Zuleikha Robinson (born 29 June 1977) 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 ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'' (2004) and '' The Namesake'' (2006). Robinson later was a regular cast member on the series '' Lost'' (2009–10), the political thriller ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...

'' (2012) and the drama ''

The Following ''The Following'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Kevin Williamson, and jointly produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. The first season follows former FBI agent Ryan Hardy ( Kevin Baco ...

'' (2015). In 2019, she joined the cast of '' Law & Order: SVU'' for their 21st season, in the recurring role of Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Hadid.

Early life

Robinson was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and brought up in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

by an Indian-Burmese mother and an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

father. She is also of Scottish, Malay and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

ian descent.Evening Standard Magazine (11 December 2009) She is a graduate of the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ar ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. She is the sister of British field botanist Dr.

Alastair Robinson Alastair S. Robinson (born 1980) is a taxonomist and field botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus ''Nepenthes'', for which he is regarded as a world authority.Ellison, A. & Adamec, L. eds., 2017. Contributing Author Information ...

Career

Robinson has made her film debut in the 2000 experimental film ''

Timecode A timecode (alternatively, time code) is a sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing synchronization system. Timecode is used in video production, show control and other applications which require temporal coordinatio ...

''. 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 Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

, playing a 19th-century Arabian princess named Jazira, opposite

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. R (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor, writer, director, producer, musician, and multimedia artist. Born and raised in the State of New York to a Danish father and American mother, he also lived in Argenti ...

and

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...

, in Disney's $80 million Western epic '' Hidalgo'' (2004), directed by

Joe Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston II (born May 13, 1950) is an American film director, producer, writer, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing effects-driven films, including '' Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' (1989), '' Jumanji'' (19 ...

. The film tells the story of long-distance endurance horse rider, Frank Hopkins. In 2006, she played a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the ...

character called Moushumi Mazumdar in

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural sphe ...

'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 , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

'', and the following year played Eva Marquez, a

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

detective, in the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

police drama ''

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...

''. Robinson joined the cast of '' Lost'' in 2009 during its fifth season, as recurring character Ilana Verdansky, and was promoted to series regular for the sixth season. In 2012, she was cast in the second season of ''

'' in a recurring role as Roya Hammad. Robinson also played a supporting role in the drama thriller film '' The Boy''. In 2014, Robinson was cast in ''

Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as the a ...

'' as Amelia Hayes, Gabriel's wife and a former CIA field officer. In 2016, Robinson was cast as

Lady Capulet William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'' contains a relatively distinctive cast of characters. In addition to the play's eponymous protagonists, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, the play, which is set in Verona, Italy, contains roles ...

in the ABC period drama '' Still Star-Crossed'' produced by

ShondaLand Shondaland (stylized as ShondaLand from 2005 to 2016 and shondaland thereafter) is an American television production company founded by television writer/producer Shonda Rhimes. She founded it to be one of the production companies of her first s ...

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

Personal life

Robinson was married to

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

director Sean Doyle from 2009 to 2014.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Zuleikha Living people 1977 births 20th-century British actresses 21st-century British actresses Actresses from London Anglo-Burmese people Anglo-Indian people British actresses of Asian descent British actresses of Indian descent English television actresses English film actresses English people of Burmese descent English people of Indian descent English people of Iranian descent English people of Malay descent English people of Malaysian descent English people of Scottish descent 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people