Morena Baccarin

Biography

Morena Baccarin is a Brazilian-American actress known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi series Firefly and the follow-up film Serenity; the voice of Black Canary in Justice League Unlimited (2004-06), Vanessa in the superhero comedy film Deadpool and its sequel Deadpool 2; Jessica Brody in the Showtime series Homeland, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2013; and Dr. Leslie “Lee” Thompkins in the Fox series Gotham.

Baccarin was born in Rio de Janeiro, the daughter of actress Vera Setta 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).

Morena married her Gotham co-star Ben McKenzie in Brooklyn, New York, on June 2, 2017, Baccarin’s 38th birthday.