Musetta Vander
| Musetta Vander | |
|---|---|
 Musetta Vander (1996) | |
| Born |
Musetta van der Merwe 26 May 1963 Durban, South Africa |
| Website |
www |
Musetta Vander (born Musetta van der Merwe; 26 May 1963)[1] is a South African actress and model who is best known for her roles in science fiction and fantasy films.
Personal life
As the daughter of a ballet teacher her first appearance on stage was at age 4 in one of the many shows her mother choreographed. She earned a BA in Communications and Psychology and shortly after completing school she qualified as a ballet teacher.
Career
Film and television
After college, Vander landed the job of anchor host for South Africa's answer to MTV. Then she moved to the United States and began her career appearing in more than twenty music videos for such artists as Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Elton John, Chris Isaak and Amy Grant.
Musetta first notable role was as Zander Tyler in the action-adventure TV series Super Force.
In 1997, Vander portrayed Sindel in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the sequel to the original video game adaptation Mortal Kombat.
In 1999, she had a supporting role in Barry Sonnenfeld's film Wild Wild West in which she played an assistant to Kenneth Branagh's character, Dr. Loveless.
In 2000, Musetta played a seductive Siren in the critically acclaimed O Brother, Where Art Thou? directed by the Coen brothers. The same year, she had a role in The Cell alongside Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn.
She has also appeared in a wide variety of TV shows, primarily science fiction and fantasy series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (as an alluring teacher who turns out to be a giant praying mantis), Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Xena: Warrior Princess and Highlander: The Series. Her most recent TV credits include guest appearances on NCIS, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders and Hawaii Five-0.
In 2006, she was cast for a role in the movie Alpha Dog, but the filming schedule kept changing, and because she was working on another project at the time she was unable to play the part in the end.[2]
Vander played Robert Duvall's character's wife in the comedy Kicking & Screaming and co-starred alongside Rade Serbedzija and Faye Dunaway in Say It in Russian. She played the lead female character in Breaking Point, a thriller with Tom Berenger and Busta Rhymes.[3] Vander can also be seen in the spoof/comedy Transylmania.
Musetta starred in a Christian movie called Johnny with Lee Majors and played the stepmother of Gattlin Griffith in the horror movie Under the Bed, directed by Steven C. Miller. Most recently, Vander played a part in the psychological thriller Spreading Darkness with John Savage and Eric Roberts; she also played Tom Sizemore's love interest in the indie film 5 Hour Friends, directed by Theo Davies.
Other works
In 1998, Vander starred as Lady Elara, one of the lead characters in Dune 2000, a real-time strategy video game. In 2002, Vander reprised her role for the sequel, Emperor: Battle for Dune. Her theater credits include The Bourgeois Gentleman and Soweto's Burning. Vander has made national commercials for Lancôme, Sanyo, McDonald's, Diet Coke, Mercedes, Heineken, Skittles, Yoplait and many others. She played Agent 24-7 for Prudential Real Estate. She has also been featured in a number of magazines, including a pictoral in Maxim[4] and a cover on Details.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | The Endangered | Christine Pickering | |
| Crimes of Crimes | Sheri Cutler | ||
| The Revenger | Marissa | ||
| 1993 | Monolith | Katya Pavlova | Direct-to-video |
| 1994 | I'll Do Anything | Dancer | Scene deleted |
| Dickwad | Juicy | Short film | |
| Oblivion | Lash | ||
| 1995 | Project Metalbeast | Debbie | |
| The Secret Force | Nurse | ||
| Project Shadowchaser III | Rea Astov | Direct-to-video | |
| Under the Hula Moon | Maya Gundinger | ||
| 1996 | The Lord Protector: The Riddle of the Chosen | Lady Beryl | |
| Oblivion 2: Blacklash | Lash | ||
| 1997 | American Hero | Gipsy | Unreleased |
| Elissa | Elissa | Short film | |
| Mortal Kombat: Annihilation | Sindel | ||
| 1998 | Gunshy | Grace | |
| 1999 | Molly | Maxine | |
| Wild Wild West | Munitia | ||
| 2000 | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Siren | |
| The Cell | Ella Baines | ||
| 2004 | Forbidden Warrior | Reza | |
| 2005 | Mansquito | Dr. Jennifer Allen | TV movie |
| Kicking & Screaming | Janice Weston | ||
| What's Up Scarlet? | Sabrina Fisser | ||
| 2006 | Spymate | Dr. Claudette Amour | |
| Monster Night | Miss Morticia | Direct-to-video | |
| 2007 | Say It in Russian | Natalia | |
| Planet Raptor | Sgt. Jacqueline 'Jack' Moore | TV movie | |
| 2009 | Transylmania | Teodora Van Sloan | |
| Breaking Point | Celia Hernandez | ||
| Napoleonic | Dr. Barbara Hale | Short film | |
| 2010 | Johnny | Julia Carter | |
| 2012 | Under the Bed | Angela Hausman | |
| 2013 | 5 Hour Friends | Candy | |
| 2014 | Spreading Darkness | Harriet Skelp | |
| 2015 | The Better Half | Susan | |
| $elfie Shootout | Agent Zoey Miller | ||
| 2016 | Shine | Corrine Stacker | (post-production) |
| 2017 | Alice | (post-production) |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-92 | Super Force | Zander Tyler | Recurring role (7 episodes) |
| 1994 | Murder, She Wrote | Sharain Hourani | Episode: "The Dying Game" |
| 1995 | Boy Meets World | Dominique | Episode: "Breaking Up Is Really, Really Hard to Do" |
| 1996 | Diagnosis: Murder | Carrie | Episode: "Murder by the Book" |
| Viper | KGB Agent Natalya Marakova | Episode: "MIG-89" | |
| 1997 | Highlander | Ingrid Henning | Episode: "The Valkyrie" |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Natalie French/The She-Mantis | Episode: "Teacher's Pet" | |
| Babylon 5 | Felicia | Episode: "Between the Darkness and the Light" | |
| Pensacola: Wings of Gold | Elina Zulinova | Episode: "Road Warriors" | |
| 1998 | The Sentinel | Lila | Episode: "Love Kills" |
| Soldier of Fortune, Inc. | Kasima Fada | Episode: "Top Event" | |
| 1999 | Star Trek: Voyager | Derran Tal | Episode: "The Disease" |
| 2000 | Pensacola: Wings of Gold | Captain Jill 'Blaze' Trevera | Episode: "Pensacola Shootout" |
| Xena: Warrior Princess | Ilainus | Episode: "Amphipolis Under Siege" | |
| Secret Agent Man | Prima | Recurring role (3 episodes) | |
| Stargate SG-1 | Shan'auc | Episode: "Crossroads" | |
| 2001 | V.I.P. | Alex Quaid | Episode: "Val's Big Bang" |
| 2002 | Son of the Beach | Nutragena | Episode: "Hamm Stroker's Suck My Blood" |
| 2003 | Stargate SG-1 | Shauna | Episode: "The Changeling" |
| She Spies | Dr. Weiland | Episode: "Damsels in De-Stress" | |
| Frasier | Natalie Blanc | Episode: "High Holidays" | |
| 2004 | The Bold and the Beautiful | Princess Guinevere | 1 episode |
| 2010 | NCIS | Julie Merriweather | Episode: "Broken Arrow" |
| 2016 | Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders | Miriam Nell | Episode: "Iqiniso" |
| Swedish Dicks | Jennifer | Episode #1.4 | |
| 2017 | Hawaii Five-0 | Sheriff Smith | Episode #7.15 |
Other works
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Soweto's Burning | Emma | Theatre |
| Terry Lin - "Let's Get Busy" | Dancer | Music video | |
| Alice Cooper - "Bed of Nails" | Dancer | Music video | |
| Cats in Boots - "Shotgun Sally" | Dancer/Model | Music video | |
| Paul Carrack - "I Live By the Groove" | Model | Music video | |
| Rod Stewart - "This Old Heart of Mine" | Dancer/Model | Music video | |
| Tina Turner - "I Don't Wanna Lose You" | Model | Music video | |
| Elton John - "Healing Hands" | Model | Music video | |
| 1990 | Joey B. Ellis - "Thought You Were the One for Me" | Dancer | Music video |
| King Swamp - "Wiseblood" | Model | Music video | |
| Terry Steele - "If I Told You Once" | Model | Music video | |
| Desiree Coleman - "Romance" | Model | Music video | |
| Debbie Gibson - "Anything Is Possible" | Model | Music video | |
| Colin James - "Keep On Lovin' Me Baby" | Model | Music video | |
| 1991 | Amy Grant - "Every Heartbeat" | Model | Music video |
| 1992 | Rock Video Girls 2 | Herself | Music videos collection |
| It Came from the Desert | Fantasy Girl | Video game | |
| 1993 | Voyeur | Chantal Pousette | Video game |
| 1995 | Chris Isaak - "Go Walking Down There" | Dancer | Music video |
| American Hero | Gipsy | Video game (unreleased) | |
| 1997 | Movies, For Guys Who Like Movies | Herself/Guest | TBS program |
| 1998 | Dune 2000 | Lady Elara | Video game |
| 1999 | Loveless' Ladies | Herself | Documentary featured on the DVD for Wild Wild West |
| 2002 | Emperor: Battle for Dune | Lady Elara | Video game |
| 2003 | Le Bourgeois gentilhomme | Countess Dorimene | Theatre |
| 2005 | Making of "Mosquito Man" | Herself | Documentary featured on the DVD for Mansquito |
| 2005 | Kicking & Screaming: Behind the Net | Herself | Documentary featured on the DVD for Kicking & Screaming |
| 2006 | Behind the scenes of '"Spymate" | Herself | Documentary featured on the DVD for Spymate |
| 2007 | Prudential Real Estate | Agent 24/7 | Commercial |
| Yoplait | Model | Commercial | |
| 2009 | Live From the Future | Herself/Guest | Talk show |
Radio and Podcast Appearances
- Vander appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on August 31, 2016.
References
- ↑ "Musetta Vander - Actress - Tv-com Profiles". Tv.com. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
- ↑ "Musetta Vander - Biography". Internet Movie Database. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
- ↑ "Musetta Vander Filmography". Musetta Vander. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
- ↑ "Girls of Maxim".