Mira Furlan


Mira Furlan is a Croatian-American actress and singer. Internationally, she is best known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn on the science fiction television series Babylon 5, and as Danielle Rousseau on Lost. Also, she appeared in the multiple award-winning films such as When Father Was Away on Business and The Abandoned.

Early life

Furlan was born to an intellectual and academic family that included a large number of university professors in Zagreb, which was at that time part of Yugoslavia. She was born to a Croatian-Jewish mother, and a father of Slovene-Croat heritage.
As a child, Furlan was obsessed with American rock and roll music. She became interested in acting as a teenager.
Furlan graduated from the Academy for Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and holds a university degree, equivalent to a B.F.A., in theatre. Simultaneously, she took language classes at the university in Zagreb, becoming fluent in English, German, and French.

Career

Acting

Furlan was a member of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and frequently appeared in Yugoslav television and films. She played Ankica Vidmar in the film When Father Was Away on Business, which won the Palme d'Or at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In the late 1980s, she performed in theater productions in both Zagreb and Belgrade.
Furlan became a member of the Actors Studio in 1992 after moving to New York City to flee turmoil in Yugoslavia. Later that year, her theater contacts in the U.S. helped her get the necessary work permits to perform with the Indiana Repertory Theatre as the lead role in Yerma.
She appeared on the stage in New York City and Los Angeles. She played Minbari Ambassador Delenn for all five seasons of Babylon 5, and some of the associated TV movies. From 2004–10 she played Danielle Rousseau on Lost. In 2009, she appeared on an episode of NCIS, titled "South By Southwest".
In 2002, she returned to Croatia after eleven years to take the lead role in Rade Šerbedžija's Ulysses Theatre Company's production of Euripides' Medea.

Singing

In the 1980s, Furlan briefly appeared as singer for Le Cinema, a spin-off from the rock band Film. In 1998, she released an album, Songs From Movies That Have Never Been Made.

Writing

Furlan wrote the play Until Death Do Us Part, which is set in 1970s Zagreb. A collection of her columns in the now-defunct Croatian magazine Feral Tribune was published as the book Totalna rasprodaja in 2010.

Personal life

Furlan's husband is director Goran Gajić, who is an ethnic Serb. He directed her in an episode of Babylon 5 and several plays, including a production of Sophocles' Antigone.
Furlan was active in the Yugoslav feminist movement in the 1980s.
Twice a month during the late 1980s, Furlan made the three hour commute between Zagreb and Belgrade, where her husband was based, to act in theater productions in both cities. After the Croatian War of Independence began in 1991, she was fired by the Croatian National Theater for refusing to quit acting in a Belgrade theater production. An ensuing public smear campaign turned her colleagues and friends against her as she received threatening messages on her answering machine. The couple finally left in November 1991 with what they could carry and moved to New York City.
Furlan gave birth to the couple's first child in 1998.

Awards

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016Just Add MagicThe Traveller"Just Add Mamma P", Season 1, Episode 7
2009NCISDina Risi"South by Southwest", Season 6, Episode 17
2008Vratiće se rodeJagoda
2004–2010LostDanielle RousseauRecurring Role
Guest : 22 episodes
1997Spider-ManSilver Sablevoice
1993–1998Babylon 5Delenn

YearTitleRoleNotes
2015Payday 2The ButcherVoice and likeness, also appeared in live action trailer