Sonal Shah (actress)

Last updated
Sonal Shah
Born
Sonal Bhadresh Shah

1986 (age 3738)
Occupation(s)Actress, voice artist
Years active2004–present

Sonal Bhadresh Shah (born 1986) is an American actress and voice artist who is best known for playing Dr. Sonja "Sunny" Dey on TV's Scrubs .

Contents

Early life and education

Shah was born and 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

2004 World of Weird ShortJenny
2004 Homecoming ShortMona
2006 The PTA TV seriesWaif
2007 Robot Love ShortSilver Robot
2009 Ratko: The Dictator's Son Layla
2009 Scrubs: Interns TV seriesSunny
2009 Scrubs TV seriesSunny
2011 Losing Control Danger
2011 The Old Leave Behind ShortJess
2011 Snooze, Charlie ShortCharlie
2011 Sati Shaves Her Head ShortSati
2011 Ek Bar Phir, Ek Saath Phir ShortAishwarya
2012 The First Date ShortAmanda
2012 Incident on Marmont Avenue ShortBecca
2012 ...Or Die ShortParv's Friend
2012 Squad 85 TV seriesReporter
2013 Baby Mentalist TV series shortReporter
2013 Back to School Night Video shortMrs. Patel
2013 Black Coffee ShortMs. Flag
2013 Barrel 28 ShortVeronica
2013 Reunion ShortBeth
2013 Straight Out of the Closet TV movieAlecia
2014 Bro ShortOlivia
2014 Transparent TV seriesFemale Student
2014 Spring Training ShortKelly
2015 The Startup TV seriesSophie
2015 Miss India America Volunteer 1
2015 Grace and Sumitra TV seriesSumitra
2016 Showcase: One Network's Search for White Diversity Video shortNetwork Executive
2016–2018 The Powerpuff Girls TV seriesSapna (voice), Additional Voices
2016 New Girl TV seriesFlight Attendant
2016 The Day Of ShortChandra
2013 Anarkali Blossoms ShortSatya
2015 Limitless Love ShortDr. Vicky
2016 Princess Rehab ShortJamie
2017 Mike Boy Darsha
2020 Definition Please Dr. Ali
TBA Casting Call TV movie (post-production)Coffee Auditioner

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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.