Background
Monica was born on June 30, 1971, in Cleveland, Ohio to Nancy and Paul Brokaw. Her mother was a secretary in a hospital, and her father invented the first flame-resistant car wax.
Monica was born on June 30, 1971, in Cleveland, Ohio to Nancy and Paul Brokaw. Her mother was a secretary in a hospital, and her father invented the first flame-resistant car wax.
During her childhood, she was part of the Saint Jerome Parish in Cleveland, and attended the local elementary, as well as Villa Angela Academy, before graduating from Euclid High School.
She was in a long-running, Golden Globe nominated role as Kristina Braverman in the National Broadcasting Company drama series Parenthood. Potter is the eldest of four sisters (Kerry, Jessica, and Brigette). Her maternal grandparents were Irish immigrants, and she was raised Catholic.
She also spent part of her early years in Arab, Alabama.
Potter had wanted to be an actress since childhood. She began acting at the Cleveland Play House when she was in elementary school.
Starting at age 12, she worked at a flower shop, and did some modeling for newspaper and magazine ads and some local commercials. She also did a few commercials in Chicago, went to Miami to film a Seinfeld pilot, and then moved to Los Angeles in 1994.
Potter made her screen debut in 1994, on Columbia Broadcasting System soap opera The Young and the Restless as Sharon Newman.
She later appeared in several feature films, including Con Air (playing the wife of Nicolas Cage"s character) and starring opposite Robin Williams in Patch Adams. In 1998, she played the love interest of doomed distance runner Steve Prefontaine in the movie Without Limits. In 2001, she had two major roles, co-starring with Freddie Prinze, Junior. in Head Over Heels, and in the thriller Along Came a Spider with Morgan Freeman, based on the James Patterson best-seller.
In 2004, Potter played the role of Alison Gordon in the first Saw film.
Later Potter worked on television Potter plays the role of Kristina Braverman in National Broadcasting Company"s comedy-drama Parenthood as of 2014.
She received critical acclaim for her performance in the fourth season. In 2015, Potter was joined by her mother and all three sisters on Celebrity Family Feud.
She was a cast member of the American Broadcasting Company legal drama Boston Legal but left during the second season. In 2009, Potter became a cast member of the new TNT series Trust Maine which was cancelled after the first season due to low ratings.