Morena Baccarin Bio

Morena Baccarin Biography

 

Brazilian born and New York raised actress Morena Baccarin is most known for her role as Inara Serra in Firefly and the follow up film Serenity. Outside of this hit series, she is noted for her work with Stargate SG-1. She is also trying to get her film career underway as well.

 

Morena Baccarin was born June 2, 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her mother was Vera Setta, a Brazilian actress of television and various stage productions. When Baccarin was only ten years old, she and the family relocated to Greenwich Village, New York.

 

It was here she attended Fiorello H LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Proving an intellect as well as a beauty, Baccarin then attended Julliard for their theater program where she was classmates with Wes Bentley and Glenn Howerton.

 

Taking her newly learned skills to the screen, Baccarin made her film debut in 2001 with Perfume opposite Leslie Mann. An improvised script, the film was a flop with audiences.

 

In the same year, she appeared in Way Off Broadway. This time around, Baccarin scored a film festival hit. Baccarin shared the praise with costars Brad Beyer, Jordan Gelber, and Forbes March. She even took home the Wine Country Film Festival award for Best Actress.

 

Realizing that she needed to be close to the hub of films in order to succeed, Baccarin appeared in one last play before relocating to Los Angeles. She was understudy to Natalie Portman in the highly praised production of The Seagull.

 

Next, Baccarin took a very small film role in 2002’s Roger Dodger. The cast list proved strong with Campbell Scott, Isabella Rossellini, Elizabeth Berkley, and Jennifer Beals.

 

But it was the latter half of 2002 that would provide the biggest vehicle for Baccarin. In that year, she signed on for the new Joss Whedon series Firefly. An odd mix of western and sci-fi, no one was sure what to think about the format or premise. The cast was rounded out with Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Summer Glau, and Adam Baldwin, and the show was an immediate hit with audiences. The show aired for one season before the plug was pulled to the disappointment and shock of fans.

 

After enough outrage was expressed by the show’s audience, the cast was able to reunite in 2005 in order to create the follow up film Serenity.

 

With her television show pulled out from under her, Baccarin was back to square one. Playing on her newfound fame, she appeared in the pilot Still Life, but the program was not picked up by any television executives.

 

She went on to voice Black Canary in several episodes of Justice League along with Amy Acker and Virginia Madsen. Playing to the younger crowd, Baccarin also took a short recurring role on The OC with Peter Gallagher, Mischa Barton, Adam Brody, and Rachel Bilson.

 

Having found her greatest success in television productions, Baccarin continued this trend and had guest appearances on many series. Most notably, she had a stint with Stargate SG-1 as Adria. Cast regulars included Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Beau Bridges, and others.

 

Her 2007 film Sands of Oblivion with Richard Kind was a bust, and she once again retreated to television for a lead in Heartland along with Treat Williams.

 

Baccarin has recently completed shooting Stargate: The Ark of Truth, and she is filming The Boy in the Box. The film is rumored to star Josh Lucas, James Van Der Beek, and Rhona Mitra.




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