Biography
Denise landed her breakout role in The Social Network after being spotted at a party by the film's casting director, Laray Mayfield. Her portrayal of Gretchen, an intellectual property attorney in David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin's critically acclaimed film is a perfect example of art imitating life. She has come full circle
While still in her twenties, Denise was in-house counsel for Paine Webber (now UBS) and then for Bankers Trust (now Deutsche Bank) as an intellectual property lawyer with a specialty in technology. This was during the internet's initial boom. She soon struck out on her own, representing most of the major banks and financial institutions including Merrill Lynch, Chase and Prudential. At the same time, Denise became involved in acting, reigniting her childhood creativity, first seen when she played the lead in a number of school plays. She started classes at Uta Hagen's famous HB Studios and continued to study there for years. Juggling two careers, Denise got work as a model and as an actress in commercials while she continued to work as an attorney. Her lawyer friends thought she was nuts, but she quickly found herself in a number of off-off-Broadway plays and low budget movies, effectively leaving her career as a lawyer behind.
In her first feature film "Puppet," Denise played an FBI agent. Next came a short film "Gasline," which won the jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. The writer/director Dave Silver cast her again in his first full-length feature, "Corn."
She followed with four movies for the Hallmark Channel, all directed by Armand Mastroianni. In "Though None Go with Me," she aged considerably playing a sixty-year-old. This was followed by "Pandemic," "Final Approach" and the 2009 movie "Citizen Jane," playing a bank manager.
Today Denise divides her time between homes in New York and Los Angeles. She is licensed to practice law in New York and Florida. Although Denise is immersed in her acting career, she generously donates her time doing pro bono mediation work. She also coaches actors, comedians, individuals, groups and politicians with their performance, voice and presentation skills.