NEW DELHI: Janina Gavankar, a young actress of Indian origin, has won laurels for her role in the American television cop drama “The Mysteries of Laura” starring Debra Messing on NBC. Gavankar plays Meredith Bose, a strict and not-easily-amused detective and the “bitchy” co-worker who rightfully calls Laura out on recklessly firing her weapon and tries to focus on proper police procedures, only to be scoffed at and ridiculed.
Though she had small roles in movies like ‘Barbershop’ and played an intern for two episodes on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Gavankar’s first big acting role came on Showtime’s “The L Word,” where she played Papi, a lesbian lothario for two seasons. From there, it was a role on ABC Family’s supernatural series “The Gates,” where she played an officer in a gated community full of vampires and werewolves.
Then, she jumped to another set of vampires and werewolves, with a role on ‘True Blood’ playing Luna. She’s also appeared in ‘The League,’ playing Shiva, who is the “deity” of their league’s trophy.
Most recently, she appeared in the first season of “Arrow,” playing McKenna Hall, the detective who Oliver briefly dates. Just before she joined “The Mysteries of Laura,” Gavankar played Tessa on the fifth season of “The Vampire Diaries.”
But acting is just one of the things the 24-year-old is well-known for. In an interview on the now off-air “Attack of the Show,” Gavankar claimed to be the first actor on Twitter in 2006. She is also a self-proclaimed gamer, and spends a lot of her time trying to help other actors reach more fans with their online media presence, according to her website.
Gavankar has a music career too. She was a member of the now defunct girl group, Endera, who was signed to Cash Money Records. Along with singing, she also plays piano and percussion. Her last single, ‘Waiting for Godot,’ was released in 2012.
