Frankie Shaw Biography

Rachel Frances "Frankie" Shaw (born 1986) is a Boston-born American actress, writer, director and producer currently based in Los Angeles. She is best known for her short film SMILF, which she wrote, directed and starred in. SMILF premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Short Film Jury Award for US Fiction. She is also known for her recurring role as Shayla Nico in the first season of the USA Network television series Mr. Robot.

Career

Shaw first received recognition in the completely improvised Sundance film The Freebie and then as the oddball drunken cheerleader in the sitcom Blue Mountain State. Since then, she has appeared in independent movies including The Pretty One and Someone Marry Barry.

Shaw's short film SMILF, which she wrote, directed and starred in, won the 2015 Short Film Jury Award for U.S. Fiction at Sundance. Shaw has used the film as a platform to develop a TV show and discuss the role of women on screen. She explained: "While men react with shock and awe when their screen shows a woman giving herself a quick intimate wipe down prior to a date or when a woman with cellulite bares all, we know it's not raunch. It's not groundbreaking. It's just our life-dirty, imperfect and real."

In 2015, SMILF was picked up by Showtime as a half-hour comedy television show with Shaw as writer, director, star, and producer. The show will "examine[] the travails of a young woman (Shaw) who comes to LA as both a struggling actress and a struggling single mom."

Shaw returned to Sundance in 2016 with another short film she wrote and directed, Too Legit, starring Zo Kravitz, Teresa Palmer, Nate Corddry and Clark Gregg. Too Legit was a satire of Congressman Todd Akin's controversial 2012 remarks about rape and pregnancy: "It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, [rape resulting in pregnancy is] really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down." Shaw explained:

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Shaw had a recurring role on the television series Mr. Robot, where she plays Shayla Nico, the drug dealing love interest of Rami Malek's character Elliot Alderson. She also served as a series regular on ABC's Mixology and in the ABC Family pilot Tough Cookie and appeared on Fox's Mulaney, HBO's Hello Ladies, and the movie Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland, reprising her role of Mary Jo from the 2010 series.

Personal life

Shaw grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. She graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University with a degree in literature, then moved to Los Angeles where she currently lives.

Shaw was in a relationship with actor Mark Webber. They have a son together, Isaac Love (born circa 2008). On August 27, 2016, Shaw married writer-producer Zach Strauss.

Filmography

TV shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Marrissa	"Unchained" (Season 5, Episode 4)
2006	The Bedford Diaries	Simone	"I'm Gonna Love College" (Season 1, Episode 1)
2011	Glory Daze	Gina	"Hit Me with Your Test Shot" (Season 1, Episode 9)
2010-2011	Blue Mountain State	Mary Jo Cacciatore	Main cast (Seasons 2-3, 15 episodes)
2011	CSI: NY	Kelly Rose	"Brooklyn Til I Die" (Season 8, Episode 12)
2011	2 Broke Girls	Keefer	"And the High Holidays" (Season 2, Episode 12)
2013	Hello Ladies	Nikki	"The Limo" (Season 1, Episode 2)
2014	Mixology	Fabienne	Main cast
2015	Mulaney	Julia	"Ruby" (Season 1, Episode 12)
2015	Tough Cookie	Heidi	"Pilot" (Season 1, Episode 1)
2015	Mr. Robot	Shayla Nico	Season 1 (7 Episodes)
2016	Flaked	Natasha	2 Episodes

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Night Swimming	Amber
2006	Just Like the Son	Brenda
2007	One Night	Clarice
2008	Explicit Ills	Michelle
2008	Altamont Now	Karen Kennedy
2009	The Northern Kingdom	Shauna
2009	Falling Up	Gretchen
2009	Red Hook	Deena
2009	The Freebie	Coffee Girl
2011	Coffee Snobs	Customer	short
2011	The End of Love	Evelyn
2012	Spoonful	Mac	short
2012	Knife Fight	Samantha
2013	The Pretty One	Claudia
2014	Lullaby	Janice
2014	Someone Marry Barry	Camille
2014	SMILF	Bridgette Bird	Short film;also writer and director
2016	Too Legit	Jess	Short film;also writer and director
2016	Joshy	Crystal
2016	Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland	Mary Jo Cacciatore
2016	Dreamland	Lizzie
2016	Tough Cookie	Heidi	Short film
2016	Fludic	Emlyn	In post-production
2017	Stronger	Gail	In post-production