Monica Raymund

Monica Raymund is an American actress and director best known for playing Gabriela Dawson on Chicago Fire, Ria Torres on Lie to Me and Jackie Quiñones on Hightown. Raymund was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she developed an interest in theater and participated in local productions. She graduated from Shorecrest Preparatory School in 2004 before attending Juilliard School in New York City, where she graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 2008. During her training, she received the John Houseman Award for Commitment and Dedication.

After graduating from Juilliard, Raymund launched her acting career with a guest role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2008. Her breakthrough came the following year when she was cast as Ria Torres on Fox’s Lie to Me opposite Tim Roth. She followed that success with a recurring role on The Good Wife before landing her career-defining role as paramedic and firefighter Gabriela Dawson on NBC’s Chicago Fire, where she remained a principal cast member from 2012 to 2019.

In addition to Chicago Fire, Raymund reprised her role as Dawson on Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, helping expand the One Chicago franchise. She later starred in Starz’s Hightown and moved behind the camera, directing episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, FBI, The Sinner and other television series.

Raymund married writer Neil Patrick Stewart in 2011. The pair separated in 2013 and finalized their divorce the following year. In 2014, she publicly came out as bisexual and later began a relationship with cinematographer Tari Segal.