Katrina Law
Katrina Law is an actor, born 1985.
Genre television built this career, and then network television bought it. Katrina Law, born in West New York, New Jersey, in 1985, started with the sort of credits that fill a first decade: a teenage bit in Lucky Numbers, Kate in 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out, Francine in Killing Emmett Young, a dealer in All In, and Garren on the syndicated fantasy series Legend of the Seeker.
Then came Spartacus, where she played Mira across Blood and Sand and Vengeance. That show demanded an unusual combination from its cast, stylised dialogue, sustained physical work and a straight face throughout, and it is where she learned to hold a frame. Nyssa al Ghul on Arrow followed, a role with a strong comic book pedigree that she played with more stillness than the show around her generally allowed.
The second half of the career is procedural, and she is unusually good at it. She was Rebecca Lee on Training Day, Karen Beach on The Oath, Quinn Liu on Hawaii Five-0 and then Jessica Knight on NCIS: Hawaiʻi and NCIS, moving between two shows in the same franchise. Procedurals live or die on whether someone can make a technical briefing sound like a person talking, and that turns out to be a durable and underrated skill.
She has also worked in horror and television film, with Dr. Amy Chen in Werewolves, Stephanie Bailey on Sacred Lies, Diane on Uncle Buck, Amber on Chosen and Greta Kaine in Snow Bride.
Movies (7)
TV (11)
Where to start with Katrina Law
Enter through Spartacus, a better show than its reputation as a blood and sand spectacle suggests. Mira is where Law first gets to be dangerous rather than decorative, and the physical work is real.
Arrow is the fan favourite. Nyssa al Ghul is the sort of guest character who takes over scenes she was written to decorate, which is largely down to the performance.
For the current version of her, NCIS is where she has landed, having arrived by way of NCIS: Hawaiʻi. Start with the Hawai'i series if you want the character introduced properly.
Legend of the Seeker is the archaeological dig for anyone curious about the early fantasy television years, and Werewolves is a straightforward creature feature that knows exactly what it is. The Oath is the grittiest thing on the list.