Enthusiastic Debra Monk, who plays Karen Brantley, the president of the hospital’s board of directors in New Amsterdam, saw the actress’ amazing transformation at the age of 21 in The Devil’s Advocate, a classic of the late ’90s.
Taking place in a pressure cooker environment where life and death mix with personal and professional drama, medical dramas like New Amsterdam have been a staple of primetime television for decades. They explore human emotion, delve into the complexities of hospital bureaucracy and politics, while medical professionals try to find optimism in such a challenging environment.
These themes are at the center of NBC’s New Amsterdam, which stars driven young man Max Goodwin as director of the New Amsterdam Medical Center, one of the oldest public hospitals in the United States. Though the series often explores familiar territory, the strong central cast brings the stories to life by inhabiting characters most people would be lucky to have as healthcare providers.
In New Amsterdam, Debra Monk plays Karen Brantley, the president of the hospital’s board of directors. Long before appearing on the small screen, Monk was introduced to the world of theatre. In 1993, he appeared in the Broadway production of Redwood Curtain, a performance that earned him a Tony Award.
He has appeared in several films over the years, including the 1995 TV version of Redwood Curtain. From 1996 to 2001, actress Debra Monk played Katie Sipowicz on NYPD Blue, and later appeared in recurring roles on both Grey’s Anatomy and Damages.
Debra Monk was in 1997’s The Devil’s Advocate, starring Al Pacino and Charlize Theron, where she played Pam Garrity, Keanu Reeves’ case manager. Devil’s Advocate received mixed reviews, with critics crediting it for its entertainment value and Pacino’s performance. It grossed over $153 million at the box office and won the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.
In 2014, Debra Monk began playing Betty, a salty New York symphony oboist in the Amazon Prime series Mozart in the Jungle. He’s also worked on a long list of primetime dramas over the years, including Law & Order, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS: New Orleans, and Sneaky Pete, to name a few.
