Melinda Clarke Melinda Clarke is the American actress who portrayed the Suliban Sarin in the pilot . She is perhaps best known for her role as Julie Cooper on the television drama series " The O . C . " Clarke was born in Dana Point , California , and moved to Los Angeles when she was eighteen years old . She married alum Ernie Mirich on 28 June 1997 ; they have one daughter together , Catherine Grace , born in 2001 . Television roles . 1989 - 1999 . Clarke got her start playing Faith Taylor on the soap opera " Days of Our Lives " in 1989 and 1990 . She then appeared in a 1991 episode of " Jake and the Fatman " with Tricia O ' Neil and a 1994 episode of " The George Carlin Show " with Michael G . Hagerty . Clarke ' s first series as a main cast member was the syndicated fantasy drama " Heaven Help Us " , which ran briefly in 1994 . On this series , Clarke played half of a recently - deceased recently - married couple must help the living under the guidance of the angel Mr . Shepherd , played by Ricardo Montalban . Her next series was the syndicated action drama " Soldier of Fortune " , in which she played Margo Vincent , a former CIA case officer who specialized in languages and cryptography . This series ran for two seasons from 1997 through 1999 ; guest actor Mark A . Sheppard was also a regular on this series . Clarke appeared as the Amazonian goddess Velasca in two episodes of " Xena : The Warrior Princess " in 1997 . That same year , she guest - starred on the science fiction series " Sliders " , on the action drama series " Nash Bridges " ( with Francis Guinan and Aaron Lustig ) , on the hit NBC series " Seinfeld " . On the latter series , she worked with series regular Jason Alexander and fellow guest stars Richard Fancy and Viola Stimpson . 2000 - present . In 2001 , Clarke began appearing as Lady Heather , a dominatrix , on the CBS series " CSI : Crime Scene Investigation " . She has thus far appeared on the series five times , the latest of which was in 2008 . One of her episodes , " Lady Heather ' s Box " ( 2003 ) , also featured Timothy Carhart and Amy Pietz ; subsequent episodes featured Wallace Langham and Liz Vassey . In 2002 and 2003 , Clarke played the recurring role of Detective Olivia Cahill on the crime drama series " The District " . Among the performers she worked with on this series were Joanna Cassidy , Pancho Demmings , Richard Fancy , Jennifer Savidge , and series regular Roger Aaron Brown . In 2003 , Clarke played Nandi in the " Heart of Gold " episode of the cult science fiction series " Firefly " , on which Ron Glass was a regular . Clarke played Julie Cooper on " The O . C . " throughout all of the show ' s four seasons , from 2003 through 2007 . On the show , Clarke ' s character marries CEO Caleb Nichol , who was played by actor Alan Dale . Later on , after Nichol died , Clarke ' s character becomes engaged to Dr . Neil Roberts , who was portrayed by fellow " Enterprise " guest star Michael Nouri . Other performers whom Clarke worked with on this series included Billy Campbell and " Star Trek : Voyager " regular Jeri Ryan . In addition , Clarke has guest - starred on such series as " The Pretender " ( with Barbara Babcock , Charles Lucia , Don Mirault , and Michael Wiseman ) , " Charmed " ( with Daniel Betances ) , " Everwood " ( with Stephanie Niznik ) , " Tremors " ( with Matt Malloy ) , " Entourage " ( with Malcolm McDowell ) , and " Reaper " ( with Ray Wise ) . She also made a return to " Nash Bridges " , in an episode with Caroline Lagerfelt , Richard Libertini , Kenneth Mars , and Marc Worden . In 2008 , Clarke guest - starred on the NBC series " Chuck " , in an episode directed by Allan Kroeker . Her episode also featured John Larroquette and Bonita Friedericy . " Star Trek : Voyager " s Robert Duncan McNeill was a supervising producer on " Chuck " at the time . Also in 2008 , Clarke had a brief recurring role as Dr . Lee on the series " Eli Stone " , during which time she worked with Jonathan Banks , Michael Buchman Silver , and the aforementioned Stephanie Niznik . Two of Clarke ' s episodes made it to air ; she had filmed a third episode but the series was canceled before it could premiere . From 2010 to 2013 , Clarke portrayed Division interrogator Amanda ( birth name , Helen Collins ) on the CW action / drama " Nikita " . Film work . Clarke made her film debut in the 1991 comedy " Hot Under the Collar " . Soon after , she worked with Judy Geeson and Gregory Itzin on a film called " Young Goodman Brown " . She then had a supporting role in the 1993 horror movie " Return of the Living Dead III " . Clarke played the lead in the 1995 romantic drama " Return to Two Moon Junction " . Louise Fletcher played Clarke ' s grandmother in this film . Clarke then had a small role as a cigarette girl in the crime drama " Mulholland Falls " , which also featured Louis Fletcher , as well as Ed Lauter , Michael Krawic , and Titus Welliver . Perhaps Clarke ' s best - known film role is that of assassin Jessica Priest in the 1997 comic book - based action hit " Spawn " . Her character was one of the two villains responsible for the title character ' s death , not knowing he would be resurrected as a vengeful , undeed hellspawn by the devil , Malebolgia ( voiced by Frank Welker ) . John Cothran , Jr . , also appeared in this film . Clarke has starred in two films produced and directed by her husband , Ernie Mirich . The first was 1997 ' s " Critics and Other Freaks " with Brian Tochi . The second was 2002 ' s " Cold Freak " . Her other film credits include the 2002 thriller " Dynamite " with Tom Wright . She also lent her voice to the " Matriculated " segment of the animated direct - to - video movie " Animatrix " ( set in the universe of the " Matrix " films ) . Olivia d ' Abo and Dwight Schultz lent their voices to this segment , as well .