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This article's subject relates to Season 2 of 24.This is a production article written from an out-of-universe perspective

Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo (born January 8, 1967; age 57) played Lynne Kresge during Season 2 of 24. Her stunt double for the role was Jennifer Caputo.

Biography[]

Forbes was born in Austin, Texas. Although she initially wanted to do ballet, Forbes moved to New York at age 16 to audition for a film role, and ended up with the William Morris Agency, and a role on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. For her dual role as Sonni/Solita, she earned a Daytime Emmy nomination. After this role, she dedicated herself to theater and also began appearing in small guest roles on television to raise her profile. She appeared in shows like Father Dowling Mysteries (with Tony Todd) and Shannon's Deal (with Richard Roat).

In 1991, she had a small role in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the daughter of a character played by David Ogden Stiers. The producers were evidently impressed, as she was offered a recurring role in the fifth season as Ensign Ro Laren. With the show being such a hit, the producers decided to make another Trek series: Deep Space Nine, with Ensign Ro as the lead character. However, Forbes wasn't interested in a long-running television role and was afraid of being typecast, so a new character, Kira Nerys (played by Nana Visitor), was created for the show. After this, Forbes and the Trek producers did not get on well, so she moved on. To this day, Forbes does not usually discuss her decisions regarding Star Trek in interviews. Forbes was brought back for one final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation reprising her role as Ro Laren, as she was promoted to a full Lieutenant.

Ensign Ro remains a hugely popular character amongst Trek fandom, and Dennis Haysbert, with whom she later starred in 24 and who is a Trekkie, was apparently thrilled and awestruck to be working alongside Forbes. Perhaps because of her huge fan base, the producers asked Forbes back again when launching Star Trek: Voyager but she again declined.

In 1993, she starred with David Duchovny, Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis in the cult film Kalifornia. He also appeared in Swimming with Sharks (with Kevin Spacey), Black Day Blue Night (with Tim Guinee and Gil Bellows), and John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. (with Leland Orser).

In 1996, Forbes landed her first major television role in Homicide: Life on the Street playing Dr. Julianna Cox from 1996 to 1998. During the show, she worked with Zeljko Ivanek and Reed Diamond. In 1998, Forbes was written out of the show as part of a massive cast change which many fans see as responsible for the show's demise just one season later. She returned in the 2000 TV movie, which also starred Ivanek and Diamond. That same year, she also appeared with John Hawkes in the show Brimstone.

In 2000, Forbes had recurring roles on the TV series The District (with Richard Burgi and Tanya Wright) and Wonderland (with Billy Burke and Leland Orser). The latter was critically hailed, but it only aired for a few weeks before being canceled. Forbes herself described it as a mess that put [her] off series television. In 2002, she also appeared in the series Fastlane (with Channon Roe).

Day 2 Michelle and Jude pose

Filming Season 2 with Jude Ciccolella.

In 2001, Forbes learned British Sign Language for the role of the deaf mute wife of Detective Red Metcalfe in the BBC television serial Messiah, and she returned for the sequels in 2003 and 2004. She also appeared in the films Perfume (with Harris Yulin), Johnson County War (with Silas Weir Mitchell), American Girl (with Chris Mulkey), and more recently, Diplomacy (with Omid Abtahi and Navid Negahban). Forbes voiced the character of Dr. Judith Mossman in the popular Half-Life 2 and its sequels, which also featured Merle Dandridge.

After her appearance in 24, Forbes appeared on shows like Alias, The Inside, and Battlestar Galactica. Recently, she's had recurring roles on Prison Break (with John Billingsley and Silas Weir Mitchell), In Treatment, Durham County, and True Blood (again with Ivanek and Billingsley). Like many other 24 actors, she also appeared on an episode of Lost (with Henry Ian Cusick, Daniel Dae Kim, and Anthony Azizi).

Although a long time resident of New York City, Forbes now lives in Los Angeles.

24 credits[]

24-related appearances[]

Selected filmography[]

  • Gemini (2017)
  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
  • Highland Park (2013)
  • Lost (2008)
  • Dandelion (2004)
  • Bullfighter (2000)
  • Escape from L.A. (1996)
  • Kalifornia (1993)

Television appearances

  • New Amsterdam (2021-present)
  • Treadstone (2019)
  • Grey's Anatomy (2019)
  • Berlin Station (2016-2019)
  • The Returned (2015)
  • Orphan Black (2014)
  • Chicago Fire (2013)
  • The Killing (2011-2012)
  • True Blood (2008-2009)
  • Prison Break (2005-2006)
  • The District (2001)
  • Homicide: Life on the Street (1996-1998)
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991-1994)
  • Guiding Light (1988)

External links[]

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