Janina Gavankar

Janina Gavankar
Gavankar at the premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017
Born
Janina Zione Gavankar

(1980-11-29) November 29, 1980 (age 43)
Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actress, musician
Years active2000–present
Websitejaninagavankar.com

Janina Zione Gavankar (/dʒəˈniːnə ɡəˈvɑːŋkər/; born November 29, 1980)[1][2][3] is an American actress and musician. She is trained as a pianist, vocalist, and orchestral percussionist, and she majored in theatre at the University of Illinois Chicago.[4][5][6] Her roles include Eva "Papi" Torres on Showtime's The L Word, Shiva on The League, Leigh Turner on The Gates, Luna Garza on HBO's True Blood, McKenna Hall on The CW's Arrow, and Diana Thomas on FOX's Sleepy Hollow. In marketing, she also played "Ms. Dewey", a personified search engine and virtual assistant for Microsoft.[7]

Early life

[edit]

Gavankar was born in Joliet, Illinois, to Ganesh "Peter" Gavankar, an engineer from Mumbai, who first travelled to the U.S. to pursue a master's degree, and Shan Demohra "Mohra" Gavankar, of half-Indian and half-Dutch descent from Pune, who also emigrated there from India. [8]

Career

[edit]

Gavankar has acted in theatre, film, television, and online. Her most notable roles include Iden Versio, a canon Star Wars character and the protagonist of Star Wars: Battlefront II; shapeshifter Luna Garza in True Blood, Papi in The L Word; Ms. Dewey, the personification of a Microsoft live search engine; and Shiva, the namesake of the sought after trophy on The League.[9] She regularly appears in Funny or Die shorts.[10]

In 2006, she joined the cast of The L Word as a series regular and shot all of the clips used for Ms. Dewey.[7] In 2007, she landed a lead role in the CW pilot, Dash 4 Cash.[11] In 2008, Gavankar appeared in the TV series Stargate Atlantis, Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, My Boys, and Factory. In 2009, she appeared in the TV shows The Cleaner, Dollhouse, Three Rivers, and The League, as well as indie films, Men, Interrupted, Indian Gangster, and Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey. Gavankar provided the voice of Nikki in Quantum Quest. She landed another lead role in The Gates, since cancelled, on ABC.[12] She appears on CW's Arrow as a vice squad police officer and brief girlfriend to Oliver Queen.

Gavankar is a gamer[13] and has appeared on, as well as co-hosted, G4 TV's Attack of the Show!, Epileptic Gaming's Up All Night, where she helped review Rock Band, Burnout Paradise, and Army of Two.[14]

In 2011, Gavankar became a series regular in HBO's True Blood as a public school teacher and shapeshifter, Luna Garza, who gets romantically involved with one of the main characters of the series.[15][16]

Her indie film, Satellite of Love,[17] premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival in 2012, and her 2012 indie I'm Afraid of Virginia Wolf is currently in post-production.[18] On December 20, 2012, Gavankar was the last person interviewed for original 2005–2012 run of Attack of the Show!, which aired on G4 TV.[19]

On August 3, 2013, Gavankar landed a role as a witch named Qetsiyah in the fifth season of The Vampire Diaries.[20] She guest starred in the third season of Husbands.[21]

In 2014, she starred as Amita in the video game, Far Cry 4.[22] She also played Detective Meredith Bose on The Mysteries of Laura from 2014 to 2016.[23]

She starred as Iden Versio, the main character in the campaign mode of the 2017 Electronic Arts video game, Star Wars Battlefront II.[24]

In 2018, she appeared in two films. Blindspotting premiered at the Sundance Film Festival,[25] and The Vanishing of Sidney Hall was distributed by A24.[26]

In late 2019, Gavankar joined Apple TV's The Morning Show, as Alison Namazi,[27] co-anchor of the pop culture segment of the titular show.

Starting in 2021, Gavankar had a starring role as the antagonist in seasons 2 & 3 of the ABC hit show, Big Sky, playing the sibling in a mafia family.

In 2023 Gavankar starred in video game Alan Wake 2 as Kiran Estevez, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Control, a role she reprised in The Lake House DLC, released in October 2024.[28]

Music

[edit]

Gavankar returned to music with a cover of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown".[29] Gavankar's former all-female singing group, Endera, was signed to Cash Money Records Universal Records.[30]

She collaborated on a project for a song called "Tell Me What" in India with Pratichee Mohapatra of Viva, Deep, and Navraaz. She has had songs licensed to films and television and has sung and played marimba on film scores. Gavankar was featured in Russian artist Ella Leya's music video for "Wish I Could",[31] in the music video by San Francisco-based band Recliner for their single "Float Away",[32] as well as the music video for Manu Narayan's band Darunam.[33]

In August 2012, she released the single for her upcoming EP, entitled Waiting for Godot,[34] and in November, Billboard premiered the official music video.[35] It went on to win numerous film festival awards.[36][37]

While in high school, Gavankar auditioned for the front ensemble of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps of Rockford, Illinois. Before hearing whether she had made the corps, she was accepted for the Yale School of Drama's summer camp and went there. "I fell in love with drum corps when I was 13 years old", Gavankar has stated, and remains a strong fan of the activity. When she heard the Martin Garrix/Usher collaboration, "Don't Look Down", she had the idea of performing it as marching music. With assistance from Drum Corps International, she contacted the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps and arranger Colin Bell. She went into the studios in New York with fifty members of Jersey Surf and recorded the music video "Don't Look Down- #JustAddDrumCorps Edition" that was released in April 2015.[38]

On May 20, 2015, Gavankar performed a percussion duet at Carnegie Hall with Questlove for the Best Buddies charity benefit.[39]

Technology

[edit]

Gavankar was the first actress to use Twitter, signing up on Richard Branson's computer on Necker Island in 2006.[40][41]

Gavankar was the personification of Microsoft's interactive search engine Ms. Dewey.[7][42]

In 2011, she created a free template for actors and artists to help them control their online presence[43] and in 2012, spoke at the Suits and Spooks Conference about how she discovered a solution for data challenges faced by actors through the use of open source tools.[44]

In 2017, she launched a private discussion forum for members of the games industry.[45]

In 2018, she produced the first narrative film to use the Arri Alexa LF.[46]

Gavankar is a first-round investor in ClassPass.[47]

Awards

[edit]

In 2008, Gavankar was nominated for an Asian Excellence Award.[48] In 2012, Gavankar received the Gravity Summit Award for Excellence in Social Media.[49]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Forward Anticipation in Chicago Corrin Short film
2001 Why Is God... Mina Short film
2002 Barbershop Fine Woman
2003 Dark Kaya
2004 Barbershop 2: Back in Business Field Reporter
2005 Just Speak Melody Short film
Cup of My Blood Iona
2008 Shattered! Maria
2009 Indian Gangster Geeta Short film
2010 Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey Niki Voice
Men, Interrupted Cece Twain Short film
2011 The Custom Mary Ms. Rime
Victory or Death Selah Short film
2012 Satellite of Love Michelle
2013 Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf? Katia Amour / The Stud
The Final Moments of Karl Brant Detective Hostetler Short film
2014 Code Academy Madame Counselor
Think Like a Man Too Vanessa
2016 Pee-wee's Big Holiday Party Guest
2017 The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Gina
2018 Blindspotting Val
The White Orchid Tina
2019 Stucco J Short film
Also director, writer and producer
2020 The Way Back Angela
2021 Encounter Piya
2024 Borderlands Knoxx
TBA Cortex Sama Post-production

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Strong Medicine Nurse Juni Episode: "Omissions"
2007–2009 The L Word Eva "Papi" Torres 12 episodes
2008 My Boys Terri Episode: "The Transitioning"
Stargate Atlantis Sergeant "Dusty" Mehra Episode: "Whispers"
Grey's Anatomy Intern Lisa 2 episodes
2009 NCIS Angela Lopez Episode: "Caged"
Dollhouse Lynn Episode: "Epitaph One"
The Cleaner Usha Patel 2 episodes
Three Rivers Ada Rahimi Episode: "Place of Life"
2009–2015 The League Shiva 10 episodes
2010 The Gates Leigh Turner 13 episodes
2011 Traffic Light Alexa 3 episodes
2011–2013 True Blood Luna Garza 25 episodes
2012 The Exes Kerry Episode: "My Dinner with Phil"
Choke.Kick.Girl: The Series Katie Episode: "Hammerfist, Knee, Guillotine Fiend"
2013 Love Is Dead Marisol Rajagopal Television film
Arrow Detective McKenna Hall 4 episodes
The Goodwin Games Hannah Episode: "The Birds of Granby"
Just Face It Ava Miniseries
Husbands Kajal Episode: "I Dream of Cleaning"
The Vampire Diaries Qetsiyah / Tessa 4 episodes
2014 Nikki & Nora: The N&N Files Lea Sadina 4 episodes
Garfunkel and Oates Dr. Sharma Episode: "Third Member"
2014–2016 The Mysteries of Laura Meredith Bose 38 episodes
2015 The History of Us Sabrina Television film
2017 Sleepy Hollow Diana Thomas[50] 13 episodes
2018 Hell's Kitchen Herself (guest) Episode: "Stars Heating Up Hell"
2019 Relics and Rarities Mumeé 2 episodes
You're The Worst Rachel Episode: "Zero Eggplants"
Better Things Nikki 2 episodes
2019–2021 The Morning Show Alison Namazi 15 episodes
2020 Space Force Hannah Howard Episode: "Edison Jaymes"
2020–2022 The Mighty Ones Kensington Voice, 29 episodes
2021–2022 Big Sky Ren Bhullar 18 episodes
2022 The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window Meredith 2 episodes[51]
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi Pav-ti Voice, episode: "Life and Death"[52]
2023 Never Have I Ever Akshara Episodes: "...wrecked my future" and "...gone to prom"

Video games

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2014 Far Cry 4 Amita
2017 Horizon Zero Dawn Tatai Also The Frozen Wilds DLC
Star Wars Battlefront II Iden Versio Voice and motion capture
2019 Afterparty Lola
2022 God of War Ragnarök Sinmara Largely cut from the game's storyline; present in files[53]
2023 Forspoken Tanta Sila Voice and motion capture[54]
2023 Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical Freddie
Alan Wake II Agent Kiran Estevez Also 'The Lake House' DLC [55]

Audiobooks

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2017 Star Wars Battlefront II: Inferno Squad Narrator[56]
2019 Randomize: Forward[57] Short story

Crew work

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2020 The Mandalorian Assistant Puppeteer[58] Uncredited
Episode: "Chapter 11: The Heiress"

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Janina Gavankar — Shape shifting Stunner". FHM. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  2. ^ "Stephen Moyer is Such A Proud Father". Us Weekly. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  3. ^ "Desi designer wear at Grammys red carpet". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  4. ^ Nguyen, Bernie (November 6, 2006). "Ask Janina". Nirali Magazine. p. Arts. Archived from the original on January 22, 2007. Retrieved January 28, 2007.
  5. ^ Swartz, Shauna (January 4, 2007). "Interview With The L Word's Janina Gavankar". AfterEllen.com. Viacom International Inc. Archived from the original on May 12, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
  6. ^ "Recent Grads Find Success". UIC Alumni. September–October 2004. Retrieved November 10, 2006.
  7. ^ a b c Sweeney, Miriam E. (2013). "Not just a pretty (inter)face: A critical analysis of Microsoft's 'Ms. Dewey'" (PDF). University of Illinois. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 2, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2017. As one of my co-workers typed in different words and phrases, the "Ms. Dewey" character (pre-recorded film footage of actress, Janina Gavankar) engages in flirtatious banter, sometimes becoming irritated or condescending if too much time passes before entering a search term: "Hellloooo... type something here!"
  8. ^ Khan, Natasha. "Janina Gavankar profile". SAPNA Magazine. p. Arts + Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  9. ^ "The League" The Shiva Bowl (TV Episode 2009) - IMDb. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  10. ^ "Janina Gavankar profile". funnyordie.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  11. ^ "Breaking News – Development Update: Wednesday-Thursday, April 4–5". thefutoncritic.com.
  12. ^ "'Prison Break' actor joins ABC's 'Gates'". The Hollywood Reporter. October 13, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  13. ^ "Janina Gavankar Talks True Blood, Video Games & More". G4tv.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  14. ^ "Epileptic Gaming's "Up All Night"". Wire.ggl.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  15. ^ "True Blood Promotes Jessica Tuck; Adds Three New Actresses". TV Guide. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  16. ^ "Janina Gavankar on Comic-Con, Playing a Shapeshifter, and Why She'd Totally Love to Watch True Blood with You – Exclusive – True Blood". Wetpaint.com. July 21, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  17. ^ "Official Site of 'Satellite of Love'". Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  18. ^ "Star Wars: Battlefront II (Video Game 2017)". IMDb. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  19. ^ "Attack of the Show - Michael Kosta; Janina Gavankar - TheTVDB.com". thetvdb.com. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  20. ^ The Vampire Diaries (TV Series 2009–2017) - IMDb. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  21. ^ Raftery, Liz (August 14, 2013). "Exclusive: CW's Web Series Husbands Adds Cast Members from True Blood, CollegeHumor". TV Guide. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  22. ^ "Janina Gavankar talks about her role in Far Cry 4". Archived from the original on November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  23. ^ "Janina Gavankar Joins 'The Mysteries Of Laura', Brandon Smith In 'One Big Happy'". Deadline Hollywood. March 13, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  24. ^ "Star Wars: Battlefront II (Video Game 2017)". IMDb. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  25. ^ Debruge, Peter (November 29, 2017). "Sundance Film Festival Unveils Full 2018 Features Lineup". Variety. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  26. ^ "A24, DirecTV Acquire Logan Lerman Sundance Mystery 'Sidney Hall' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. April 4, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  27. ^ The Morning Show (TV Series 2019– ) - IMDb. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  28. ^ "Alan Wake 2 – The Lake House Expansion Available Now!". Alan Wake. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  29. ^ "Janina Gavankar – Love Lockdown". June 17, 2010. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2011 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ "Anokhi Sexy & Successful – Janina Gavankar". Anokhi Magazine. Archived from the original on January 23, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  31. ^ "Ella Leya's "Wish I Could"". December 1, 2010. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2011 – via YouTube.
  32. ^ "Recliner's "Float Away"". sausagefilms.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  33. ^ "Darunam's "All That's Beautiful Must Die"". Livevideo.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  34. ^ Martin, Andrew. "Premiere: Janina Gavankar "Waiting For Godot"". Complex.
  35. ^ "True Blood's Janina Gavankar: Exclusive Video Premiere". Billboard.
  36. ^ "Simplicity makes 'Waiting for Godot' top music video of 2013 (Includes interview)". digitaljournal.com.
  37. ^ "WAITING FOR GODOT". Winter Film Awards. March 19, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  38. ^ "Jersey Surf helps Janina Gavankar unleash her inner band geek". Drum Corps International. April 15, 2015. Archived from the original on July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  39. ^ "Best Buddies New York Benefit Concert – Elaine Kwon and Friends – Wednesday, May 20, 2015 – Carnegie Hall". carnegiehall.org. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  40. ^ Bilton, Nick (September 30, 2014). Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal. USA: Portfolio. p. 102. ISBN 978-1591847083.
  41. ^ Janina Gavankar Cements Geek Cred on Attack of the Show! Archived September 13, 2012, at archive.today, trueblood-news.com. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  42. ^ "Spending time with Ms. Dewey". NPR Marketplace Tech. December 13, 2006. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  43. ^ "Janina Gavankar: 'True Blood' Shapeshifter Goes Posterous On Her Industry". Forbes. November 5, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  44. ^ "Suits and Spooks". taiaglobal.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  45. ^ "Battlefront 2 actor and DeviantArt founder launch NeoGAF competitor: The Forum". PCGamesN. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  46. ^ Schneider, Logan (June 2018). "Logan Schneider on ARRI Alexa LF and Signature Primes" (PDF). FDTimes.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  47. ^ "Star Wars: Battlefront II's Janina Gavankar straddles being a fan, an actress, and a gamer page 2 | GamesBeat". venturebeat.com. December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  48. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  49. ^ "True Blood and Social Media Star Janina Gavankar to Receive Gravity Summit's Excellence in Social Media/Entertainment Award". Archived from the original on January 29, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  50. ^ Petski, Denise (July 22, 2016). "'Sleepy Hollow': Janina Gavankar Cast As Ichabod Crane's New Partner". Deadline. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  51. ^ Thoman, Lauren (January 28, 2022). "The End of The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window Explained". Looper. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  52. ^ Carter, Justin (May 28, 2022). "Ahsoka, Qui-Gon & Count Dooku Return in New Anthology Series, Tales of the Jedi". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  53. ^ McNulty, Thomas (December 15, 2022). "God Of War Ragnarök's Cut Secret Ending Is Perfect For DLC". ScreenRant. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  54. ^ Mitsuno, Raio (September 9, 2021). "Journey with Frey to Forspoken's fantastical world next spring". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  55. ^ Lumb, David (September 27, 2023). "Alan Wake 2 Is Tough, Dark and Compellingly Strange". CNET. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  56. ^ Battlefront II Inferno Squad (Star Wars) Audiobook. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  57. ^ "Randomize: Forward Audiobook". Amazon. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  58. ^ Hood, Cooper (November 16, 2020). "The Mandalorian's Secret Battlefront 2 Cameo Revealed". Screenrant. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
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