Summer Glau (/ɡlaʊ/; born July 24, 1981[1]) is an American actress best known for her roles in science fiction and fantasy television series: as River Tam in Firefly (2002) and its continuation film Serenity (2005), as Tess Doerner in The 4400 (2005–2007), as Cameron in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009), and as Isabel Rochev / Ravager in Arrow (2013–2014).
Summer Glau | |
|---|---|
 Glau at the 2019 Phoenix Fan Fusion | |
| Born | July 24, 1981 San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Spouse |
Val Morrison (m. 2014) |
| Children | 2 |
| Signature | |
 | |
Early life
editGlau was born in San Antonio, Texas, where she grew up with her two younger sisters Kaitlin and Christie. She is of Scots-Irish and German ancestry.[2]
Glau received a scholarship to a ballet company and was homeschooled from grades 3 to 12 to accommodate her ballet training.[3] In addition to her classical ballet training, she has studied tango and flamenco.[4]
When Glau first moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000s, she spent her time as a traveling dancer, living off paychecks from corporate events, weddings, and resort gigs.[5]
Career
edit
Early career: 2002-2008
editGlau's first television credit was a guest role on a 2002 episode of the television series Angel. In the episode, she was a prima ballerina who danced the titular character Giselle by Adolphe Adam.
Having met director Joss Whedon in Angel, Glau was later cast in Whedon's critically acclaimed but short-lived TV series Firefly as River Tam, a role she later reprised for the show's feature film sequel Serenity. Her portrayal of River Tam, a girl who was intellectually gifted but mentally unstable due to being subject to government experimentation to create an assassins program, was widely praised and garnered her a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006.[6] For her fight scenes in Serenity, she underwent 6 months of rigorous wushu training in Alhambra.[7] In an interview, Glau indicated having previously auditioned for the role of a Power Ranger (White Wild Force Ranger Alyssa Enrilé) in Power Rangers Wild Force but lost to actress Jessica Rey before meeting Whedon.[8]
After Serenity, Glau appeared on the episode "Love Conquers Al" of the TV series Cold Case. She had a small role in the film Sleepover, in which she played the high school senior Shelly. She also appeared in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?", and season two of The Unit as Crystal Burns (the girlfriend of Jeremy Erhart from Michigan).
In 2006, Glau played Tess Doerner, a paranoid schizophrenic returnee in season two's premiere of The 4400, and became a recurring character from season three onwards. She also starred in the horror comedy film Mammoth and was cast in the ABC Family TV movie The Initiation of Sarah.
In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a series that debuted in early 2008, Glau played the role of Cameron Phillips, a reprogrammed Terminator infiltration unit sent back by future John Connor to protect John's younger self and his mother Sarah Connor from Skynet.[9] The series' seventh episode, "The Demon Hand", featured several scenes in which Glau (in character as Cameron) dances ballet, including one set to Chopin's Nocturne in C# Minor. Glau also played Allison Young (Cameron's human doppelgänger) in the second-season episodes "Allison from Palmdale" and "Born to Run". In 2008, she won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television for her portrayal of Cameron.[10]
2009-present
editGlau guest starred as herself in a 2009 episode of the CBS situation comedy The Big Bang Theory.[11] In the episode, she encountered the protagonists on a train ride from Los Angeles to Oakland, and Howard, Raj, and Leonard fought awkwardly for her affections.
On August 26, 2009, Glau joined the cast of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse for 4 episodes in season two. She portrayed Bennett, the programmer for a rival Dollhouse.[12] She also portrayed the protagonist Lindsey in the 2010 film Deadly Honeymoon and supporting character Maggie in the 2011 film The Legend of Hell's Gate: An American Conspiracy, which was filmed close to her residence in Boerne, Texas.[13] She also guest starred as Greta in a 2010 episode of the TV series Chuck, reuniting with her Firefly co-star Adam Baldwin.[14]
In 2011, Glau portrayed the leading role of Orwell in NBC's The Cape, a mysterious blogger who assisted the main character in crime fighting activities.[15] On July 11, 2011, Glau was cast on Alphas as Skylar Adams, a recurring alpha with outstanding intellectual ability and mother to Zoe Adams, and a former acquaintance of Dr. Rosen and Nina.[16] Moreover, she voiced Kara Zor-El in the DC Comics original animated movie Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.[17]
In 2012, Glau played the main character Christine in the Hallmark film Help for the Holidays, an elf who went on a special assignment to help a family regain their Christmas spirit.[18] In 2013, Glau was a female lead in the horror comedy film Knights of Badassdom, in which she took up larping.[19] During this time, she also had minor guest appearances on the TV series Grey's Anatomy and Hawaii Five-0.
In the CW superhero series Arrow, Glau portrayed the recurring antagonist Isabel Rochev (Ravager) in its second season in 2013. She also guest starred as Olivia Frampton in season 2 of the black comedy series NTSF:SD:SUV::. In 2014, Glau appeared in all 12 episodes of the TV series Sequestered, portraying a juror who seemed to have been involuntarily brought into larger conspiracy.
Glau rejoined her Firefly co-star Nathan Fillion when she guest starred in the web series Con Man (2015) as Martina and in Castle as Kendall Frost, an aspiring private detective who rivaled Fillion's protagonist.[20]
In 2018-2019, Glau was cast in the recurring role of Miss Jones on the Netflix crime drama series Wu Assassins.[21][22] Furthermore, she provided narration in the Realm audio podcast Ctrl-Alt-Destroy, in which the protagonist was a video game designer who discovers that the game she created has been stolen as part of a top secret project.[23]
Glau has also been featured in the short films Inside the Box and Dead End, as well as in the web series Jeff 1000 (portraying herself as the friend of a robot named Jeff) and The Human Preservation Project.[24]
Personal life
editGlau has been married to Val Morrison since 2014, whom she met on the set of Hawaii Five-0.[25][26] In January 2015, Glau gave birth to her first daughter.[27] She gave birth to her second daughter in October 2017.[28]
Outside of film and TV, Glau has participated in a wide variety of comic conventions across the United States and the world. She has also been an advocate for the science fiction fan community, such as through a promotional video for the Los Angeles Sci-fi World (to be opened in 2024).[29] She has also supported wind energy in the 175th Anniversary of the Texas Revolution video series directed by Michael Cerny.[30]
In an interview from 2012, Glau has mentioned that one of her favorite movies during childhood was Camelot, and that she would be interested in acting in period pieces, such as in those written by Jane Austen.[31]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Sleepover | Ticket girl | |
| 2005 | Serenity | River Tam | |
| 2006 | Mammoth | Jack Abernathy | Television film (Syfy) |
| The Initiation of Sarah | Lindsey Goodwin | Television film (ABC Family) | |
| 2010 | Superman/Batman: Apocalypse | Kara Zor-El / Supergirl | Voice, direct-to-video |
| Deadly Honeymoon | Lindsey Ross Forrest | Television film (Lifetime Movies) | |
| 2011 | The Legend of Hell's Gate: An American Conspiracy | Maggie Moon | |
| 2012 | Help for the Holidays | Christine Prancer | Television film (Hallmark) |
| 2013 | Inside the Box | Sophie | Short film |
| Knights of Badassdom[32] | Gwen | ||
| 2015 | Dead End | Franck's wife & Fugitive | Short film |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Angel | Prima Ballerina | Episode: "Waiting in the Wings" |
| 2002–2003 | Firefly | River Tam | 14 episodes |
| 2003 | Cold Case | Paige Pratt | Episode: "Love Conquers Al" |
| 2004 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Mandy Cooper | Episode: "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?" |
| 2005–2007 | The 4400 | Tess Doerner | 8 episodes |
| 2006–2007 | The Unit | Crystal Burns | 7 episodes |
| 2008–2009 | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Cameron / Allison Young | 31 episodes (as Cameron), 2 episodes (as Allison Young) |
| 2009 | The Big Bang Theory | Herself | Episode: "The Terminator Decoupling" |
| 2009–2010 | Dollhouse | Bennett Halverson | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | Chuck | Greta | Episode: "Chuck Versus the Fear of Death" |
| Good Morning Rabbit | Lucy | 1 episode | |
| 2011 | The Cape | Jamie Fleming / Orwell | 10 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | Alphas | Skylar Adams | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | Grey's Anatomy | Emily Kovach | 2 episodes |
| Scent of the Missing | Sedona | Pilot | |
| 2013 | Hawaii Five-0 | Maggie Hoapili | Episode: "Kekoa" |
| 2013[33] | NTSF:SD:SUV:: | Olivia Frampton | Episode: "Comic-Con Air" |
| 2013–2014 | Arrow[34] | Isabel Rochev / Ravager | 9 episodes |
| 2014 | Peter Panzerfaust[35] | Wendy | Voice |
| Sequestered | Anna Brandt | 12 episodes | |
| Jeff 1000 | Herself | 3 episodes | |
| 2015 | Con Man | Make-up Lady / Martina | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Castle | Kendall Frost | Episode: "The G.D.S." |
| 2019 | Wu Assassins | Miss Jones (The Water Wu) | 2 episodes |
Online media
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | R. Tam sessions | River Tam | 5 short videos |
| 2021 | Ctrl Alt Destroy | Narrator and all characters | Literary RPG podcast |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Production | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | SFX Award | Best Actress | Serenity | Won |
| 2006 | SyFy Genre Awards | Best Actress/Movie | Serenity | Nominated[36] |
| Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actress | Serenity | Won[37] | |
| 2008 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actress on Television | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Won (tied with Elizabeth Mitchell)[38] |
| Scream Award | Best Actress in a Science Fiction Movie or TV Show | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Nominated[39] | |
| Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Actress: Action Adventure | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Nominated | |
| Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Breakout Female Star | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Nominated | |
| 2009 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actress on Television | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Nominated |
| Teen Choice Award | Choice TV Actress: Action Adventure | Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ "Famous birthdays for July 24: Elisabeth Moss, Anna Paquin". UPI. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- ^ "Summer Glau – About her career – Summer-glau.net Interview". whedon.info. April 16, 2007. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ Robinson, Tasha (February 24, 2008). "Summer Glau Interview". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Summer Glau Discusses Dance at Comic Con Honolulu 2016". YouTube. November 27, 2016.
- ^ "Summer Glau Vanity Fair 2008".
- ^ "Glau Saturn Award for Serenity". IMDb.
- ^ "Summer Glau at GalaxyCon in Louisville". YouTube. March 22, 2020.
- ^ Huvane, Chris (September 2008). "Hot Summer". GQ. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ Goldman, Eric (February 8, 2007). "Serenity Comes to Sarah Connor". IGN. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "2008 Saturn Award: Summer Glau". IMDb.
- ^ Johnston, Rich (June 11, 2010). "SCOOP! Summer Glau Plays A LARPer In Joe Lynch's Knights Of Badassdom". Bleedingcool.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Official - Summer Glau joins Dollhouse season two!". Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Glau Interview at Dallas International Film Festival". YouTube. April 18, 2011.
- ^ "Summer Glau Joins Chuck". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Porter, Rick (March 12, 2010). "Summer Glau joins NBC's 'The Cape'". Zap2it. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Alphas – 1×07 – Catch and Release". summer-glau.net. August 2, 2011. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
- ^ Sands, Rich (June 28, 2010). "First Look: Summer Glau Takes Off As Supergirl". TV Guide. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Help for the Holidays".
- ^ "'Terminator' Hottie Summer Glau Battles Heavy Metal Demons in 'Knights of Badassdom'!". Bloody-disgusting.com. June 11, 2010. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Glau Reunites with Fillion in Castle".
- ^ Vanne, Chris D. (November 4, 2018). "Summer joins Netflix Sci-Fi drama Wu Assassins". Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Cruz, Rachel (January 17, 2019). "Netflix Martial Arts Drama 'Wu Assassins' Adds Li Jun Li". Business Times. Archived from the original on January 28, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
- ^ "Ctrl-Alt-Destroy". Spotify.
- ^ "Summer Glau on the Human Preservation Project". MTV.[dead link]
- ^ "Summer Glau mentions how she met Val". YouTube.
- ^ Joan Allen (April 24, 2015). Actress Summer Glau celebrates her marriage and maternity in a new photo shoot (YouTube). Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- ^ Vanne, Chris D. (January 26, 2015). "Summer and Val Welcome Baby Girl! Congrats to the New Parents!". summer-glau.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Vanne, Chris D. (October 30, 2017). "Summer and Val welcome their second child". summer-glau.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Summer Glau in Video for the Los Angeles Sci Fi World Museum". YouTube.
- ^ "Summer Glau Talks about Wind Energy".
- ^ "Summer Glau at ECCC 2012". YouTube.
- ^ "Movie held hostage: 'Knights of Badassdom'". Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "NTSF:SD:SUV – 3.01 Sneak Peek And Synopsis". summer-glau.net. July 25, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
- ^ Ng, Philiana (July 10, 2013). "'Arrow' Recruits Summer Glau for Major Season 2 Role". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
- ^ "PETER PANZERFAUST IS ON THE MOVE". Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Firefly, Harry Potter Sweep Genre Awards". Airlock Alpha. October 1, 2006. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Past Saturn Awards: Film Awards: Best Supporting Actress". Saturn Awards. Archived from the original on February 9, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Past Saturn Awards: Television Awards: Best Supporting Actress". Saturn Awards. Archived from the original on February 9, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
- ^ "Scream Awards 2008 Nominees". movieguys.org. October 15, 2008. Archived from the original on September 8, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
External links
edit
- Summer Glau at IMDb
- Summer Glau on Twitter
