Gina Torres Biography

Actress Gina Torres is a New Yorker of Afro-Cuban heritage whose beauty-and-brawn combo earned her roles in a string of sci-fi and fantasy projects, including the TV series Firefly and the two sequels to 1999’s The Matrix.

Gina Torres began her career on stage in the early 1990s, then started working in television. By the late ’90s she was a familiar presence on TV, thanks to recurring roles in shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (with Kevin Sorbo) and Xena: Warrior Princess (with Lucy Lawless). She had the lead role in the short-lived series Cleopatra 2525 (2001), then briefly joined the cast of Angel (as Jasmine).

Torres also co-starred in the sci-fi series Firefly and appeared on the big screen in 2003’s The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (starring Keanu Reeves). She has since played regular characters in limited roles on Alias (with Jennifer Garner), 24 (with Kiefer Sutherland) and The Shield (with Michael Chiklis). In 2005 she reprised her role as Zoë Washburne in the Firefly feature film Serenity, and since then she’s worked steadily in television, including the series Standoff (2006-07), Gossip Girl (2009) and Huge (2010). She landed a long-running role in the legal drama Suits (first broadcast in 2011), taking the role of Jessica Pearson, the managing partner of the show’s law firm.