Montgomery disliked school, being expelled from six private academies before finally dropping out at the age of 15 to pursue stage acting [ 8 ] and to travel around Bali with her then-boyfriend.
After five days, she realised that "[she] couldn't stand him" and took a bus to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. When Montgomery moved to Los Angeles, she stayed with two of her brother's friends, [ 9 ] while sending a head shot every day to Julia Roberts' former manager, Bob McGowan, until he signed her. On being offered the part, she later said, "They the producers called me up and said, 'Will you do it?
It was that simple. The same year, she began starring in the CBS police drama Unforgettable as Carrie Wells, a former homicide detective who is convinced to join the NYPD in Queens by her ex-boyfriend Al Burns potrayed by Dylan Walsh after she leaves Syracuse because the investigation into her sister's murder was shut down. The character has hyperthymesia , which allows her to have perfect recall, and she uses her memory to solve crimes. Unforgettable was later renewed for a second season, with 13 episodes running from July to May , and a third season, with 13 episodes running from June to September Montgomery posed in a series of provocative photographs on Maxim ' s website in their "Girls of Maxim " feature.
Montgomery met actor Adam Kaufman in in Mexico while working on the independent film Between , and in , they worked together again in the TV film Lying to be Perfect. In , Kaufman began a recurring role on Without a Trace in the season-five episode " At Rest " as Brian Donovan, Samantha's love interest for the rest of the series.
In June , Montgomery announced her pregnancy with Kaufman, which was written into season six. On 23 December , she gave birth to their son Jackson Phillip. In late , Montgomery began dating Shawn Sanford, director of lifestyle marketing for Microsoft , whom she met in Puerto Rico.
