Elisabeth Röhm (, ; born April 28, 1973) is a German-American television and film actress. She is best known for playing Kate Lockley in the television series Angel from 1999 to 2001 and Serena Southerlyn in the television series Law & Order from 2001 to 2005. She has also appeared in films such as Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005), American Hustle (2013), Joy (2015), Once Upon a Time in Venice (2017), The Tribes of Palos Verdes (2017) and Bombshell (2019). Early life Röhm was born in Düsseldorf, West Germany, to Lisa Loverde and Eberhard Röhm. Her father was a German partner at the law firm of Duane Morris LLP New York, and the family moved to New York City before her first birthday. Her mother was an American scriptwriter who once wrote for the TV soap opera Guiding Light. Röhm's parents divorced when she was 8 or 9. Her maternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant. Röhm attended grades 11–12 at St. Andrew's-Sewanee School, a small private boarding school in Sewanee, Tennessee, and then graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied writing and European History. Career Röhm received her first TV acting role in 1997, as Dorothy Hayes in the American soap opera One Life to Live. She had a starring role in the 1999 BBC Northern Ireland miniseries Eureka Street, and she then portrayed recurring character Detective Kate Lockley in the first two seasons (1999–2001) of the TV series Angel. While appearing in Angel, Röhm also had a regular role in the only season (2000–2001) of the Turner Network Television drama series Bull. Röhm portrayed regular character Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn through four seasons (2001–2005) of the television series Law & Order. She also portrayed deputy DA Amanda Taylor on Stalker. More recently, Röhm has received critical acclaim for her roles in two David O. Russell films, American Hustle (2013) and Joy (2015). Between 2016 and 2017, Röhm appeared in a Season-14 episode of NCIS, Netflix's Flaked, the film Once Upon a Time in Venice including Bruce Willis, Jason Momoa, John Goodman and Famke Janssen and the film The Tribes of Palos Verdes starring Jennifer Garner and Alicia Silverstone. She portrayed Martha MacCallum in the 2019 film Bombshell with Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie. Personal life Röhm was a longtime avid equestrienne, but she gave up professional equestrianism after a 2005 accident that she