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Zuleikha Robinson

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Zuleikha Robinson
Robinson in 2020
Born
London, England
OccupationActress
Years active1996–present
Spouse
Sean Doyle
(m. 2009; div. 2014)
RelativesAlastair Robinson (brother)

Zuleikha Robinson is a British actress. She first came to attention as Yves Adele Harlow, a mysterious thief on the 2001 series The Lone Gunmen. She has appeared in the films Hidalgo (2004), The Merchant of Venice (2004) and The Namesake (2006). Robinson was a regular cast member on the series Lost (2009–10), the political thriller Homeland (2012) and the drama The Following (2015). In 2019, she joined the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for their 21st season, in the recurring role of Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Hadid.

Early life and education

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Zuleikha Robinson was born in London, England, and brought up in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia by an Indian-Burmese mother and an English father. She is also of Scottish, Burmese, Indian, Malay, and Iranian descent.[1][2][3][4]

She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles.

Career

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Robinson made her film debut in the 2000 experimental film Timecode. She gained attention on the 2001 series The Lone Gunmen, part of The X-Files franchise. She played Yves Adele Harlow, a mysterious thief who often aided (and sometimes hindered) the starring trio.

Robinson's first lead role brought her to Morocco, playing a 19th-century Arabian princess named Jazira, opposite Viggo Mortensen and Omar Sharif, in Disney's $80 million Western epic Hidalgo (2004), directed by Joe Johnston. The film tells the story of long-distance endurance horse rider, Frank Hopkins.[1][4] In 2006, she played a Bengali character called Moushumi Mazumdar in Mira Nair's acclaimed film The Namesake, based on the book of the same name.

In 2007, Robinson had a supporting role in the HBO series Rome, and the following year played Eva Marquez, a NYPD detective, in the Fox police drama New Amsterdam. Robinson joined the cast of Lost in 2009 during its fifth season, as recurring character Ilana Verdansky,[5] and was promoted to series regular for the sixth season. In 2012, she was cast in the second season of Homeland in a recurring role as Roya Hammad. Robinson also played a supporting role in the drama thriller film The Boy.[6]

In 2014, Robinson was cast in Intelligence as Amelia Hayes, Gabriel's wife and a former CIA field officer.

In 2016, Robinson was cast as Lady Capulet in the ABC period drama Still Star-Crossed produced by ShondaLand.[7]

Since 2019, she has a recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Hadid, bureau chief of sex crimes at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

Personal life

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Robinson's brother is field botanist Alastair Robinson.[3]

She was married to short film director Sean Doyle from 2009 to 2014.[8]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1999 Benefactor: Scenes from an Arrangement Hope Crowley Short film
2000 Timecode Lester Moore's Assistant
2002 Slash Suzie
2004 Hidalgo Jazira
2004 The Merchant of Venice Jessica
2006 The Namesake Moushumi Mazumdar
2009 Fist Full of Love Short film, also writer
2014 Ask Me Anything Afreen
2015 The Boy Mom
2016 American Fable Vera

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2001 The Lone Gunmen Yves Adele Harlow Series regular, 13 episodes
2002 The X Files Yves Adele Harlow / Lois Runce Episode: "Jump the Shark"
2007 Rome Gaia Recurring role, 7 episodes
2008 New Amsterdam Eva Marquez Series regular, 8 episodes
2009–10 Lost Ilana Verdansky Series regular, 16 episodes
Nominated — Monte Carlo TV Festival Award for Outstanding Actress - Drama Series (2010)
2012 Homeland Roya Hammad Recurring role, 9 episodes
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2013)
2013 The Mentalist Dr. Sonia Kidd Episode: "Red in Tooth and Claw"
2013 Covert Affairs Bianca Manning Recurring role, 4 episodes
2014 Intelligence Amelia Vaughn Recurring role, 3 episodes
2014 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Amara Recurring role, 4 episodes
2014 Kingdom Allison Recurring role, 3 episodes
2015 The Following Gwen Series regular, 15 episodes
2017 Salvation Catherine Adams Episode: "Another Trip Around the Sun"
2017 Still Star-Crossed Lady Capulet Series regular, 7 episodes
2017 The Exorcist Mouse Series regular, 10 episodes
2019–20 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Bureau Chief Assistant DA Vanessa Hadid Recurring role, 8 episodes
2021 Evil Jane Castle Episode: "F Is for Fire"
2023 Jack Ryan Zeyara Lemos 6 episodes

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
2010 Gold Derby Award Ensemble of the Year (with Naveen Andrews, Néstor Carbonell, Henry Ian Cusick, Alan Dale, Emilie de Ravin, Michael Emerson, Jeff Fahey, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Ken Leung, Evangeline Lilly & Terry O'Quinn ) Lost Nominated
Golden Nymph Award Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Lost Nominated
2013 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (with Morena Baccarin, Timothée Chalamet, Claire Danes, Rupert Friend, David Harewood, Diego Klattenhoff, Damian Lewis, David Marciano, Navid Negahban, Jackson Pace, Mandy Patinkin, Morgan Saylor, Jamey Sheridan & Hrach Titizian) Homeland Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b "Zuleikha Robinson". Zuleikha Robinson Online. 2005. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  2. ^ Sengupta, Reshmi (30 May 2005). "Living up to her namesake..." The Telegraph (Kolkata). Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  3. ^ a b Evening Standard Magazine (11 December 2009)
  4. ^ a b Abeel, Erica (2005). "Zuleikha Robinson". Zuleikha Robinson Online. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  5. ^ Mitovich, Matt (4 September 2008). "Lost Gives New Amsterdam Star New Role". TV Guide. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
  6. ^ Mitovich, Matt (4 September 2008). "The Boy cast also includes CLOVERFIELD's Mike Vogel, Zuleikha Robinson and WE ARE WHAT WE ARE's Bill Sage;". Fangoria. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
  7. ^ Nellie Andreeva (10 March 2016). "'Still Star-Crossed': ABC Pilot Casts Zuleikha Robinson, Finds Female Lead - Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  8. ^ Mason, Aiden (December 2019). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Zuleikha Robinson". TVOvermind. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
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