Goran Višnjić (/ˈvɪʃnjɪtʃ/ VISH-nyich; [ˈʋiʃɲitɕ]; born September 9, 1972) is a Croatian American actor who has appeared in American and British films and television productions. He is best known in the United States for his role as Dr. Luka Kovač on the NBC television series ER. He is the son-in-law of Croatian film director and former head of Croatian Radiotelevision (1991–95), Antun Vrdoljak.

Credited as Goran Visnjic in his English-language work, he adopted the simplified spelling of his name when he came to the United States in the late 1990s.

Biography

Višnjić has been active in the American and European animal rights movements, and appeared in photographs alongside his dog Bugsy in PETA's first Eastern European anti-fur campaign. He is currently a representative for both the International Fund for Animal Welfare and an Animal Friends Croatia as well as providing assistance to a number of small animal-rescue organizations in California. He has supported a number of medical institutions in Croatia through the donation of money and equipment. He recently appeared on the nationally-broadcast American benefit program Stand Up to Cancer. He also served as one of the faces of ER on NBC's long-running The More You Know campaign, appearing in public service announcements discussing topics such as family time and tolerance.

His wife, Eva Višnjić (born Ivana Eva Vrdoljak), is an artist and sculptor, and the daughter of film director Antun Vrdoljak, who served as a controversial head of Croatian Radiotelevision from 1991–95. The couple has two adopted children — son Tin (2007) and daughter Vivien Sofia (2009) — and one biological son, Vigo Leo (2011). They reside in Los Angeles, California and also have a home on the Croatian island of Hvar. Višnjić acknowledged paternity of a daughter, Lana Lourdes Rupić, whom he fathered in 2006, from an affair with a Croatian woman, Mirela Rupić.

Best films