Janina Gavankar

Janina Zione Gavankar (/dʒəˈniːnə ɡəˈvɑːŋkər/; born November 29, 1980) is an American actress and musician. Trained as a pianist, vocalist, and orchestral percussionist, she pursued a major in theatre at the University of Illinois Chicago. Gavankar has portrayed various roles, including 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. Additionally, she gained recognition in marketing as "Ms. Dewey," embodying a personified search engine and virtual assistant for Microsoft.


Gavankar was born in Joliet, Illinois, to Ganesh "Peter" Gavankar, an engineer from Mumbai, who initially traveled to the U.S. to pursue a master's degree, and Shan Demohra "Mohra" Gavankar. Shan is of half-Indian and half-Dutch descent from Pune, and she also immigrated from India.


Gavankar boasts a diverse acting portfolio spanning theatre, film, television, and online platforms. Among her most notable roles are Iden Versio, a prominent character in the Star Wars universe and the central figure in Star Wars: Battlefront II; the shapeshifting Luna Garza in True Blood; the charismatic Papi in The L Word; Ms. Dewey, embodying the Microsoft live search engine; and Shiva, the eponymous trophy on The League. She is a regular presence in Funny or Die shorts.


In 2006, she joined The L Word as a series regular and also filmed all segments for Ms. Dewey. The following year, she secured a lead role in the CW pilot, Dash 4 Cash. Throughout 2008, Gavankar made appearances in various TV series including Stargate Atlantis, Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, My Boys, and Factory. The subsequent year saw her featured in The Cleaner, Dollhouse, Three Rivers, and The League, as well as indie films such as Men, Interrupted, Indian Gangster, and Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey, where she lent her voice to the character Nikki. Additionally, Gavankar landed another lead role in The Gates, an ABC series that was later canceled. She also made appearances on CW's Arrow as a vice squad police officer and briefly portrayed Oliver Queen's girlfriend.


Gavankar, an avid gamer, openly embraces her passion for video games and has been featured on, as well as co-hosted, G4 TV's Attack of the Show! and Epileptic Gaming's Up All Night. She actively participated in reviewing games such as Rock Band, Burnout Paradise, and Army of Two.
In 2011, Gavankar joined the cast of HBO's True Blood as Luna Garza, a public school teacher and shapeshifter who becomes romantically entangled with one of the main characters.
Her indie film, Satellite of Love, debuted at the Dallas International Film Festival in 2012, while her 2012 project, I'm Afraid of Virginia Wolf, is currently in post-production. On December 20, 2012, she was the final interviewee on the now-cancelled Attack of the Show! on G4 TV.
In 2013, Gavankar portrayed a witch named Qetsiyah in the fifth season of The Vampire Diaries and guest-starred in the third season of Husbands.


In 2014, she voiced the character Amita in the video game Far Cry 4 and played Detective Meredith Bose on The Mysteries of Laura from 2014 to 2016.
Gavankar took on the role of Iden Versio, the lead character in the campaign mode of the 2017 Electronic Arts video game, Star Wars Battlefront II.
In 2018, she appeared in two films: Blindspotting, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, distributed by A24.
In late 2019, Gavankar had a supporting role in the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show.
From 2021, Gavankar starred as the antagonist in seasons 2 and 3 of the ABC hit show, Big Sky, portraying a member of a mafia family.


Gavankar rekindled her musical pursuits by releasing a cover of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown." Additionally, her former all-female singing group, Endera, secured a record deal with Cash Money Records Universal Records.
She engaged in a collaboration project in India with Pratichee Mohapatra of Viva, Deep, and Navraaz, contributing to a song titled "Tell Me What." Her musical endeavors extend to having songs licensed for films and television, as well as performing marimba on film scores. Gavankar featured in the music videos for Russian artist Ella Leya's "Wish I Could," San Francisco-based band Recliner's "Float Away," and Manu Narayan's band Darunam.
In August 2012, she released the single for her upcoming EP titled Waiting for Godot, with the official music video premiering on Billboard in November of the same year. The video garnered multiple awards at various film festivals.


During high school, Gavankar auditioned for the front ensemble of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps of Rockford, Illinois. Although she was accepted into the Yale School of Drama's summer camp, her passion for drum corps remained strong. She collaborated with Drum Corps International and the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps to produce a music video for the Martin Garrix/Usher collaboration, "Don't Look Down," released in April 2015.
On May 20, 2015, Gavankar showcased her percussion skills in a duet performance with Questlove at Carnegie Hall for the Best Buddies charity benefit.

References

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. 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. ^ "Janina Gavankar profile". funnyordie.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
10. ^ "Breaking News – Development Update: Wednesday-Thursday, April 4–5". thefutoncritic.com.
11. ^ "'Prison Break' actor joins ABC's 'Gates'". The Hollywood Reporter. October 13, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
12. ^ "Janina Gavankar Talks True Blood, Video Games & More". G4tv.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
13. ^ "Epileptic Gaming's "Up All Night"". Wire.ggl.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
14. ^ "True Blood Promotes Jessica Tuck; Adds Three New Actresses". TV Guide. Retrieved November 29, 2010.