KOOL TV BABE OF THE WEEK: 'HOMELAND's ZULEIKHA ROBINSON

Exotic delight: the lovely Zuleikha Robinson poses for the camera. Image: ULIKE.

From being a mysterious female James Bond industrial spy figure in Chris Carter's comedy drama series spin-off to THE X-FILES, THE LONE GUNMEN, to an ambitious prostitute with her sights on being a mistress of ancient ROME's dark and deadly streets in the adult and high quality HBO mini-series of the same name, making her mark as one of the better supporting characters stranded in island purgatory on LOST-another mysterious femme fatale/bounty hunter action heroine, to now being a middle Eastern journalist with a fiery agenda on the upcoming second season of the hit SHOWTIME suspense drama HOMELAND, lovely British actress Zuleikha Robinson, with her striking and exotic dark looks and admired busty, statuesque physique, has become a popular name in Hollywood, and deservedly so, in her playing of numerous intriguing roles over the last twelve years.

Making a fine entrance with the cast of THE LONE GUNMEN. Image: FOX.

Acquiring the next target: Zuleikha as Yves Adele Harlow in THE LONE GUNMEN. Image: FOX.

Making a striking first impression on viewers as the black leather clad weapons expert, the tough, no nonsense character of 'Yves Adele Harlow" (an anagram of JFK 'assassin' Lee Harvey Oswald-her real name would never be known through the series run), who often acted against her own commercial judgements to help out the three geeky and full of heart Lone Gunmen of the title (played with their own inimitable charm by Bruce Harwood, Tom Braidwood and Dean Haglund) out to expose the truth behind the various cover ups, conspiracies and technological dangers the modern world is facing, the show may not ultimately have lasted very long-a mere thirteen episodes- as a spin-off to such a popular show like THE X-FILES (perhaps a victim of audiences not quite knowing what to make of it overall)- alongside a wrap-up in it's brother shows  ninth and final season, but other feature film roles were soon around the corner for Robinson such as the mildly successful Joe Johnston directed desert horse racing adventure HIDALGO, and working alongside the iconic Al Pacino in the starry and well-made adaptation of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, before a return to popular TV in the second and final season of HBO's made for good notices critically and on her career CV, giving an excellent and highly charged performance in the equally excellent and highly charged historical saga that was HBO's ROME, playing another dangerous character-at first a tart with a heart and then going on to become Gaia (a real misinterpretation of the word's meaning: Mother Earth!): an ambitious, sex as a weapon manipulating figure doing her utmost best to control our central heroes Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson. Going from history to fantasy, Robinson would play gutsy and instinctive Eva Marquez alongside GAME OF THRONES star to be Nikolal Coster-Waldau's immortal New York detective John Amsterdam in another short running but liked FOX series, the HIGHLANDER-esque NEW AMSTERDAM, and then onto a much more memorable role in another equally iconic series now approaching its final two seasons: the hit JJ Abrams/ABC TV sci-fi/fantasy that captured and beguiled audiences hearts in equal measure: LOST, and making another exciting impression as the resourceful Ilana Verdansky, who first appeared in the show trapping and then beating into the middle of next Wednesday, our favourite Iraqi hero Sayid (Naveen Andrews) on the orders of the mysterious father-figure like Jacob (Mark Pellegrino), before being just as trapped as the rest of the core players on the constantly moving island as they took on the Black Smoke creature, and certainly coming to an unexpected and literally explosive end!

As the life hardened Gaia in ROME. Image: HBO.

Alongside Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the short-lived NEW AMSTERDAM. Image: FOX.

And back in fantasy as battle hardened Ilana in the final days of LOST. Image: ABC TV.

Miss Robinson's streak for playing know what they want independent women characters continues apace within the next season of the eagerly anticipated and addictive new TV hit, the terrorist thriller/character drama from Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, HOMELAND, where she'll be playing the middle eastern role of Roya Hammad, a journalist who has a connection to the mysterious Al-Qaeda-esque figure of Abu Nazir (Navid Negaban) and whom goes on to deliver an ultimatum to Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), the turned ex-American military man now intent on delivering a terrible death blow to his country's security and its people. How all the new seasons twists and turns will be revealed, and what further involvement Roya will play in the shape of things, remains to be seen, but Miss Robinson's expected presence in the show will certainly be enough to boost male viewers blood pressure a fair few points over the coming months.