Morena Baccarin

Early life

Baccarin was born in Rio de Janeiro, the daughter of Vera Setta, an actress, and Fernando Baccarin, a journalist. She is of Italian descent. When she was seven, 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 (1996–2000).

Career

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

She served as Natalie Portman's understudy in the Central Park production of The Seagull. The science-fiction drama Firefly (2002) 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 2009–11 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 received good notices for her role 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.

Baccarin appeared alongside Melissa McCarthy in the 2015 action-comedy Spy as agent Karen Walker. In 2016, Baccarin appeared alongside Ryan Reynolds in the hit movie Deadpool as Vanessa Carlysle.

Personal life

Baccarin married American film producer and director Austin Chick in November 2011. Their son, Julius, was born on October 22, 2013. Chick filed for divorce in July 2015, citing irreconcilable differences. On March 18, 2016 Baccarin and Chick's divorce became official.

In September 2015, Baccarin said in a legal declaration involving her divorce that she planned to marry her Gotham co-star, Ben McKenzie, adding that she was pregnant with their child. The couple have a daughter, Frances Laiz Setta Schenkkan, born March 2, 2016. Baccarin and McKenzie announced their engagement in November 2016. They were married on June 2, 2017 in Brooklyn, New York.