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Actress and singer Paget Brewster first gain recognition in the entertainment scene after she had a recurring role on the 4th season of NBC comedy sitcom Friends. The actress pretty much worked tirelessly before she finally landed her breakthrough role on the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds as FBI Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss.
Paget Brewster reportedly earned about $100,000 per episode on Criminal Minds. She was able to accumulate a net worth of $9 million since she starred on 204 episodes of the Criminal Minds franchise, aside from her numerous TV shows and films.
Quitting Design School To Pursue Acting
Paget Valerie Brewster was born on March 10, 1969 in Concord, Massachusetts. Her parents named her after the 1950s actress Debra Paget. Brewster is of English descent with a mix of German, Irish, French-Canadian and Dutch blood. She grew up in a pretty normal household together with her younger brother named Ivan. She attended a New England boarding school where both of her parents worked.
Her father Galen worked as a school administrator while her mother Hathaway worked as a government official. She spent most of her childhood in Massachusetts before she moved to New York City to enroll at the Parsons School of Design.
During her first year in school, actress and comedian Brewster has always been interested in acting. She initially tried to balance her school and career but she eventually had to choose after less than a year in New York. Before her acting debut, she used to work as a bartender in New York and even joined a band as the lead singer in the New York-based band Mechanical Bride.
The actress knew that she still needs to improve her skills in acting since she doesn't really have an acting background. With this in mind, the actress decided to move out of New York City and headed to San Francisco to enroll in some acting class in the mid 1990s. With some acting knowledge, she went on to different auditions to book roles.
Brewster's Boldness Landing Her A Recurring Role In Friends
The actress got lucky and one of her first few roles on TV was a stint on the fourth season of the comedy series Friends. Brewster auditioned for the role of Kathy who both dated Friends' main cast Matt Leblanc and Matthew Perry's character on the show.
She was not confident while applying for the role since during her audition famous actresses lined up for the said part. Since she knows for sure that she's not gonna get the part, she just casually walked into the audition room to get it over with.
During her interview with The Talk, she said “I watched Friends, and so I got the audition and they called me back to have another audition. I saw four very beautiful and very famous actresses. And I thought I’m not gonna get this, so I wasn’t nervous. So the door opened, I went in the room and said ‘Clearly I’m your runty alternate so let’s just get this show on the road. “
The committee included Friends actor Matthew Perry and executive producer Kevin Bright. They were pretty impressed with her boldness that eventually made them choose her for the role.
Brewster enjoyed her experience on Friends and she's pretty vocal about loving the cast as well. She said that everyone on the set were nice and sweet towards her. Since she's pretty new on the show business, she was grateful that they accepted her.
She expressed her gratefulness to the all-star ensemble of the show and said “They were all so nice, they were really really sweet people. I loved it so I was so happy to be there….. It was a great experience. And I'm so proud to be part of that show. I love it.”
Starring In Numerous Films Before Her Breakthrough
Paget Brewster's recurring role on the iconic show Friends as Kathy gave her some recognition in the industry. Since millions of viewers watch the show regularly, she became a familiar face in Hollywood.
After she appeared on Friends, she easily booked roles on different projects. She then starred as female lead on James Gunn's low-budget superhero comedy film The Special portraying as Ms. Indestructible in 2000. Soon she starred on the series Ghost Cop as Anette and Max Q as Rena Winter.
She also starred in prominent films such as My Big Fat Independent Movie as Julianne, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns as Lana Lang, Justice League: Gods and Monsters as Lois Lane, Batman and Harley Quinn as Poison Ivy and a lot more.
The actress went on to star in several more TV series as well before finally landing her breakthrough role in Criminal Minds as the supervisory special agent and BAU Unit Chief Emily Prentiss. She starred on the series from 2006 until 2012. After two years of exiting the show, she went back to the show in 2014 for a few episodes. The actress reportedly earns at least $100,000 per episode on the show. The show finally ended in 2020.
At the moment, the actress reprised her role on the Criminal Minds spinoff called Criminal Minds: Just Getting Started. The show is still ongoing which also stars Matthew Gray Gubler, Shemar Moore and Thomas Gibson.
Sources: IMDB, The Things, Looper
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