Anokhi Magazine featured Sonal Shah on their 'Most Sexy and Successful' list. She was also named one of the Top 50 Coolest Desis in the world as well one of the top 10 Fascinating South Asians of the year.
Sonal hails from Wheaton, Illinois and grew up being a professional dancer, singer, and choreographer. She graduated cum laude from Loyola University of Chicago with a major in theatre and a concentration in pre-medicine. Sonal was crowned Miss DuPage County and performed at Theatres in Chicago including the Tony award winning Goodman Theatre, Collaboraction, Running With Scissors, and Stir Friday Night. Along with some friends, she started Rasaka Theatre Company and supplemented her acting education at Improv Olympic and The Moscow Art Theatre School at Harvard University.
After moving to Los Angeles, Sonal was quick to start testing for pilots and booked her first series regular role in a sitcom for ABC Family, The PTA. She has studied with John Rosenfeld, Lesly Kahn, The Groundlings, Margie Haber, and also graduated from The Second City Conservatory. Sonal has performed with The Lonestar Ensemble, Artwallah, CAPE, and was selected to participate in the NBC Diversity Showcase. She was a presenter (w Neil Flynn) at The World Magic Awards.
Sonal filmed 8 episodes as a major recurring role on Scrubs as new intern, Dr. Sunny Dey. In the same role, she was also in the web series Scrubs: Interns and provided DVD commentary for Season 8 episodes.
A peace and human advocate, Sonal supports many organizations that are doing a lot of GOOD. She was recently invited to host the South Asian Network Gala, NBC Universal's Diwali party, the North American South Asian Bar Association Gala, and the Chicago Foundation for Women: Asian American Leadership Council Achievement Awards. Sonal was also guest speaker for SASA at Harvard University, served as a panelist at the Kriti Festival, and delivered the keynote address at Loyola University's commencement ceremony. A few months ago, she spoke on the topic "The Building Blocks of Success" at Indo-American Community Services' South Asian Women's Conference and was awarded recognition in Outstanding Dedication and Support for the Community. Indeed, Sonal lives a life of service and spent a summer volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in Belize.
Sonal continues to work in television, film, animation, and commercials.
