Ksenia Solo (born 8 October 1987; pronounced ) is a Latvian-Canadian actress known for portraying Mackenzie "Kenzi" Malikov on ''

Lost Girl ''Lost Girl'' is a Canadian supernatural drama television series that premiered on Showcase on September 12, 2010, and ran for five seasons. It follows the life of a bisexual succubus named Bo, played by Anna Silk, as she learns to control ...

''. She portrayed

Peggy Shippen Margaret "Peggy" Shippen (July 11, 1760 – August 24, 1804) was the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution, and was the second wife of General Benedict Arnold. Shippen was born into a prominent Philadelphia family with Loyalist tendencies. ...

on '' Turn: Washington's Spies''. Solo also portrayed the character "Natasha" in the 2010 American television series ''

Life Unexpected ''Life Unexpected'' is an American teen drama television series that aired for two seasons from January 18, 2010 to January 18, 2011. It was produced by Best Day Ever Productions and Mojo Films in association with CBS Productions and Warner Bro ...

'' and Shay Davydov in Season 3 of ''

Orphan Black ''Orphan Black'' is a Canadian Science fiction on television, science-fiction Thriller (genre), thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett (director), John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany. Th ...

''. In 2017, she joined the cast of the History Channel's ''

Project Blue Book Project Blue Book was the code name for the systematic study of unidentified flying objects by the United States Air Force from March 1952 to its termination on December 17, 1969. The project, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, O ...

'' as the Russian spy Susie Miller.

Early life

Solo was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

in the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

, and is of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

heritage. At the age of five, she moved with her family to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, where she was raised. She studied

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

until the age of 14, when a back injury forced her to stop; her mother is a former ballerina-turned-actress.

Career

Solo played Zoey Jones on the APTN series '' renegadepress.com''. In both 2005 and 2006, she won the

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series for her work on the show. She went on to appear in other Canadian television series and movies, such as the films '' Love Thy Neighbor'' and ''

Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...

'', as well as guest-starring on the television series ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...

''. In 2010, Solo played a small role in

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction. Aronof ...

's ''

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

'' starring

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

and

Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...

. From 2010 to 2011 she played Natasha Siviac in the CW series ''

''. From 2010 to 2015, she starred as Kenzi in the

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

series ''

''; Solo's heritage and fluency in the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

were written into the role. She was cast as Dodge in the pilot episode of ''

Locke & Key ''Locke & Key'' is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, and published by IDW Publishing. Plot summary This plot is presented in chronological order. During the American Revolution, a group of ...

'', but the series was not picked up by

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. In 2013, Solo began filming the

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

''Another You'' on location in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

. In 2015, Solo joined the main cast of '' Turn: Washington's Spies'' as

. She also had a recurring role in Season 3 of ''

'' as Shay. Solo is actively involved with the anti-bullying foundation Stand for the Silent, and was made one of their directors.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solo, Ksenia 1987 births Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian ballerinas Canadian child actresses Canadian female dancers Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners Latvian emigrants to Canada Soviet emigrants to Canada Actors from Riga Canadian people of Russian descent Latvian people of Russian descent