Morena Baccarin was born on June 2, 1979 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She studied at the La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York and attended the prestigious Juilliard School, where she starred in a number of plays including Mary Stuart, The Seagull, The Importance of Being Ernest and Love’s Labours Lost. During her time on the independent film, Rodger Dodger, Baccarin’s interaction with film stars Campbell Scott and Isabella Rosellini inspired her to head to Los Angeles. This turned out to be a fruitful move for her when writer/director Joss Whedon, who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its offshoot, Angel, cast her as a regular on his show Firefly and its ensuing film, Serenity. Baccarin has since appeared in several other shows including the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, the drama The O.C. and the sci-fi program, Stargate SG-1.

Nurse Jessica Kivala, played by Morena Baccarin on Heartland, is a bright, young and diligent nurse at St. Jude Hospital. She is presently dating chief surgeon, Dr. Grant and fortunately, is in good terms with his daughter, Thea. She isn’t too pleased with Grant’s lengthy working hours but is determined to make their relationship work.


(Photo courtesy of TNT)