Barbara Sarafian

Hailing from Belgium, actress Barbara Sarafian exudes the same sort of world-weary authenticity that Frances McDormand can. Stage trained, Sarafian was most well known in the 1990s as a radio personality and on television working as a comedic actress on shows like "Alles kan beter," "Blinde vinken," and "De mannen van de macht." During this time in the late 1990s, she also started seguing into feature film work, especially in international productions such as Peter Greenaway's "8 1⁄2 Women," where she played a surrogate mother who joins a harem of women for a wealthy father and son desiring to indulge in the mysteries of femininity in all its variety. She also appeared in the science-fiction sequel "Fortress 2: Re-Entry" and had a small part as a film critic in Roman Coppola's debut feature "CQ." Sarafian garnered strong notices internationally in 2008 with the release of the comedy drama "Moscow Belgium." In it, she plays a depressed, married, middle-aged mother who begins a relationship with a charming yet questionable truck driver after her husband, a teacher, leaves her and moves in with one of his students. Her nuanced performance was widely praised and showed her considerable range and depth. When not in front of the camera, Sarafian also directs television commercials.