Born Kathryn Bridget Moynahan on Sept. 21, 1972 (some sources say 1970) in Binghamton, NY, Moynahan grew up in Longmeadow, MA. Her father, Brad Moynahan, was an administrator at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Moynahan was the middle child of three, including two brothers, Andy and Sean. A tomboy and avid soccer player growing up, Moynahan was also captain of her high school basketball team. Upon graduating from Longmeadow High School, Moynahan decided to move to New York to pursue modeling and acting before continuing on to college. A stunning beauty with a toned physique, Moynahan quickly landed work as a model appearing in Vogue, Elle, New Woman and Shape, as well as landing the cover of Glamour magazine. Yearning to branch out from modeling, Moynahan began to study acting at the Caymichael Patten Studio in New York.
Making her television debut in 1999 on the popular series “Sex and the City,” Moynahan portrayed Natasha, the twenty-something beauty whom Mr. Big (Chris Noth) marries after giving Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) the runaround for years. Although she was cast as Carrie’s unsympathetic competition, Moynahan’s sweetness shone through, making even the most die-hard Carrie fans begrudgingly like her.
After appearing as a recurring player on such a beloved series, Moynahan’s acting career began to take off. She next appeared in a series of smaller film roles, including parts in “In the Weeds” (2000), “Whipped” (2000), and “Coyote Ugly” (2000) as Rachel, a fire-breathing bartender with an attitude. Able to play both tough and sensitive characters with ease, Moynahan’s star began to rise. After portraying John Cusack’s fiancee in “Serendipity” (2001), Moynahan began to land co-starring roles in a number of big-budget Hollywood films. In 2002, she starred opposite Ben Affleck in “The Sum of All Fears” as CIA agent Jack Ryan’s fiancee. She followed up with an even bigger role, as CIA recruit alongside Colin Farrell and Al Pacino in “The Recruit” (2003). Starring opposite Will Smith in the Isaac Asimov based Sci-Fi thriller “I, Robot” (2004), Moynahan completed her big screen role trifecta by playing a psychologist specializing in the psyches of robots.
The stunning actress went on to portray Ava Orlov in the gun-running drama “Lord of War” (2005) opposite Nicholas Cage. Wrapping production on the films “Unknown,” (2006) “Prey” (2006) and “Noise,” opposite Tim Robbins and William Hurt, Moynahan was also cast in her first regular TV role on the J.J. Abrams series “Six Degrees” (ABC, 2006- ). Revolving around the lives of six New Yorkers whose lives are drawn together by happenstance, Moynahan landed the role of Whitney, a self-made success story who fears her boyfriend might be cheating on her.