The Stunning Transformation Of Tom Brady's Ex Bridget Moynahan
There's a lot people don't know about Tom Brady's ex, Bridget Moynahan. She had roles in some major motion pictures, including playing the late wife of Keanu Reeves' titular assassin in the "John Wick" film franchise. She also starred in television, most notably as Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan in the CBS drama "Blue Bloods," playing the character since the show's debut in 2010 until the end of its 14-season run in 2024.
Having celebrated her milestone 50th birthday in 2021, Moynahan has insisted that she's refusing to buy into Hollywood's obsession with youth. "I feel like I look really good at 50. So I don't get caught up in the age game, or the weight game or any other game that society or people might put on you when you turn a certain age," Moynahan explained in an interview with Glamour. "I'm feeling really great. I think I look really great. It's just a number."
The journey that brought Moynahan to her 50s has been a fascinating one, full of twists, turns, and no shortage of personal drama — most notably involving Moynahan's three-year relationship with legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady.
Bridget Moynahan loved sports as a kid
Growing up in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Bridget Moynahan was the only girl among three siblings. The actor told People in a 2002 interview that coming of age with two brothers led her to eschew traditional gender roles when it came to the activities she enjoyed, particularly ballet. "Hated the tights, hated the tutu and had my mother take me to the soccer field," she recalled.
According to Moynahan, she was something of a tomboy who couldn't get enough of sports. "I played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse," she told Imagista. "Sports were a priority for me."
Maintaining the kind of active lifestyle she had as a child has remained a priority for Moynahan as she got older. These days, she gets her exercise in other ways than participating in team sports. "I run, play tennis and ride my bike all over New York City," she told the Los Angeles Times. She also strengthens her core by doing Pilates — and while she has dabbled in yoga, she found that the looseness of her joints increased the potential for injury, and decided to stop.
When she was 18, Bridget Moynahan began modeling professionally
In an interview with Imagista, Bridget Moynahan recalled her mother telling her that she had been approached about modeling at various times during her teenage years, although Moynahan retained no recollection of that. "My parents really didn't want me to become a model. Then in senior year of high [school], a friend of mine wanted to model so I took her to the local John Casablanca Modeling Center," she told the outlet.
Moynahan's beauty attracted attention, and it wasn't long before the 18-year-old was signed to a modeling agency and was on her way to New York City. As one might expect, that was a daunting prospect for someone her age. "I was terrified," she remembered in her 2002 interview with People. "I cried all the way." One of the first modeling jobs she booked was a shoot for Seventeen magazine, which she recalled not going too well. "You have to smile a lot for that, and I started quivering, like my mouth was quivering from working out my smile too much in one day," Moynahan remembered during an appearance on "The Meredith Vieira Show" in 2016. "And I couldn't stop it, it was like a bad eye twitch but in my mouth. It was so awkward."
It seemed to have paid off as Moynahan has appeared in the likes of Glamour, Fitness, Woman's Journal, and Self, as well as French Vogue and Cosmopolitan U.K.
Bridget Moynahan segued from modeling into acting in the late '90s
During her years as a model, Bridget Moynahan appeared in many magazines. However, at a certain point, she began feeling unfulfilled. Modeling, she told People, "was great for my bank account, [but] you reach a point where you need something more." She decided to study acting, taking lessons at night while modeling during the day.
"I had done some acting in high school and going into film and television seemed like a natural progression," she told Parade. Then she began landing parts in TV commercials. "I did a lot of commercials and really appreciated the concept of residuals." She also continued to study under acting coach Caymichael Patten. "I attended classes with her for about three years and worked on plays before I started auditioning," she told Imagista, emphasizing that she didn't want to begin putting herself out there for film and TV roles until she felt she was completely ready.
Moynahan landed her first screen role in the 1999 film "Row Your Boat" starring Jon Bon Jovi, and also appeared in the films "In the Weeds" and "Trifling with Fate" in 2000. During this period, she was auditioning for whatever she could, not realizing that one audition — for a female-centered HBO series with a devoted fanbase — was about to change everything for her.
A key role in Sex and the City sparked her acting career in 1999
In 1999, Bridget Moynahan auditioned for HBO mega-hit "Sex and the City" to play Natasha, the new girlfriend of Chris Noth's Mr. Big — making her the romantic rival of Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw. "I don't know if I really knew how big this show was when I went in for the audition," Moynahan explained in an interview with Glamour. She got the part, with her character eventually becoming a key recurring player in the show. "I thought it was going to be one episode, and I think Natasha was on for two seasons," she added.
"Oh, it was a great gig!" Moynahan said of her "Sex and the City" role while speaking with Parade. As she recalled, she didn't have that much screen time or dialogue, but her character nevertheless loomed large within the storyline as Carrie and Big gradually reconnected. "But I think just the presence or the idea of the character in Carrie and Big's lives was bigger than the actual time on the air," Moynahan pointed out.
When "Sex and the City" returned with the revival "And Just Like That" in 2021, Moynahan was thrilled to be invited to reprise Natasha. "I'm so thrilled they brought the character back," she exclaimed to Glamour.
She made a big breakthrough as an actor in 2000's Coyote Ugly
Around the same time that Bridget Moynahan auditioned for "Sex and the City," she also landed a role in a film about a group of women serving drinks in a New York City cowboy-themed bar. In that movie, "Coyote Ugly," Moynahan became part of a cast that also included Piper Perabo, Maria Bello, and fellow model-turned-actor Tyra Banks. It was also the biggest Hollywood production in which she'd ever been involved, something she struggled to wrap her head around at the time. '"Coyote Ugly' really felt enormous," Moynahan recalled for Imagista. "It was a Jerry Bruckheimer project and they had put a lot of money into the movie. So it was a lot bigger than I'd ever imagined."
It wasn't until after she'd completed filming that she really began to comprehend the scope of the film. As she told Parade, she was in Los Angeles, driving down Sunset Boulevard, when she saw her own face on a massive poster for "Coyote Ugly" on the side of a multi-story building. "It was like, Oh my god!" she said, remembering that moment. "Even though I'd seen myself in print for years, I had never seen myself on a billboard like that and certainly not for a film. That felt really good."
"Coyote Ugly" wound up becoming a mammoth hit that put Moynahan on Hollywood's radar, defining her as an up-and-coming movie star.
More big movie roles followed for Bridget Moynahan in the 2000s
After the success of "Coyote Ugly," Bridget Moynahan found herself in high demand, and more movie roles followed. These were major Hollywood studio films, not the low-budget indies she'd been doing up to that point, allowing her to share the screen with some acting heavyweights.
The first of these was 2001's "Serendipity," a romantic drama in which she appeared opposite John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. Then came "The Sum of All Fears" in 2002 where she starred opposite Ben Affleck in the espionage thriller based on Tom Clancy's novel. Other films in which she appeared during the early 2000s included "The Recruit" in 2003 starring Al Pacino and Colin Farrell, the sci-fi drama "I, Robot" in 2004 in which she received second billing under Will Smith, and "Lord of War" in 2005 starring Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto, and Ethan Hawke.
Looking back on those years of building her acting career, Moynahan has since come to believe that she should have given more heed to her instincts when choosing roles, rather than following the advice she was given. "And to not to get caught up in what other people are saying or doing and just trust my choices and take more chances," she told Glamour. "I wasn't as experienced, so I just assumed those people knew more than me."
In 2006, Bridget Moynahan starred in a short-lived TV series
In 2006, Bridget Moynahan joined the ensemble cast of "Six Degrees," an ABC television drama, playing one of six strangers in New York City whose lives are interrelated in ways they don't even realize.
"I think everybody can relate to the idea you can bump into someone who unravels your own life experiences or those of people you know," Moynahan said in an interview with Chicago Tribune while promoting the show. "I hope we can keep the sense of reality; that's what is so appealing to me about this." While Moynahan had appeared in a guest-starring capacity in TV shows before, this marked the first time she'd been a series regular. That, she admitted, was brand-new territory for her. "It's a different schedule and a different lifestyle, so we'll see," she added.
At the time of the interview, Moynahan was the girlfriend of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, whom she'd been dating for a couple of years at that point. Brady — who'd been her plus-one for various film premieres — opened up about their relationship on "60 Minutes" in 2005. "I can be myself around her, and there's not many people I can be myself around," Brady said of Moynahan. "It's fun to be around your best friends who know you well, and she's someone that I consider one of my very best friends."
She had a baby with Tom Brady in 2007 ... after they split up
Bridget Moynahan was first linked with Tom Brady when Sports Illustrated reported her presence at the New England Patriots victory party after the 2004 Super Bowl. "The two hugged and smooched and whispered sweet nothings," reported SI.
Sadly, it was not to last. In December 2006 they announced their separation after three years together. Two months later, Moynahan announced she was pregnant with Brady's child. Meanwhile, Brady had already been publicly dating Brazilian supermodel (and his future ex-wife) Gisele Bündchen. In August 2007, Moynahan gave birth to their son, Jack. While the exes came to be friendly while co-parenting, Moynahan has confirmed that for her, at least, the situation was pretty awful. "Going through that traumatic time of being heartbroken and then being pregnant turned my whole life upside down and inside out and just knocked the wind out of me," she told Harper's Bazaar.
The whole thing came back to bite Tom Brady in May 2024 when he was the guest of honor at a Netflix celebrity roast. Comedian Nikki Glaser drew blood when she joked about Brady's return to the NFL after retiring. "You retired, then you came back and then you retired again, I get it, it's hard to walk away from something that's not your pregnant girlfriend," Glaser joked, via the New York Post. "Hey, to be fair, he didn't know she was pregnant, he just thought she was getting fat."
She returned to TV in 2010 starring in Blue Bloods
After becoming a mother, Bridget Moynahan continued to make her living in film and television. She worked on the movie "Noise" in 2007, had a guest spot in the TV series "Eli Stone" in 2008, and starred in the TV movie "Bunker Hill" in 2009.
In 2010, she was cast in "Blue Bloods," a CBS drama about a family of cops, part of an ensemble that included Donnie Wahlberg, Tom Selleck, and Tony-winner Len Cariou. The show became a hit for the network, and Moynahan found herself with the first long-term job she'd ever had. The show's premise centered around family and was one that resonated with her on a very deep level. "It was about an Irish-Catholic family and hi, those are my people," she told Parade.
The first time she met her co-stars was around the Reagan family dinner table. "For that very first episode, we all shook hands and said 'Nice to meet you' and sat down at the dinner table and just fell into some very natural roles of brother and sister and grandfather and father, and it was such a good fit," she said. "In those 14 years, there have been births and deaths and marriages and divorces, and we've gotten to experience it together as a family around that table," she added. "Even the crew has been with us since day one."
Bridget Moynahan wrote her first book in 2015
In 2015, Bridget Moynahan co-authored "The Blue Bloods Cookbook," sharing more than 100 recipes inspired by the iconic family dinners that took place in her hit TV show. These included such dishes as crown roast of lamb, roasted potatoes, and apple pie.
She followed that up with a second book in 2019, "Our Shoes, Our Selves: 40 Women, 40 Stories, 40 Pairs of Shoes," a compilation of stories from different women about the significance of their favorite footwear. According to Moynahan, she came up with the idea while cleaning out her closet and not being able to bring herself to get rid of some old pairs of shoes. "I didn't understand why I didn't want to let go of these, and it all came down to memories," she said in a TV interview with 4 New York.
Speaking about that with her friend, Amanda Benchley (who co-authored the book), they came to wonder whether other women had similar experiences with their shoes and started asking around. They discovered they were not alone, and reached out to an assortment of accomplished women — an eclectic list that included celebrities, athletes, and even an astronaut — to share their own personal memories related to specific shoes. "We have a wide range of shoes that were talked about," Moynahan said during a sit-down with Build Series.
She married businessman Andrew Frankel in 2015
While starring in "Blue Bloods," Bridget Moynahan began dating Andrew Frankel, co-president of his family's stockbroking firm, Stuart Frankel & Co. Frankel popped the question in 2015 and later that year, they got married in an intimate ceremony held in the Hamptons.
While promoting her "Blue Bloods" cookbook on the "Rachael Ray Show," newlywed Moynahan gushed about her husband, while also admitting that he's not much of a cook. "He's pretty easy and basic. So honestly, if I boil water for him, he'd be like, 'This is amazing!' He really is the sweetest," she said, as reported by People. "He's the nicest guy ever. Genuine, kind, and sensitive. He's the best. He'll eat basically anything and tell me it's great."
She also opened up about her husband in a 2021 interview with Glamour. Discussing how she came to find love in her 40s, she revealed she'd been dating men in the showbiz milieu, but nothing had worked out. "What I learned was sometimes you have to fish in another pond, as the saying goes," she said casting her net beyond the confines of the entertainment industry. "I met a really solid, good human being with none of the pretension or all that other litter. He's a really good person and a good partner. I don't think as a younger person I understood what that meant when it pertains to real-life situations."
Bridget Moynahan wrapped Blue Bloods in 2024
Fans of "Blue Bloods" received some unwelcome news in late 2023, with CBS announcing the series would be ending after its 14th season in 2024. Despite the protests of the show's loyal viewers and the pleas of its cast, the network held steady in its decision.
For Bridget Moynahan, this meant the end of her 14-year gig playing Erin Reagan. Speaking with Parade about the show concluding, she echoed comments made by her TV dad — former "Magnum, P.I." star Tom Selleck — that he'd like to see the series continue. "I definitely think it could go on longer," she said, noting that its absence would leave a large segment of the viewing audience unserviced. "There's going to be a void, and I think it's a shame we're removing such a true, honest voice from the air," she explained. That said, she's also come to accept the inevitable and opened up about her future plans.
Moynahan will be remaining in New York until her son Jack (whom she shares with ex Tom Brady), graduates from high school. "So I have high hopes that I'll be working here," she said of finding more acting jobs in NYC. She's also looking to do more directing, having directed three episodes of "Blue Bloods." "I'm trying to stay on track with that and keep looking at things to produce and direct," she said. "That's interesting and challenging to me."