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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[]

Season Four
"Columbia" "In Plain Sight" "Heads of State" "The People vs. Ichabod Crane" "Blood from a Stone"
"Homecoming" "Loco Parentis" "Sick Burn" "Child's Play" "Insatiable"
"The Way of the Gun" "Tomorrow" "Freedom"

External Links[]

References[]

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