Morena Baccarin

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Morena Baccarin

Morena Baccarin (Portuguese pronunciation:Â [moËˆÉ¾enÉ ËˆbakÉÉ¾Ä©n]; born June 2, 1979) is a Brazilian American actress. She is best known for portraying Inara Serra in the series Firefly and the follow-up film Serenity, Adria in the series Stargate SG-1 and the follow-up film Stargate: The Ark of Truth, Anna in the 2009 version of the series V, and Jessica Brody in the Showtime series Homeland (for which she received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013). She is currently appearing in the recurring role of Dr. Leslie Thompkins in the Fox television series Gotham.

Early life

Morena Baccarin was born in Rio de Janeiro. Her mother is actress Vera Setta, and her father is journalist Fernando Baccarin. When she was seven years old, she moved with her family to Greenwich Village, New York, as her father was transferred to work as an editor at Globo TV's headquarters. Baccarin attended Public School 41 and New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies, where she and her future Homeland co-star Claire Danes were classmates. She later attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts before she entered the theater program at the Juilliard School, where she was in the Drama Division's Group 29 (1996â€"2000).

Career

Baccarin landed her first film role in the improvised fashion world comedy Perfume (2001). This was followed by a lead role in the film festival hit Way Off Broadway (2001).

She served as Natalie Portman's understudy in the acclaimed Central Park production of The Seagull. The science-fiction drama Firefly was Baccarin's first television series, and she reprised her role of Inara Serra in the 2005 film Serenity.

In February 2005, Baccarin provided the voice for Black Canary in multiple episodes of the animated series Justice League Unlimited. She also guest starred in three episodes of the television series The O.C. in 2006. Baccarin also appeared in the unaired pilot episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, playing Carmen, a male-to-female transsexual. It was announced in April 2006 that Baccarin would be playing the adult version of Adria, a recurring villain in the tenth season of Stargate SG-1. She first appeared in season 10 episode "Counterstrike" as adult Adria (the younger versions of Adria were previously played by other actresses). Baccarin reprised her role as Adria in the movie Stargate: The Ark of Truth.

In May 2009, Baccarin made her Off-Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck's television satire Our House at Playwrights Horizons in New York City. She landed the lead role of Anna, the leader of the alien Visitors, in ABC's 2009â€"2011 series V, a remake of the 1984 series. In May 2011, shortly following the airing of the show's second season finale, it was announced that the show would not return for a third season. That same month, Baccarin joined the cast of the Showtime television drama Homeland, for which she won acclaim for her performance as the conflicted wife of a former prisoner of war. On July 18, 2013, she was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the 2013 Primetime Emmy awards for her performance.