Monica Keena
The American actress Monica Keena was born on 28th May 1979, in Brooklyn, New York City USA. Her father, William, worked at Paine Webber as a financial sales manager, whereas her mother, Mary Catherine, was a nurse. Monica was raised alongside an older sister named Samantha and studied at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights.
Aged 13, Monica auditioned to study drama at the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts; however, she was also accepted into the vocal arts department. Soon afterwards, she played her first role in the short film “Burning Love”.
Career
Showing promise from an early age, it didn’t take long for Monica to make her theatre, film and TV debuts. In 1994, she earned her first acting credit with a leading role in the TV movie “A Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story”. Aged sixteen, she played Mary Callaghan in the romcom “While You Were Sleeping”, and shortly afterwards, she had her first starring role in “Snow White: A Tale of Terror”, with her portrayal of Lilliana Hoffman being praised by viewers and critics alike.
To date, Monica has dozens of acting credits. Although some of her projects, such as a role in “Bad Girls From Valley High”, went straight to DVD, other movies and shows she been involved in were huge successes. At the end of the 1990s, she landed her first recurring role as Abby Morgan in seasons one and two of “Dawson’s Creek”; in 2003, she played one of the leading roles in the horror movie “Freddy vs. Jason”.
Over the years, the blonde Brooklynite has guest-starred in “Entourage”, “Grey’s Anatomy”, and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” to name a few. From 2001 to 2002, she starred in the short-lived Judd Apatow sitcom “Undeclared”, playing Rachel Lindquist, a nervous first-year college student who came into her own and embraced being a party girl.
The half-hour comedy was director Judd Apatow’s follow-up to “Freaks and Geeks”, set in a suburban high school during the 1980s. Starring Carla Gallo, Seth Rogen, and Timm Sharp amongst others, the series has since gained a cult following, and is hailed as one of the best TV cult shows of its time.
From 2004 to 2005, Monica had a recurring role as Kristen in the HBO comedy-drama “Entourage”. However, that would be her last recurring role until 2010, when she played Kayla in three episodes of “Private Practice”. After a string of TV movies and films that went nowhere, many of which were independent, Monica was cast as Maddie Curtis in “Night of the Demons”, a disastrous straight-to-video remake of the 1988 film of the same name.
Although the movie has long been forgotten, it would change the course of Monica’s life hugely, as she met – and became romantically involved with – the actor Edward Furlong during filming. Edward remains famous for his breakthrough performance as John Connor in “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”, which earned him MTV Movie and Saturn awards when he was barely 13 years old; unfortunately, the Californian actor had a chaotic personal life overshadowed by substance abuse and legal problems.
Personal Life
Edward’s first brush with the law came in 1999, when he was sued by his former tutor, Jacqueline Domac, for domestic violence. Interestingly, Edward’s uncle had filed a complaint against Jacqueline five years prior, claiming that she had raped his nephew. Thirteen years his senior, Jacqueline met Edward on the set of “Terminator 2” and became his private teacher shortly afterwards; when the actor was just sixteen years old, they reportedly fell in love, and Jacqueline filed for divorce from her husband.
When Edward met Monica, he was in the midst of divorcing his first wife, Rachael Bella. The couple had been married just three years and had a son of about two and a half years old. In July 2009, Rachael filed for divorce against the actor, citing irreconcilable differences; later in the same year, she attempted to dissolve the restraining order she had previously filed against Edward so that he could see their child.
@T3hL1ttle3ngine She use to be cute AF.
Edward Furlong, 45, appears to reunite with his Dawson's Creek actress ex Monica Keena https://t.co/t8BAvd8cOB pic.twitter.com/fPmVe8Wpkj— DosXXMachina (@DuosEquis) April 6, 2023
By then, Edward had been battling his drug addiction and alcoholism for almost a decade, first entering rehab in October 2000. From ages 22 to 26, he did hard drugs intermittently and was reportedly addicted to cocaine and heroin. Despite later claiming to be sober, Rachael filed a restraining order against him in September 2009 after he allegedly punched her in a drug-fueled altercation. By then, he was already in a relationship with Monica.
In 2010, Edward received three years of probation for violating the civil protective order placed against him by Rachael. As there’s no clear timeline of the actor’s turbulent relationship with Monica, we can assume that they were still together at the time. In October 2012, the “Terminator” star was charged with felony domestic violence against Monica after attacking her. A month later, he was once again arrested for assaulting the Brooklyn native.
Repeating the disturbing pattern of behavior, Edward was arrested in January 2013, this time for misdemeanor battery after attacking Monica a third time. As he was remanded in jail and unable to pay bail, Monica ended the relationship and filed a restraining order against him. However, Monica and Edward’s story was far from over; in March 2013, he was sentenced to six months in jail for violating probation and using force against the Brooklynite, as well as for violating a protective order which forbade him from approaching or having contact with the actress.
In May 2013, Edward was arrested yet again for violating the protective order. According to news outlets, police found him hiding in a nearby property and brought him to a sheriff’s substation in West Hollywood; although Monica’s identity was protected in many of the articles, journalists confirmed that Edward had been involved in a domestic disturbance at the same property in January 2013. Somehow, the actor avoided a further prison sentence by agreeing to go to rehab, undergo a year of domestic violence counselling, and be placed on five years’ probation.
We don’t know what happened between the actors over the next few years, but in 2016, Monica and Edward were photographed looking disheveled while leaving a mall in L.A. Both sported eyebags and dirty-looking clothes, whereas Edward had gained a massive amount of weight since his last public appearance. Of course, there had also been rumors of Monica having a drug addiction, especially since she started her relationship with the actor.
Although the drug abuse allegations have plagued Monica since the 2010s, her latest rounds of plastic surgery were what caught people’s attention when she was spotted on a date with Edward in May 2023. The LaGuardia alum flaunted lip fillers and possible botox injections, whereas Edward proudly showed off his new veneers, which he got after his natural teeth rotted out from years of meth use.
Despite media outlets describing the former couple as exes, Monica and Edward were also seen together in April 2023, and some netizens believe that they quietly reconciliated years ago. The troubled actress, who is worth approximately $500,000, appears to be taking a break from movies, possibly to focus on her sobriety and relationship.
