Summer Glau
Summer Glau | |
|---|---|
 Glau at WonderCon 2008 | |
| Born | Summer Lyn Glau July 24, 1981 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2002–present |
Summer Lyn Glau (/[invalid input: 'icon']ˈɡlaʊ/; born July 24, 1981) is an American actress, known for playing River Tam in the science fiction series Firefly and follow-up film Serenity, and for playing Cameron in the series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Early life
Glau was born in San Antonio, Texas, where she grew up with her two younger sisters (Kaitlin & Christie). She is of Scots-Irish and German descent.[1] Her mother is a school teacher and her father a general contractor.[2]
Glau received a scholarship to a ballet company and was home-schooled from grades 3 to 12 to accommodate her ballet training.[3] Glau was classically trained as a ballet dancer[4] and also studied tango and flamenco. After a serious ankle injury ended her dancing career,[4] Glau later moved to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue a more active acting career.
Career
Glau's first television credit was a guest role as a ballerina on the 2002 episode "Waiting in the Wings" of the television series Angel. There she caught the eye of director Joss Whedon, who later cast her in his critically acclaimed but short-lived TV series Firefly as River Tam, a role she reprised for the show's feature film sequel, Serenity. Glau previously auditioned for the role as a Pink Ranger on one of the Power Rangers series before meeting Joss Whedon.[5]
Glau appeared on the episode "Love Conquers Al" of the TV series Cold Case. She had a small role in the film Sleepover, in which she played a high school senior named Shelly. She also appeared in the CSI episode "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?", and the second season of The Unit; portraying Crystal Burns, the girlfriend of Jeremy Erhart. In 2006, Glau played Tess Doerner, a paranoid schizophrenic returnee in the second season premiere of The 4400 (episode "Wake-Up Call"), and became a recurring character from season 3 onwards. She also starred in the science fiction film Mammoth. Glau was cast in the ABC Family TV movie The Initiation of Sarah.
In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a series that debuted January 13, 2008, Glau played the role of Cameron Phillips, a Terminator infiltration unit sent back to protect John Connor and Sarah Connor from Skynet.[6] The seventh episode of the series, "The Demon Hand", included several scenes in which Glau (in character as Cameron) dances ballet. Glau also guest starred as herself in the 2009 episode "The Terminator Decoupling" from the second season of the CBS situation comedy The Big Bang Theory.[7]
On August 26, 2009, it was confirmed after much speculation that Glau would be joining the cast of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse for at least two episodes in the early part of the show's second season. She portrayed Bennett, the programmer for a rival Dollhouse.[8]
On March 12, 2010, it was announced that she would be joining the cast of NBC's The Cape in a leading role.[9] In June 2010 she was confirmed as the female lead in the black comedy flick Knights of Badassdom.[10]
Glau voiced Kara Zor-El in the DC Comics original animated movie Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.[11]
Awards
Glau was voted Best Actress of 2005 by readers of SFX magazine and received a 2005 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Serenity.[12] She was also runner up for Best Actress/Movie in the SyFy Genre Awards for 2006.[13]
In 2008, she received the Best Supporting Television Actress award at the 34th Saturn Awards for her performance as Cameron Phillips in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,[14] and was nominated for the Spike TV Scream Awards in the category Best Actress in a Science Fiction Movie or TV Show for the same role.[15]
Personal life
Summer Glau has been involved in a number of charities, such as B.C. Women's Hospital & Health Centre[16] where she autographed several teddy bears to be sold on eBay to help raise money for the Hospital. Glau is an animal lover and has shown support to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles,[17] where she hand-painted a decorative pet bowl that was later sold on eBay to raise funds. She became a vegetarian in 1995 but stated she ate steaks during the filming on the 2005 film Serenity due to the amount of physical training required.[18] Glau has trained in multiple forms of martial arts, including kung fu and kickboxing.[18][19][20][21]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Angel | Prima Ballerina | Episode: "Waiting in the Wings" |
| 2002–2003 | Firefly | River Tam | Series regular, 14 episodes |
| 2003 | Cold Case | Paige Pratt | Episode: "Love Conquers Al" |
| 2004 | Sleepover | Ticket Girl | |
| 2004 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Mandy Cooper | Episode: "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?" |
| 2005 | Serenity | River Tam | |
| 2005–2007 | The 4400 | Tess Doerner | 9 episodes |
| 2006 | Mammoth | Jack Abernathy | TV movie |
| 2006 | The Initiation of Sarah | Lindsey Goodwin | TV movie |
| 2006–2007 | The Unit | Crystal Burns | 7 episodes |
| 2008–2009 | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Cameron Phillips / Allison Young | Series regular, 31 episodes |
| 2009 | The Big Bang Theory | Herself | Episode: "The Terminator Decoupling" |
| 2009–2010 | Dollhouse | Bennett Halverson | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | Chuck | Greta | Episode: "Chuck Versus the Fear of Death" |
| 2010 | Deadly Honeymoon | Lindsey Ross Forrest | TV movie |
| 2010 | Superman/Batman: Apocalypse | Kara / Supergirl (voice) | Video |
| 2010 | Good Morning Rabbit | Lucy | Episode: "National Hamburger Day" |
| 2011 | Knights of Badassdom | Gwen | Post-Production |
| 2011 | The Legend of Hell's Gate: An American Conspiracy | Maggie Moon | Completed |
| 2011 | The Cape | Jamie Fleming / Code name "Orwell" | Series regular, 10 episodes |
| 2011 | Alphas[22] | Skylar Adams | Episode: "Catch and Release"[23] |
| 2011 | Music video for Keith Urban's song "Long Hot Summer" [24] | Unnamed main character | Credited in making-of video. |
References
- ^ "Summer Glau – About her career – Summer-glau.net Interview". Dollhouse, Firefly, Angel, Buffy. 16 April 2007.
- ^ "Summer Glau Biography". Film Reference.
- ^ Robinson, Tasha (24 February 2008). "Summer Glau Interview". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
- ^ a b Clehane, Diane (2008). "Steal Summer Glau's Workout Tips". Women's Health.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Huvane, Chris. "Hot Summer". GQ. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ Goldman, Eric (8 February 2007). "Serenity Comes to Sarah Connor". IGN. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
- ^ "SCOOP! Summer Glau Plays A LARPer In Joe Lynch's Knights Of Badassdom". Bleedingcool.com. 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ "Summer Glau Joins Joe Lynch's The Knights of Badassdom". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (12 March 2010). "Summer Glau moves to 'The Cape'". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ "'Terminator' Hottie Summer Glau Battles Heavy Metal Demons in 'Knights of Badassdom'!". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ Sands, Rich (28 June 2010). "First Look: Summer Glau Takes Off As Supergirl". TV Guide. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ "And the winners are..." Saturn Awards.
- ^ "Firefly, Harry Potter Sweep Genre Awards". Airlock Alpha. 1 October 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
- ^ ""Enchanted" and "Lost are the big winners at the 34th Annual Saturn Awards". Saturn Awards.
- ^ "Spike TV Announces Scream 2008". Spike. 10 September 2008.
- ^ "Online Auction – Bears that Care". BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre Foundation. 2007.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Supported Causes". summer-glau.net.
- ^ a b "Dance of the telepathic space assassin". Telegraph.co.uk. 1 October 2005. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
- ^ Bond, Jeff (18 January 2008). "Summer Glau". Geek Monthly.
- ^ Murray, Rebecca. "Summer Glau Talks About "Serenity"". About.com.
- ^ "Summer Glau: Serenity's psychic reveals all" (PDF). Summer-Glau.net.
- ^ "Comic-Con: Summer Glau to Guest on Alphas". ign.com. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
- ^ "Alphas – 1×07 – Catch and Release". summer-glau.net. 02 August 2011. Retrieved 03 August 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "Official video for Keith Urban's "Long Hot Summer"". Capitol Records Nashville. 02 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
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External links
- Summer Glau at IMDb