Past Life Depression" & "Denying Everything About Death"
	The Good Doctor	Mrs. Gallico	Episode: "Point Three Percent"
2018	Here and Now	Officer	Episode: "It's Coming"
	The Haunting of Hill House	Leigh Crain	Recurring role; 8 episodes	[10]
2018–2019	SEAL Team	Victoria Seaver	Recurring role; 4 episodes (season 2)
2019	Proven Innocent	Gabrielle Parcell	Episode: "Shaken"
	Animal Kingdom	Jennifer	Episode: "Know Thy Enemy"
	The Rookie	Alice Sheldon	Episode: "Warriors and Guardians"
	Truth Be Told	Sharon Dostikas	Episode: "Not Buried, Planted"
	Everyone Together	Caroline	Unsold television pilot
2020	Helstrom	Jolene Spivey	Episodes: "Leviathan" & "Scars"
2021	Midnight Mass	Bev Keane	Miniseries; 7 episodes	[11]
2022	The Midnight Club	Shasta	Miniseries; 7 episodes	[12]
2023	Minx	Joan Didion	Episode: "I Thought the Bed Was Gonna Fly"
	The Morning Show	Cheryl	Episode: "The Stanford Student"
	The Fall of the House of Usher	Tamerlane Usher	Miniseries; 8 episodes	[13]
	Creepshow	Lorna Snell	Episode: "Twenty Minutes with Cassandra"
2025	The Pitt	Lily Bradley	Recurring role; 7 episodes (season 1)	[14]
2026	Carrie	Margaret White	Miniseries; 8 episodes	[15] [16]

References

1. "Your Horoscope: Birthday Star". The Montreal Gazette. January 4, 2022. p. N11. Retrieved March 11, 2026. "Actress Samantha Sloyan was born in Los Angeles County, California, today in 1979. This birthday star portrayed Bev Keane in the 2021 mini-series 'Midnight Mass.' She also played Dr. Penelope Blake on 'Grey’s Anatomy' and has appeared on episodes of 'Everyone Together,' 'Helstrom' and 'Truth Be Told.' On the big screen, Sloyan’s film work includes roles in 'Miss Virginia,' 'Hush' and 'Losing in Love.'"
2. Clark, Mark (2013). Star Trek: FAQ 2.0: EVERYTHING LEFT TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION, THE MOVIES AND BEYOND (UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHORIZED) . Milwaukee, WI: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN   978-1-55783-793-6. "Like Plakson, actor James Sloyan played several Star Trek characters, but none with as much depth and emotional resonance as Jarok, the Romulan admiral who defects to avert a war in 'The Defector.' [...] In recent years, he has concentrated on voice work and commercials. From 1989 to 2009, he served as the 'voice' of carmaker Lexus. He is married and has two adult children, Dan and Samantha Sloyan, both actors."
3. Terry, Carol Burton (May 15, 1977). "TV Line". Newsday (Suffolk Edition). p. TV-2. Retrieved March 11, 2026. "Q. Can you tell me about James Sloyan who plays the doctor named Sam on "Westside Medical"? Is it true that he is married to Deirdre Lenihan who starred in "Needles and Pins"? Where can I write to him? -M.M., Rosedale. A. James is indeed married to Dierdre by whom. he has a son, Daniel. The Indianapolis-born actor had difficulty conforming during his teen years in Upstate New York and was tossed out of one high school after the other. But he graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where he later taught acting and mime, after two years with the American Mime Theater and a stint in the Army. [...] James, incidentally, is the brother of Newsday reporter Patrick Sloyan."
4. Denninger, Lindsay (October 22, 2015). "Who Plays Penny On 'Grey's Anatomy'? Samantha Sloyan Is The Hospital's Newest Resident". Bustle. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
5. "Samantha Sloyan". Geffen Playhouse. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
6. Barton, Steve (18 April 2012). "IFC Enters Area 407". Dread Central . Retrieved 1 September 2022.
7. Graham, Jamie (October 9, 2026). "Samantha Sloyan's Reign Of Terror: From Carrie And Midnight Mass, To Hush And Hill House". Empire . Retrieved October 9, 2026.
8. Wampler, Scott (October 25, 2023). "Matthew Lillard (And a Million Other People) Just Joined the Cast of 'The Life of Chuck'". Fangoria . Archived from the original on October 25, 2023. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
9. Mancuso, Vinnie (2026-10-09). "Samantha Sloyan Talks 'Carrie,' Her Monologue Process + Why 'The Exorcist: Martyrs' Might Be the 'Scariest Thing' Mike Flanagan Has Ever Done". Backstage. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
10. Graham, Jamie (October 9, 2026). "Samantha Sloyan's Reign Of Terror: From Carrie And Midnight Mass, To Hush And Hill House". Empire . Retrieved October 9, 2026.
11. Graham, Jamie (October 9, 2026). "Samantha Sloyan's Reign Of Terror: From Carrie And Midnight Mass, To Hush And Hill House". Empire . Retrieved October 9, 2026.
12. Hemmert, Kylie (February 1, 2021). "Mike Flanagan Announces Cast for Netflix's The Midnight Club Series Adaptation". comingsoon.net. Archived from the original on October 5, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
13. Doupe', Tyler (2022-08-29). "'The Fall of the House of Usher': Everything We Know So Far About Mike Flanagan's New Series". Dread Central. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
14. Rowles, Dustin (January 17, 2025). "Bryan Cranton's Daughter and Other Familiar Faces In 'The Pitt' Cast". Pajiba. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
15. Cordero, Rosy (June 2, 2025). "'Carrie' Series Officially Sets Summer Howell As Lead; Samantha Sloyan, Josie Totah & Amber Midthunder Among Cast". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on June 2, 2025. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
16. Graham, Jamie (October 9, 2026). "Samantha Sloyan's Reign Of Terror: From Carrie And Midnight Mass, To Hush And Hill House". Empire . Retrieved October 9, 2026.

External links

• Samantha Sloyan at IMDb