Goran Višnjić (Croatian: [ɡǒran ʋîʃɲitɕ] VISH-nyich; September 9, 1972, Šibenik, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Croatian actor. He is best known for his roles as Dr. Luka Kovač in ER and Garcia Flynn in Timeless, both NBC television series. For ER, he and the cast were nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Višnjić was born on 9 September 1972 in Šibenik, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia. He has one sibling, an elder brother, Joško. His father, Željko, was a bus driver, and his mother, Milka, worked in a market. He appeared in plays throughout his childhood and made his screen debut at the age of 16 in the controversial Yugoslav film, Braća po materi (1988), playing a young Ustaša.
In 1990, at the age of 18, Višnjić served one-year of obligatory military service in the Yugoslav People's Army as a paratrooper. Only weeks after his military discharge in 1991, as Yugoslavia began to dissolve, he joined the nascent Croatian Ground Army. After leaving the army, he moved to Zagreb to study at the Academy of Dramatic Art.
Višnjić was the youngest actor to be chosen for the title role in Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. Originally cast as Laertes and understudy to Hamlet, he took over the role when the star dropped out of the production shortly before the first performance. He portrayed the doomed prince from 1994 to 2000, winning three national awards. During an episode of ER, he demonstrated his expertise in the part of Hamlet, by reciting an excerpt from the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy in Croatian.
Prior to ER, he found work in local television productions and landed a Tuborg beer commercial that aired in Europe. Višnjić also had small speaking roles in films such as The Peacemaker, Practical Magic and Committed. In 1998, he appeared in Madonna's music video "The Power of Good-Bye," and had a cameo in the film Rounders. It was his role as Risto, the Bosnian driver in Welcome to Sarajevo that led then-producer John Wells to offer him a role as a doctor to replace the departing George Clooney in the sixth season of ER in late 1999, eventually becoming the show's male lead by the start of season 12, having taken over from the departing star Noah Wyle, who left after the finale of season 11. By season 14, however, he was only making a limited number of appearances, before completely leaving the show early in season 15.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 
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Soto | Ice Age |