Janina Zione Gavankar is an American actress who portrays Diana Thomas on the fourth season of Sleepy Hollow.
History[]
Gavankar was born in Joliet, Illinois to Pete and Mohra Gavankar. Her father, Pete Gavankar, was an Indian engineer who first traveled to the United States to pursue a master's degree. Her mother, Shan-de-Mohra, emigrated to the US from India, and is half-Indian and half-Dutch.[1] Her father died in January 2012.[2] Gavankar has acted in theatre, film, television, and online. Her most notable roles include Papi in The L Word, Ms. Dewey, the personification of a Microsoft live search engine, Shiva, the namesake of the sought after trophy on The League, and, most recently, shapeshifter Luna Garza on HBO's True Blood. She regularly appears in Funny or Die shorts.[3] In 2006 she joined the cast of The L Word as a series regular, and shot all of the clips used for Ms. Dewey. In 2007, she landed a lead in CW pilot Dash 4 Cash.[4] In 2008, Gavankar appeared in TV series Stargate Atlantis, Grey's Anatomy and 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 movies Men, Interrupted, Indian Gangster, and Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey. Gavankar played the voice of Nikki in Quantum Quest. She landed a lead role in the now-canceled ABC Television supernatural drama The Gates.[5] She appears on CW's Arrow as a former flame to Oliver Queen. Gavankar is an admitted gamer[6] 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.[7]
As of 2011 Gavankar has become a series regular in HBO's True Blood. She plays a public school teacher and shapeshifter named Luna Garza, who gets romantically involved with one of the main characters of the series.[8][9] Her indie movie Satellite of Love[10] premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival in 2012, and her 2012 indie I'm Afraid of Virginia Wolf is currently in post-production.[11] On December 20, 2012, Gavankar was the last person interviewed for the now cancelled Attack of the Show! which aired on G4 TV. On August 3, 2013, it was announced that Gavankar landed a role as witch Tessa in the fifth season of The Vampire Diaries.[12] Gavankar guest starred in the third season of the acclaimed sitcom Husbands.[13] In 2014, she starred as Amita in the video game, Far Cry 4.[14] As of 2014, Gavankar has played the series regular role of Detective Meredith Bose on NBC's The Mysteries of Laura.[15]
Trivia[]
- Grandniece of Mangesh Desai.
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Why Is God | Mina | |
| 2002 | Barbershop | Fine Woman | MGM |
| 2003 | Dark | Kaya | |
| 2004 | Barbershop 2: Back in Business | Field Reporter | Sequel |
| 2005 | Cup of My Blood | Iona | |
| 2006 | BBQ Bill | The Fiance | |
| Ms. Dewey | Ms. Dewey | ||
| 2007 | Dash 4 Cash | Melanie | TV series |
| Epileptic Gaming | Herself | ||
| 2007–2009 | The L Word | Papi | TV series |
| 2008 | Shattered! | Maria | |
| Factory | Laura | TV series | |
| My Boys | Terri | TV series | |
| Stargate Atlantis | Sgt. "Dusty" Mehra | TV series | |
| Grey's Anatomy | Lisa | TV series | |
| 2008–2009 | NCIS | Angela | TV series |
| 2009 | Dollhouse | Lynn | TV series |
| The Cleaner | Usha | TV series | |
| Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey | Nikki (voice) | Animated movie | |
| Men, Interrupted | Cece Smith | Independent movie | |
| Three Rivers | Ada | TV series | |
| Indian Gangster | Geeta | Independent movie | |
| 2009–present | The League | Shivakamini Somakandarkram | TV series |
| 2010 | 6 Month Rule | Reese | Independent movie |
| The Gates | Leigh | TV series | |
| 2011 | The Custom Mary | Ms. Rime | Independent movie |
| Traffic Light | Alexa | TV series | |
| The Exes | Kerry | TV series | |
| Method Shapeshifting | Herself | Funny or Die short | |
| Herpacol DX | Actress | Funny or Die short | |
| God Reschedules Rapture | Blogger | Funny or Die short | |
| Touring | Actress | Funny or Die short | |
| Victory or Death | Selah | Independent movie | |
| Attack of the Show! | Herself | TV series | |
| Satellite of Love | Michelle | Independent movie | |
| 2011–2013 | True Blood | Luna | TV series |
| 2012 | I Am Afraid of Virginia Wolf | Katia | Independent movie |
| The Tournament Challenge Challenged | Herself | Funny or Die short | |
| Do's and Don't | Various Characters (Voice) | Web series | |
| Attack of the Show! | Herself | TV series | |
| X-Play | Herself | TV series | |
| The Q Side | Herself | Web series | |
| Squad 85 | Cameo | Web series | |
| 2012-13 | Arrow | Mckenna Hall | TV series |
| 2013 | The Vampire Diaries | Qetsiyah | TV series |
| The Goodwin Games | Hannah | TV series | |
| Bizarre Bracket Behaviour | Actress | Funny or Die short | |
| Just Face It | Ava | Web series | |
| The N&N Files | Leah Sardina | Web series | |
| Husbands | Kajal | Web series | |
| 2014 | Think Like a Man Too | Vanessa | |
| Garfunkel and Oates | Dr. Sharma | TV series | |
| Far Cry 4 | Amita | Video game (voice and motion capture) | |
| 2014-present | The Mysteries of Laura | Meredith Bose | TV series |
| 2015 | HUNT the TRUTH | FERO/ONI Agent Maya Sankar | Video game marketing campaign (voice) |
Appearances[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ http://sapnamagazine.com/2010/janina-gavankar/
- ↑ http://advancedsearch2.virginmedia.com/main?ParticipantID=jqlc435patgs4w79dx7g33u8otdryt35&FailedURI=http%3A%2F%2Fheraldnews.suntimes.com%2Fbusiness%2F10235658-420%2Fjoliet-man-embodied-american-dream.html&FailureMode=1&Implementation=&AddInType=4&Version=pywr1.0&ClientLocation=uk
- ↑ http://www.funnyordie.com/janina_gavankar
- ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2007/04/05/development-update-wednesday-thursday-april-4-5-24125/7349
- ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/prison-break-actor-joins-abcs-20479
- ↑ http://www.g4tv.com/videos/54885/janina-gavankar-talks-true-blood-video-games-more/?quality=hd
- ↑ http://wire.ggl.com/category/video/shows/up-all-night/
- ↑ http://www.tvguide.com/News/True-Blood-Tuck-1026065.aspx
- ↑ http://www.wetpaint.com/janina-gavankar-on-comiccon-playing-a-shapeshifter-and-why-shed-totally-love-to-watch-true-blood-with-you-exclusive
- ↑ http://www.satelliteoflovemovie.com/
- ↑ http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt1992278/
- ↑ http://www.inquisitr.com/885542/true-blood-star-janina-gavankar-joins-the-vampire-diaries/
- ↑ http://www.tvguide.com/News/Husbands-CW-Seed-Janina-Gavankar-Elaine-Carroll-1069193.aspx
- ↑ http://www.gamecrate.com/janina-gavankar-far-cry-4-interview/
- ↑ http://deadline.com/2014/03/janina-gavankar-joins-the-mysteries-of-laura-brandon-smith-in-one-big-happy-698253/