Bio
Goran Visnjic is a Croatian actor best known for his starring role as Dr. Luka Kovac on the television medical drama series ER, from 1999-2008.
Visnjic joined the cast of NBC's ER in 1999, playing the role of Dr. Luka Kovac, a Croatian doctor who immigrated to the United States after the violent deaths of his wife and children.
He also had a starring role as Nicholae Schiller, San Francisco's premier crime boss and the man to whom Marta owes money, in the short-lived crime drama television series Red Widow, in 2013.
Visnjic grew up in Sibenik, Croatia, a port town on the Adriatic Sea, where he decided at an early age that he wanted to be an actor. He first performed in local theater groups and then entered the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb.
He gained popularity in Croatia when, at the age of 21, he was cast as Hamlet in the prestigious Dubrovnik Summer Festival's staging of Shakespeare's play.
The production received rave reviews, with Visnjic's own performance earning him three national Best Actor awards, including an Orlando (the Croatian equivalent of a Tony).
Visnjic's additional theatre credits include Les Fourberies de Scapin, L'Ecole des Femmes, Miss Julie, Ivanov, The Brothers Karamazov and Le Baruffe Chiozotte.
Visjinc starred in the critically acclaimed film The Deep End opposite Tilda Swinton. His other film credits include the voice of Soto in the animated film Ice Age, Committed opposite Heather Graham, Practical Magin with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock and The Peacemaker with George Clooney.
He was also seen in Spartacus, in which Visnjic played the title role and in the psychological thriller Close Your Eyes.
Visnjic made his American motion-picture debut in the critically acclaimed drama, Welcome to Sarajevo, directed by Michel Winterbottom.
He appeared in Ridley Scott's The Counselor, alongside Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem. He also acted in K-11, in which he stars as a record producer who finds himself in prison after a drug-induced blackout and has to learn to navigate the new power structure around him.
Other film credits include The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Beginners, Helen and a segment for the anthology film New York, I Love You, a series of love stories all taking place in New York City directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev.
In his leisure time, Visnjic enjoys fencing, swimming and diving. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Ivana.
In 2014 he had a starring role as Dr. John Woods, a robotics engineer heading the Humanichs Project, in the science fiction mystery thriller television series Extant.