Marta McGonagle as Monica

"Marta brings a lot of passion to the character and I think the audience can easily relate to her which is important, it helps them understand how Rodney is motivated by her actions. I needed someone to be kind of a bitch but at the same time likable. I hate it when characters are too extreme, the audience has to believe she has a good side, or why would anyone want to hang out with her. She can go from seductress to innocent victim to vicious psycho in such a natural way it was scary." Those are the words of Patrick Johnson the director of SideFx Marta's latest acting foray.

The role of Monica was even expanded to show off some of her acting prowess. " I really knew what I needed from the character but I was really worried nobody would be able to deliver, but after watching Marta I was blown away by here ability to turn it on, and she looked great covered in blood, and that's not an easy thing to pull off... yeah, I really hated to have to kill her, but hey it's a horror film, what are you gonna do, right?"

In the horror world that is a compliment and Marta takes it all in stride. ÒI am a huge fan of horror films and thereÕs no better way to enjoy true gore than to film in a dark, abandoned location with a great cast, crew and lots and lots of BLOOD!ÓÊShe says as she pushes her long dark hair back out of her face and gives a smile that could read as sinister or innocent depending on the context.

Marta comes from a Costa Rican and Irish background and was born in the Ancon Republic of Panama. At the age of nine she moved to Aschaffenburg, Germany and starred in her first play entitled The Wild Wild West.

It wasn't until eight years later that she would step on the stage again starring as Bessie in Marvin's Room written by Scott McPherson. After leaving home to attend college at the University of Texas in Austin, she became engulfed in her studies and work ignoring her love for acting once more. On a whim, she decided to audition for an Austin musical entitled Revelate landing the star role as Eve, which launched Marta's professional acting career.

After graduating from UT with a B.S. in Public Relations and with a concentration in Latin American Media Studies, Marta began to focus more on her acting career and sought representation with Acclaim Talent in Austin. Soon after she increased her training with local acting coaches and has worked on commercials, radio, and several independent short and feature films in central Texas.

Marta is currently starring in the feature film SideFX as Monica.Ê