Morena Baccarin has certainly come to be in high demand since rising from obscurity as part of the ensemble cast of the oddball sci-fi/western "Firefly."

She played Inara in that series, created by sci-fi wunderkind Joss Whedon (the man behind the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV series, who has since gone on to producing the big-screen Marvel movies). Her character was a "companion," which was that show's term for a very high-class escort, though the nature -- and respectability -- of her work was always a touchy subject among the show's characters. This, of course, required her to turn up the sex appeal.

She recently wrapped, as you point out, the mini-series "The Red Tent," based on the popular novel of the same name. Her current gig is a long guest arc on Fox's "Gotham" (a geek-friendly role that should please her old "Firefly" fan base).

Baccarin was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to parents of Italian ancestry. However, when she was just seven years old, her family moved to New York, where she eventually attended the prestigious Juilliard performing arts school.

Her training is serving her well as her star continues to rise. The temporary nature of her "Gotham" role will leave her without a TV spot in the spring, but that could be fixed shortly afterwards if her new pilot, "Warriors," is picked up by ABC for the fall. The pilot follows a group of military doctors and nurses at a hospital inspired by the real-world Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

And while so far she has remained a TV actress first and foremost, that could change as well this spring when she appears in the big-screen comedy "Spy." The spoof should draw all sorts of attention, having been written and directed by modern comedy it-boy Paul Feig (who directed the 2011 smash "Bridesmaids") and starring modern comedy it-girl Melissa McCarthy (who was one of Feig's "Bridesmaids" and stars in TV's "Mike & Molly" along with just about everything else these days).

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