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Karolina Wydra
Born (1981-03-05) March 5, 1981 (age 43)
Occupation
  • Actress
  • model
Years active 2008–present

Karolina Wydra (Polish pronunciation: [karɔˈlina vɨdra]; born March 5, 1981) is a Polish-American actress and model. She played Dominika Petrova on the Fox medical drama series House, and vampire Violet Mazurski on the HBO dark fantasy series True Blood. Wydra has starred in the fantasy thriller After (2012), and the science fiction film Europa Report (2013). She portrayed Detective Dianne Kubek on ABC's short-lived crime drama series Wicked City and recurred as Izel in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Early life and education

Wydra was born in Opole, Poland with a rare left eye coloboma birth defect in which the iris of the eye does not grow closed during gestation.

Her mother and father were teachers of mathematics and art, respectively. In 1992, she and her family emigrated to Orange County, California, where her parents set up a cleaning business. Her parents separated in 2012, and her mother subsequently moved back to Poland.

Career

In October 1997, Wydra won the Elite Lee Jeans Model Look Contest, which was hosted by Roshumba Williams and Dorian Gregory. She has since appeared in print advertisements for brands such as Armani Exchange, Levi's Red, Calvin Klein, Smashbox Cosmetics, Dooney & Bourke, Charles David, Urban Decay, John Frieda, and Kenneth Cole. Wydra has also appeared as a model on the cover of the German Elle magazine and Oyster magazine.

In 2006, Wydra starred in a Nespresso commercial with George Clooney. In 2008, she co-starred in the comedy-drama film Be Kind Rewind, directed by Michel Gondry, and the sports drama film Sugar, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. She then co-starred in the 2011 romantic comedy film Crazy, Stupid, Love as Jordyn. From 2011 to 2012, she appeared on the seventh and eighth seasons of the Fox medical drama series House, playing the role of Dominika Petrova, an immigrant who marries House in order to obtain a green card. Wydra then had a starring role in the 2012 fantasy thriller After, alongside Steven Strait. The following year, she had a lead role as Katya Petrovna in the science fiction film Europa Report. In March 2013, she was cast in the pilot of NBC's remake of the British drama series Bad Girls.

In 2013 she starred in the Honda Acura ZDX commercial. In 2013, Wydra joined the cast of HBO's fantasy drama series True Blood as Violet Mazurski, a vampire who becomes Jason Stackhouse's girlfriend. In the sixth season, Wydra was a recurring cast member, but was upgraded to the main cast for its seventh and final season. In 2014, Wydra recurred as the character Mara Paxton on the fifth season of FX's drama series Justified, and guest starred as Agent Simone Taylor in an episode of the CBS drama series Scorpion. Wydra then co-starred alongside Aaron Eckhart in the Blumhouse Productions horror film Incarnate (2015), directed by Brad Peyton. .....

In April 2016, it was announced that Wydra had been cast in the Showtime series revival of Twin Peaks. In August 2016, she joined the Amazon Studios drama series Sneaky Pete in a recurring role.

Personal life

Wydra lives in Los Angeles.

She has one older brother, an accountant, who lives in London.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Be Kind Rewind Gabrielle Bochenski
2008 Sugar Raquel
2011 Crazy, Stupid, Love Jordyn
2012 After Ana
2012 Eugene Alice Short
2013 Europa Report Katya Petrovna
2016 Incarnate Anna Ember
2019 A Score to Settle Simone

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Christina Episode: "Ten Count"
2011–2012 House Dominika Petrova Recurring role
2012 Bad Girls Kelly Unaired pilot
2013–2014 True Blood Violet Mazurski Main role
2014 Justified Mara Paxton Recurring role
2014 Scorpion Agent Simone Taylor Episode: "Revenge"
2015 Wicked City Dianne Kubek Main role
2017 Sneaky Pete Karolina Recurring role
2017 Quantico Sasha Barinov Recurring role
2017 Twin Peaks Chloe Episode: "Part 9"
2017 MacGyver Vera Kazakova Episode: "Roulette Wheel + Wire"
2019 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Izel Recurring role (Season 6) 7 episodes
TBA Untitled Vince Gilligan TV series Ana Main role

Other credits

Stage

Year Title Role Location Notes
2017 French Waitress and Other Plays Kasia Electric Lodge, Los Angeles Segment: "Poland"

Commercials

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