Editing Michelle Forbes (section)

== Career ==
{{BLP sources section|date=July 2018}}
In 1987, at age 22, Forbes landed the contract role of Sonni Carrera Lewis on the daytime soap opera ''[[Guiding Light]]''. The role was expanded to a dual role, with a second character, Solita Carrera, added. Forbes was a cast member for three years and in 1990 earned a [[Daytime Emmy Award]] nomination for her performance. She then continued in theater and began appearing in small guest roles on television to raise her profile. She went on to make guest appearances on a few other TV shows before landing the recurring role of Ensign [[Ro Laren]] in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.

The producers of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' invited Forbes to reprise Ro in the spin-off series ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' but Forbes declined the offer<ref>{{cite book |title=The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine |first=Judith & Garfield|last=Reeves-Stevens|publisher=Pocket Books|isbn=0-671-87430-6|year=1994|pages=70, 105}}</ref> and decided to focus on a career in films.
She received praise, as well as a [[Saturn Award]] nomination from the [[Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films]], for her performance as photographer Carrie Laughlin in the 1993 thriller ''[[Kalifornia]]''. This was followed with the lead female role in the 1994 black comedy ''[[Swimming with Sharks]]'' as well as supporting roles in films such as ''The Road Killers'', ''Just Looking'' and [[John Carpenter]]'s 1996 science fiction/action sequel ''[[Escape from L.A.]]''

She continued performing on television during this period, with guest spots on ''[[Seinfeld]]'', ''[[The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)|The Outer Limits]]'' and ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', to which she returned to tie up the Ro Laren storyline in the series' [[Preemptive Strike (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|penultimate episode]].

In 1995, she played one of the leads in [[J. S. Cardone]]'s [[crime thriller]] ''[[Black Day Blue Night]]'', alongside [[Mia Sara]] and [[Gil Bellows]]. The reviews for ''Black Day Blue Night'' were positive. Without breaking new grounds, they highlighted its strengths as a well-executed, low-budget noir with engaging performances.<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Day Blue Night&nbsp;— EW.com |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293893,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011035644/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293893,00.html |archive-date=October 11, 2008 |work=Entertainment Weekly's EW.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Black Day Blue Night |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/black-day-blue-night/review/2030009192/ |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=TVGuide.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hurlburt |first=Roger |date=November 4, 1995 |title=Rating are the target in funny 'Open Season' |work=South Florida Sun Sentinel |pages=3D}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rodriguez |first=Rene |date=November 3, 1994 |title=Black Day Blue Night |work=The Miami Herald |pages=21G}}</ref> Greg Evans of [[Variety (magazine)|''Variety'']] liked the film and of Forbes performance he said that it was "compellingly hard-bitten" and "outdistance the material."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Greg |date=1995-11-27 |title=Black Day Blue Night |url=https://variety.com/1995/film/reviews/black-day-blue-night-1200443709/ |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1996, Forbes joined the cast of [[NBC]]'s popular police drama ''[[Homicide: Life on the Street]]'', playing chief medical examiner [[Julianna Cox]]. She remained with the show for two years then was let go as part of a major cast overhaul (the series was canceled after one more season). However, she reprised her role in the 2000 TV special ''Homicide: The Movie''.

That same year, Forbes became a regular on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] series ''[[Wonderland (American TV series)|Wonderland]]'' but it was pulled from the air after only two episodes. Forbes was next seen in a recurring role on the police drama ''[[The District]]''.
[[File:Michelle Forbes at True Blood premiere party.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Forbes at the ''[[True Blood]]'' premiere party, June 2009]]
She was subsequently given roles in films such as 2001's ''[[Perfume (2001 film)|Perfume]]'' and 2002's ''[[American Girl (2002 film)|American Girl]]'' as well as the 2001 British television film ''[[Messiah (British TV series)|Messiah]]'' (for which she studied [[British sign language]] for a week) and its sequel installments: ''Messiah 2: Vengeance is Mine'' in 2002 and ''Messiah III'' in 2003. During the 2002–2003 TV season, Forbes played the recurring character of presidential aide Lynne Kresge on the second season of the action series ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]''.

She followed her role on ''24'' with a guest spot on ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' then went on to play Admiral Helena Cain in three episodes of the re-imagining of the classic sci-fi series ''Battlestar Galactica'' as well as appearing in the television film ''[[Battlestar Galactica: Razor]]''. She followed this up with a recurring role as Agent [[Samantha Brinker]] on the drama ''[[Prison Break]]'' and guest starred on ''[[Boston Legal]]'' and ''[[Lost (2004 TV series)|Lost]]''.

Forbes starred as the lead in the adaptation of the comic-book ''[[Global Frequency#Television pilot|Global Frequency]]'', the single produced episode of which [[internet leak|leaked online]] the following year, eight months after the series failed to be picked up by Warner Bros. networks.<ref name="GF-leak">{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2005/06/67986|title=Rejected TV Pilot Thrives on P2P|website=Wired.com|access-date=July 24, 2008|date=June 27, 2005}}</ref>

Forbes returned to British television screens with guest roles in both ''[[Holby City]]'' and as a [[Mossad]] agent in ''[[Waking the Dead (TV series)|Waking the Dead]]''. In 2008, Forbes starred in two HBO drama series; ''In Treatment'', portraying the wife of the central character, and in ''[[True Blood]]'' as a [[Maenad]] named Maryann Forrester.<ref name=tv>[http://www.tv.com/michelle-forbes/person/5401/summary.html?tag=page_body Biography] TV.com</ref>

She reprised her semi-regular roles in both series in their respective second seasons in 2009 as well as joining the cast of the Canadian psychological drama series [[Durham County (TV series)|''Durham County'']] for its second season as Dr. Penelope Verity.<ref>[http://blogcritics.org/video/article/michelle-forbes-delves-into-the-darkness/ "Michelle Forbes Delves Into The Darkness Of Durham County"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110012107/http://blogcritics.org/video/article/michelle-forbes-delves-into-the-darkness|date=January 10, 2010}} November 2, 2008, Blogg Critics</ref>

Forbes played the role of Mitch Larsen in the US television series [[The Killing (U.S. TV series)|''The Killing'']], a 2011 remake of the Danish crime series [[The Killing (Danish TV series)|''Forbrydelsen'']]. Forbes appeared as Retro Girl in the TV series ''[[Powers (American TV series)|Powers]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2014/08/sharlto-copley-lead-christian-walker-powers-michelle-forbes-retro-girl-820846/|title=Sharlto Copley Set As Lead Christian Walker In 'Powers', Michelle Forbes Is Retro Girl|work=Deadline|date= August 18, 2014|access-date=August 18, 2014}}</ref> She also landed a prominent supporting role in ''[[The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2]]''.

Forbes subsequently played Valerie Edwards in the TV series ''[[Berlin Station (TV series)|Berlin Station]]'' that aired on [[Epix (TV network)|Epix]] from 2016 to 2019. Her character was a no-nonsense administrator who serves as a Berlin Station Internal branch chief.

In January 2021, it was announced that she would join the cast of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] drama ''[[Big Sky (American TV series)|Big Sky]]'' as matriarch Margaret Kleinsasser.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/big-sky-michelle-forbes-britt-robertson-michael-raymond-james-ryan-dorsey-omar-metwally-cast-recurring-1234682392/|title='Big Sky' Adds Michelle Forbes, Britt Robertson, Michael Raymond-James, Ryan Dorsey & Omar Metwally|work=Deadline|date=January 28, 2021|access-date=May 5, 2021}}</ref>