Zuleikha Robinson

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 (2004) and The Namesake (2006). Robinson later 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: SVU for their 21st season, in the recurring role of Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Hadid.

Zuleikha Robinson
Robinson in 2020
Born	(1977-06-29) 29 June 1977 London, England
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1996–present
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Spouse(s)	Sean Doyle ​ ( m. 2009; div. 2014)
Relatives	Alastair Robinson (brother)

Personal life

Robinson was born in London and brought up in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia by an Indian-Burmese mother and an English father. She is also of Scottish and Iranian descent.[1][2][3][4] She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. She is the sister of British field botanist Dr. Alastair Robinson.[3] Robinson married short film director Sean Doyle in 2009, divorcing in 2014.[5]

Career

Robinson has 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,[6] 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 journalist and secret al-Qaeda operative Roya Hammad. Robinson also played a supporting role in the drama thriller film The Boy.[7]

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.[8]

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.

Filmography

Film

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

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	Still Star-Crossed	Lady Capulet	Series regular, 7 episodes
2017	The Exorcist	Mouse	Series regular, 10 episodes
2019–present	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Bureau Chief Assistant DA Vanessa Hadid	Recurring role

References

1. "Zuleikha Robinson". Zuleikha Robinson Online. 2005. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
2. Sengupta, Reshmi (30 May 2005). "Living up to her namesake..." The Telegraph (Kolkata). Retrieved 6 May 2009.
3. Evening Standard Magazine (11 December 2009)
4. Abeel, Erica (2005). "Zuleikha Robinson". Zuleikha Robinson Online. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
5. Mason, Aiden (December 2019). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Zuleikha Robinson". TVOvermind. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
6. Mitovich, Matt (4 September 2008). "Lost Gives New Amsterdam Star New Role". TV Guide. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
7. 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.
8. Nellie Andreeva. "'Still Star-Crossed': ABC Pilot Casts Zuleikha Robinson, Finds Female Lead - Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved 10 March 2016.

External links

• Zuleikha Robinson on IMDb