Claudia Black

Claudia Lee Black (born 11 October 1972) is an Australian actress, best known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in Farscape, Vala Mal Doran in Stargate SG-1 and Sharon "Shazza" Montgomery in the film Pitch Black. She has had prominent roles in video games, such as Chloe Frazer in Uncharted, Morrigan in Dragon Age, Admiral Daro'Xen and Matriarch Aethyta in Mass Effect and Tess Everis in Destiny and Samantha Byrne in Gears of War 3, Gears of War 4, and Gears 5. She also had a recurring role as Dahlia in The Originals and starred as Dr. Sabine Lommers in The CW's Containment. Early life Black was born and raised in a Jewish family in Sydney, New South Wales. She studied at the Anglican Kambala School in Sydney. She has lived in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. Her parents are medical academics based in Australia, Jules and Judy Black. Career Black has acted in Australia and New Zealand in television and movies. She portrayed a transgender woman named Jill Mayhew in the Australian television series Good Guys, Bad Guys. She had a leading role in the New Zealand soap opera City Life playing the role of Greek lawyer Angela Kostapas. Black gained international recognition for her role in Farscape and was nominated for a Saturn Award in the Best Actress category in 2001, 2002 and 2005, winning in the latter. She has appeared in the feature films Queen of the Damned and Pitch Black. After Farscape ended, Black appeared as Vala Mal Doran in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Prometheus Unbound"; her performance was well-received and she was invited to reprise her role in the show's ninth season when series regular Amanda Tapping went on maternity leave. Black returned to the series as a regular cast member for the tenth and final season and also starred in Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum films that wrapped up the series' story lines. Black co-starred with Ben Browder in both series.