Named after her uncle, Sunny Mabrey spent her childhood in the very small town of Gadsden, Alabama. Cynics might say that in Gadsden, there's a better chance of marrying a relative than making it in Hollywood, but Sunny Mabrey went against town tradition (just kidding) and began a modeling career at age 18. One of her notable early assignments was a noteworthy khaki campaign for Gap, which allowed her to spend time breathing outside of her home state.
When she returned to Alabama for university, Sunny Mabrey wound up exploring acting through theater productions like Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but it was more modeling and music videos that ultimately got her noticed by Hollywood. In 1999, she posed naked behind Ricky Martin for a provocative Rolling Stone cover, and followed it up by chasing Fred Durst down the street -- when it was socially acceptable -- in Limp Bizkit's music video for Nookie. She was also the subject of much adoration in Lonestar's mega-hit "Amazed" -- a video that featured her doing most of her acting from a bathtub.
With the confidence that she could survive Fred Durst and act competently in the bath, Sunny Mabrey entered the acting realm with a 2002 guest spot on the WB favorite Angel. That same year, she made her feature film debut in the comedy The New Guy, in which she played a popular girl enamored with a suddenly cool dweeb. On the heels of another guest spot -- this time on CSI: Miami -- Sunny Mabrey got her first lead role as the alien-human hybrid of Natasha Henstridge in the straight-to-video sequel Species III. While she didn't benefit from the same career launch that her hot on-screen mom had enjoyed from the first film, Sunny Mabrey still made guys salivate and debate whether sex with an alien might somehow be worth pursuing.
With 2005 came what should have been a blockbuster hit for Sunny Mabrey. Cast as tough chick Charlie Mayweather in xXx: State of the Union, she was unfortunately cursed with Ice Cube as a costar rather than the original lead Vin Diesel. Described by film critic Brian Orndorf as the equivalent to "going headfirst at top speed into a brick wall," the film was box-office poison. In spite of this setback, Sunny Mabrey rebounded with her next effort, One Last Thing, where she was a troubled model providing comfort for a dying teen. She singled out the film as a positive experience for its layered characters and smaller-scale production.
In 2006, Sunny Mabrey became associated with the internet phenomenon of the year -- the modern-day Samuel L. Jackson cult film favorite, Snakes on a Plane. Drawn to the film because the story delivered exactly what its title promised, she was cast as heroic flight attendant Tiffany. Forced to share the screen with a Burmese Python that measured over 20 feet in size, she wisely kept her pet miniature pinscher secured in her trailer to avoid making it snake bait.
Sunny Mabrey's recent output has been an even split between television guest spots and independent film roles. Since 2007, she has appeared on one episode each of Without a Trace and Monk, along with an appearance as Richard Burgi's pregnant wife on ABC's -- female-driven prime-time phenom, Desperate Housewives. In 2009, Sunny Mabrey added to her television credits with a spot on Rules of Engagement, following it up with independent movie roles in the post-9/11 drama Not Since You, opposite the equally beautiful Liane Balaban, and the quirky comedy Repo, featuring Jason Mewes of the Kevin Smith universe.
