CVK
Karina Lombard has just joined the cast of USA series The 4400. She is best known for her role in season 1 of The L Word, in which she plays Marina, who seduces the previously heterosexual Jenny, setting off a chain of events that changes her life. You might also recognize her as the woman on the beach who seduces Tom Cruise in “The Firm,” and the Native American wife of Brad Pitt in “Legends of the Fall.” Um, yes clearly she’s been typecast quite a bit in her day, but it’s nice to see her playing increasingly complex characters–especially on The L Word, she was pretty amazing. Anyway, here’s more about her from AfterEllen.com:

Karina Lombard has the most diverse ethnic background of any of the The L Word cast members–her maternal grandparents are Lakota Indians from South Dakota and her father is Swiss Russian-Italian–and she speaks English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Born in Tahiti, Karina moved with her father to Barcelona with she was only a year old and subsequently attended a number of private Swiss boarding schools.

Although Lombard admits that she was never really educated about her Native culture because her father and his family discouraged it, she maintains her Native heritage “is inside of me and I feel quite connected to it.” Consequently, she always tries to ensure “that Native Americans be represented in the best and most truthful light possible” in the roles she plays.