Gina Torres

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. 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), then 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 in 2006 she joined the cast of the television drama Standoff.

Extra credit: Torres married her Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne in 2002... Torres announced on her website in January 2007 that she and Fishburne were expecting a child, to be born in summer 2007.