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Claudia Black
Australian and American actress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Claudia Lee Black[1] (born 11 October 1972[2]) is an Australian and American actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in Farscape (1999–2003), Vala Mal Doran in Stargate SG-1 (2004–2007) and Sharon "Shazza" Montgomery in the film Pitch Black (2000).
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Black has appeared in numerous television series, particularly those in the science fiction genre. Her roles include Dahlia in The Originals (2015), Dr. Sabine Lommers in Containment (2016), and Klothow in Ahsoka (2023). She has also had prominent voice roles in video games, including Admiral Daro'Xen and Matriarch Aethyta in Mass Effect, Chloe Frazer in Uncharted, Morrigan in Dragon Age, Whitney Chang in The Amazing Spider-Man, Tess Everis in Destiny, and Samantha Byrne in the Gears of War series.[3]
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Early life
Black was born and raised in Sydney, New South Wales, the daughter of Jules and Judy Black, who are both medical academics.[4] Her father is a gynaecologist, and her mother is a professor of pharmacology at the University of Sydney.[5] She has an older sister named Georgina.[6] Black is Jewish, and a descendant of German Jews who escaped the Holocaust.[7] She studied at the Anglican Kambala School in Sydney.[1] She has lived in numerous countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.[1]
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Career
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Film and television
Black began her acting career in her native Australia. Her first leading role was as Claire Bonacci in A Country Practice. She had a main role in the New Zealand soap opera City Life, playing the Greek lawyer Angela Kostapas.[1]
In 1999, Black was cast to play Aeryn Sun in the science fiction series Farscape, a co-production between the United States and Australia.[8] She gained international recognition for her role in the series, and was nominated for a Saturn Award in the Best Actress category in 2001, 2002 and 2005, winning in the latter. During this time she also appeared in the feature films Pitch Black and Queen of the Damned.
Despite being planned to run for five seasons, Farscape was cancelled after its fourth season in 2003.[9] Black later reprised her role as Aeryn in the miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars in 2004, which concluded the series' plot. In the same year she appeared as Vala Mal Doran in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Prometheus Unbound".[10] Her performance was well received and she was invited to reprise her role in a recurring capacity in the show's ninth season, after series regular Amanda Tapping left the series on maternity leave. Black appeared in eight episodes of the ninth season and returned to the series as a regular cast member for the tenth and final season. She also starred in Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, two direct-to-video films that wrapped up the series' story lines.
Black has also performed in theatre. She played Portia in a tour of The Merchant of Venice.[1] She has had parts in Spotlight on Women, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Loose Ends and Pick Ups for the Belvoir Street Theatre and Little Women and The World Knot for the Bicentennial Opera.[1]
In the NBC TV show Life (2007), Black was cast in the supporting role of Jennifer Conover for the initial pilot.[11] Due to her second pregnancy, the part was recast and the role was given to actress Jennifer Siebel when the series was bought by the TV network.
Black has appeared in numerous television series in the United States, including recurring roles in The Originals and The Nevers. In 2016 she played the major role of Dr. Sabine Lommers in the CW miniseries Containment.[12] She portrayed the character Klothow in the first season of the Star Wars series Ahsoka. In 2025 she stated that she would not reprise her role in the second season.[13] She is currently starring as Cossutia in the Starz series Spartacus: House of Ashur.[14] Black's film roles include Joan in the thriller film Time Now and Karla Grey in the science fiction film Deus, which she also produced.[15]
Voiceover work
Since the early 2000s Black has been a prolific voice actress in video games. She has gained particular attention for her work with BioWare's Dragon Age and Mass Effect series. Her son Odin Thurkettle voiced her character's son in Dragon Age: Inquisition. She also played Chloe Frazer in the Uncharted series.[16] In 2016, she appeared in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare as Engineer Audrey "Mac" MaCallum.[17] She has narrated several audiobooks, including George R. R. Martin's Dreamsongs.[18] In 2014, she had a voice-over role in Rick and Morty as Ma-Sha in the episode "Raising Gazorpazorp".[19] She lent her voice to the character of Sheryl Goodspeed in the animated series Final Space.
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Personal life
Black married her husband, Jamie Thurkettle, in 2004. They have two sons, Odin and Viggo, born in 2005 and 2007 respectively. Black and Thurkettle divorced in 2016.[20] Black currently resides in the United States and is an American citizen.[21] She lives in Los Angeles.[22]
Black has spoken at length about her experiences with personal trauma, which inspired her to become a trauma coach.[23] Although raised Jewish, she has fallen out of touch with the religion and identifies as a lapsed Jew.[24]
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
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Awards
- 2018 – Behind the Voice Actors Awards, Best Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Video Game: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- 2015 – Behind the Voice Actors Awards, Best Female Vocal Performance in a Video Game in a Supporting Role: Dragon Age: Inquisition
- 2009 – The Constellation Awards, Best Female Performance in a 2008 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series: Stargate: Continuum
- 2007 – The Constellation Awards, Best Female Performance in a 2006 Science Fiction Television Episode: Stargate SG-1: "Memento Mori"
- 2004 – Saturn Award, Best Actress, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars
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References
External links
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