Sonal Shah (actress)

Sonal Shah
Born
Sonal Bhadresh Shah

1986 (age 37–38)
Occupation(s)Actress, voice artist
Years active2004–present

Sonal Bhadresh Shah (born 1986) is an American actress and voice artist who may be best known for her recurring role as Dr. Sonja "Sunny" Dey on the series Scrubs.

Early life and education

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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

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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

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Year Title Production Role
2004 World of Weird Short film Jenny
2004 Homecoming Short film Mona
2006 The PTA Unsold pilot Waif
2007 Robot Love Short film Silver Robot
2009 Ratko: The Dictator's Son Layla
2009 Scrubs: Interns 12 episodes Sunny
2009 Scrubs 8 episodes Sunny
2011 Losing Control Danger
2011 The Old Leave Behind Short film Jess
2011 Snooze, Charlie Short film Charlie
2011 Sati Shaves Her Head Short film Sati
2011 Ek Bar Phir, Ek Saath Phir Short film Aishwarya
2012 The First Date Short film Amanda
2012 Incident on Marmont Avenue Short film Becca
2012 ...Or Die Short film Parv's Friend
2012 Squad 85 3 episodes Reporter
2013 Baby Mentalist TV short Reporter
2013 Back to School Night Video short Mrs. Patel
2013 Black Coffee Short film Ms. Flag
2013 Barrel 28 Short film Veronica
2013 Reunion Short film Beth
2013 Straight Out of the Closet TV movie Alecia
2014 Bro Short film Olivia
2014 Transparent 1 episode Female Student
2014 Spring Training Short film Kelly
2015 The Startup 1 episode Sophie
2015 Miss India America Volunteer 1
2015 Grace and Sumitra Unsold pilot Sumitra
2016 Showcase: One Network's Search for White Diversity Video short Network Executive
2016–2018 The Powerpuff Girls 3 episodes Sapna (voice), Additional Voices
2016 New Girl 1 episode Flight Attendant
2016 The Day Of Short film Chandra
2013 Anarkali Blossoms Short film Satya
2015 Limitless Love Short film Dr. Vicky
2016 Princess Rehab Short film Jamie
2017 Mike Boy Darsha
2020 Definition Please Dr. Ali

References

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  1. ^ a b c Grant, Jennifer (March 6, 2009). "Wheaton native Sonal Shah shines as Dr. Sunny Dey on hit comedy show". Wheaton Sun. p. 3.
  2. ^ [1] 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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