Morena Baccarin Returns for This Summer's Blockbuster, Deadpool & Wolverine

Actor Morena Baccarin has built her career playing strong, complicated, and often devious women in cult-favorite Sci-fi TV shows and big-budget comic book adaptations. Her first TV job out of Julliard was a starring role as Inarra Serra, a 26th century courtesan, in Joss Whedon’s space western Firefly. The show’s cancellation after only one season is still lamented by sci-fi fans over 20 years later, but it cemented Baccarin’s status as, if not the queen, then certainly a high priestess of the genre.

She went on to play Adria, the galaxy-conquering leader of the Ori in Stargate SG-1, and Anna, the smooth-talking leader of a covert alien invasion of Earth in V. She entered the DC universe as a voiceover artist in numerous Batman-related projects, then took on the role of Dr. Leslie Thompkins in Fox’s Gotham, before making her Marvel debut as Vanessa Carlyle in 2016’s smash hit Deadpool.

She returns to the Deadpool universe this summer in Deadpool & Wolverine, and is excited about what comes next. In 2025, she’s starring in the Fire Country spinoff Sheriff Country at CBS, and then who knows? Perhaps her own Marvel film or maybe even a return to her first love, the New York stage.
By Charles Manning| Photography by Mike Ruiz

Top by Laruicci
Earrings by Laruicci
Belt by Stylist’s own
Gloves by Stylist’s own
Glasses by Akobi at The Confessional Showroom

How is it returning to Deadpool and your character, Vanessa Carlysle, for a third time?
I love Vanessa. She's funny and smart and outspoken and not your traditional female love interest, so I absolutely love playing her. She makes a smaller appearance in this film, since it’s a kind of Deadpool/Wolverine spin-off, but the film does show some pivotal moments [between Deadpool and Vanessa] that really deepen their relationship. I'm really excited that she's remained in the world and I hope we can continue to tell her story together.

How would you like to see that story evolve?
So far, we’ve only seen her as she relates to Wade [Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds]. We haven’t seen her — her life, her past, her future. In the comics, she’s Copycat [a mutant with the ability to shape-shift into anyone]. I don’t know if there are any plans to explore that, but I think it would be really cool.

The Zoe Dress by Hervé Léger
Trench Coat by Michael Kors Collection 
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Shoes by United Nude
Earrings by Laruicci

Were you into comic books and sci-fi as a kid?
Not at all. I grew up in the ‘80s, so I watched Dungeons and Dragons, and I was into Star Wars and Labyrinth — which is sort of more fantasy — but sci-fi as a genre wasn't a major interest of mine. And I wasn't into comic books either.

If I’m being honest, I probably looked down on those genres, previously. I didn’t think of them as high art. But boy was I wrong! They are full of amazing mythologies and stories, with so many strong, interesting female characters, and I feel so lucky to have been a part of so many fantastic sci-fi shows.

Why do you think you’ve been so successful in those genres?
It probably has something to do with my theatrical training, which has allowed me to access a broader range of emotions. That can be really helpful when you’re working on sci-fi and action projects.

Left:
To by CESAR GALINDO 
Dress by Silk Laundry
Corset by Layana Aguilar
Tie by Stylist’s own
Boots by Stylist’s own
Ring by Laruicci
Right:
Top by La Pointe
Skirt by La Pointe
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How so?
When you’re acting in front of a green screen — like when you’re acting on stage — it’s all in your imagination. Somebody tells you you’re going over a giant cliff and there’s a crevice a mile deep below you and then it’s up to you to use your imagination to help you have the feeling you need to be having in that moment. What’s interesting is that everyone will imagine that cliff and that crevice differently. And then you see it later [at the screening] with the special effect and sometimes you're like, ‘Wow, that's really great!’ And other times you're like, ‘Oh, if I had realized it was going to be like that I would have done it differently.’”

How do you prepare before going on set?
It's different for every job. I definitely learned more Method-based acting [Stanislovski technique] at Juilliard, but I rarely use that, to be honest. I try to connect with characters through the story and the script and the overall message and arc of the piece. And I try not to play characters I don't like or don’t connect with. Once I get into someone's psyche and head, it's easy to identify with their emotions and justify what they're doing.

And then sometimes there’s physical preparation. like if you’re working on stunts. And sometimes there’s a new skill or a specialty the character has that you have to learn and that is always fun to dive into. And then, [on the day of the shoot], because we shoot shows and movies out of sequence, I just try to keep track of where I am in the story, and what's happened so far from my character.

What sort of new skills have you learned recently?
I did a movie [in 2023] with Pierce Brosnan called Fast Charlie, where I played a taxidermist. I'd seen taxidermy, but I'd never really thought about what goes into it. So I did a deep dive into taxidermy, and women taxidermists in particular and what draws them to it. I spoke to a few and watched one taxidermy a bird. I was really taken with the artistry of it and how intimate it is and the stories they are trying to tell with each piece. It’s really cool.

Left:
The Lillian Gown by Hervé Léger
Earrings: Laruicci
Shoes: Stylist’s own
Gloves: Stylist’s own
Right:
Monica Off-Shoulder Gown by Bronx and Banco
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Shoes by Giuseppe Zanotti
Earrings by Laruicci
Ring by Laruicci

How was it making that film?
It was great. I had some really nice heart-to-heart moments with Pierce while we were making that film. We commiserated about scenes that made us nervous and moments we were working on and it was just really refreshing. Knowing that someone as great and accomplished as him is always, always nervous before new projects or certain scenes was such a comfort to me. And it made me realize that whenever I’ve worked with an actor who seems really calm and collected, they weren’t that good.

I’d actually really like to revisit my character in that film, Marcie. I’d love to know what happens to [her and Charlie] after the film ends. I feel like that about a lot of things I’ve shot, though — that the characters are so compelling that I would love to see them in another story.

Which of your past characters would you most like to revisit?
Probably Jessica Brody in Homeland. I barely scratched the surface of that character and I really want to know what else happened to that family. But that story played out so quickly!

Left:
Top by La Pointe
Skirt by La Pointe
Earrings by Laruicci
Right:
To by CESAR GALINDO 
Dress by Silk Laundry
Corset by Layana Aguilar
Tie by Stylist’s own
Boots by Stylist’s own
Ring by Laruicci

What is it that you look for in a character?
I’m really drawn to strong women, but women who are also able to be vulnerable and mess up and not be perfect, even though they strive to be. Women who have this sort of flaw of wanting to be everything for everybody, but they just can't. I really identify with that. And I love characters and people that really work hard at something, whether they succeed or not, that's where the juiciness of the story is.

Any chance you’ll return to the theater?
I’d like to. There’s really nothing that compares to theater. Everything is so heightened.I just have to find the right project. For me, it’s all about the material. You have to feel connected to it, because it's just you up there on that stage. And a play can be a very long and arduous process if you're not in love with it.

Left:
The Lillian Gown by Hervé Léger
Earrings by Laruicci
Shoes: Stylist’s own
Gloves: Stylist’s own
Right:
Top by Laruicci
Dress by Layana Aguilar
Skirt by Layana Aguilar
Shoes by United Nude

Do you see a lot of theater?
I do. I was in London shooting recently and I saw a bunch of plays. I saw People, Places & Things [by Duncan MacMillan]. That play was... honestly, I don’t know that I want to do that play, because I don’t know that I can, but [Denise Gough’s] performance was gut-wrenching and terrifying to watch. She was just so incredible and I’m really looking for something like that, where it feels like a sort of transcendent experience.

Those plays are hard to find. Not many playwrights these days seem interested in that kind of catharsis.
And I need that. I want to feel something. Even when it’s a comedy, it’s like, I want to enjoy it too. Life is too short and any job I’m offered is weighed against the time I’m not spending with my family, so it better be great.

CREW CREDITS:
Talent: Morena Baccarin
PhotoBook Editor-In-Chief: Alison Hernon
PhotoBook Creative Director + Photographer: Mike Ruiz
Interview by Charles Manning
Fashion Stylist: Alison Hernon at Exclusive Artists
Hair: Peter Butler
Makeup by Gianpaolo Ceciliato using NARS Cosmetics for TraceyMattingly.com
Set Design: Jasin Cadic
Assistant Fashion Stylist: Sienna Ropert
Fashion Market Assistant: Romi Bachar
Fashion Stylist Intern: Atėnė Asakavičiūtė
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine

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EntertainmentAlison Hernon#actress, #sci-fi, #Julliard, #Stargate, #Batman, #Deadpool, #Deadpool & Wolverine, #Vanessa Carlysle, #Dungeons and Dragons, #Star Wars