Severija Janušauskaitė (born 22 October 1981) is a Lithuanian stage and film actress, occasionally performing as a singer, composer, costume designer and fashion model. She is well known for her role in the drama film ''
Star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
Nika Award
The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars.
History
The award was established i ...
and White Elephant Award nominations in several categories. Other popular works include the comedy film ''The Norseman'' (2015) as well as the TV series '' The Optimists'' and ''
Babylon Berlin
''Babylon Berlin'' is a German neo-noir television series. Created, written, and directed by Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Hendrik Handloegten. It is loosely based on novels by German author Volker Kutscher.
The series premiered on 13 O ...
'' (both 2017).
Early life
Severija Janušauskaitė was born on 22 October 1981 in
Šiauliai
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Names
Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different l ...
. Her mother is a teacher and her father is a power engineer. She has a sister working as an intellectual property lawyer, currently at the trade association representing the recording industry.
Janušauskaitė showed interest in arts already as a child, taking example from her grandfather, a multi-instrumentalist. Later on, she studied music and graduated from a fine arts school. Finally, she chose a theatre and film study program and graduated from the
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre
The Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts.
History
Composer Juozas Naujalis founded a music school in 1919 in Kaunas. This ...
in 2005.
Career
Since 2003, Janušauskaitė has performed at several Lithuanian theatres, such as the State Youth Theatre of Lithuania, Oskaras Koršunovas Theatre (OKT), VDU / Mens Publica Theatre, and Lėlė (Vilnius Puppet Theatre), as well as the Arts Printing House, a creative space in Vilnius.
After being selected in an open competition, Janušauskaitė was hired in 2006 to play her first major stage role in ''Woman from the Past'', based on a play by
Roland Schimmelpfennig
Roland Schimmelpfennig (born 19 September 1967) is a German theatre director and playwright. His plays are performed in more than 40 countries.
Biography
Schimmelpfennig was born in Gottingen. He began his career as a journalist in Istanbul, b ...
. One year later, she played the role of Queen Margaret in ''Ivona, Princess of Burgundia'', accepting an offer by
Jonas Vaitkus
Jonas Vaitkus (born 20 May 1944) is a Lithuanian theatre and film director, and academic.
Early life and education
Jonas Vaitkus was born on 20 May 1944 in Lithuania. For her role of Liucija in the drama ''Patriots'' at the Lithuanian State Youth Theatre, in 2008 Severija Janušauskaitė was nominated for the
Golden Stage Cross
The Golden Stage Cross ( lt, Auksinis scenos kryžius, ASK) is the annual highest award for theatre in Lithuania. It is awarded on the World Theatre Day (March 27) usually for theatrical works performed during the previous year, but also as a life ...
, the highest theatre award of Lithuania. She later played other main characters, such as Barbara in ''Barbara and Sigismund'' and Elisabet Vogler in an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film ''Persona''. The actress was awarded a Fortune Diploma and a Young Theatre Critics Award in 2013 for her portrayal of Lulu in ''Intimacy'' at VDU Theatre.
Janušauskaitė started her film career in 2004 with the short film ''The Flame''. Later, she appeared in two TV series, ''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'' (2007), an international co-production, and the Norwegian ''Honeytrap'' (2008). Her first feature film was the Lithuanian-Hungarian ironic drama ' (2010), where she played one of the main roles. This film, directed by Saulius Drunga, won the Silver George Award for the best film in the Perspectives competition at the
33rd Moscow International Film Festival
The 33rd Moscow International Film Festival was held from 23 June to 2 July 2011. The Golden George was awarded to the Venezuelan drama film ''The Waves'' directed by Alberto Morais.
The festival opened with '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' ...
. Its
screenplay
''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993.
Background
After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...
received the New Talent Award at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
in 2007.
Janušauskaitė gained popularity in Russia and abroad for her role in Anna Melikian's film ''
Star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
'' (2014). Her performance of
socialite
A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
Margarita was highly praised by
film critics
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...
Nika Award
The Nika Award (sometimes styled NIKA Award) is the main annual national film award in Russia, presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science, and seen as the national equivalent of the Oscars.
History
The award was established i ...
and White Elephant Award nominations in the categories Best Actress and Discovery of the Year (both 2015). Following the success in Sochi, Severija Janušauskaitė participated as a jury member in the 15th .
The following years were characterized by growing critical and public acclaim. In 2013 and 2015, Janušauskaitė was nominated for the Best Lithuanian Actress Award at
Vilnius International Film Festival The Vilnius International Film Festival (VIFF) Kino pavasaris is a film festival held annually in March in Vilnius, Lithuania since 1995, and is the largest film festival in the nation in number of films and audience. It is one of the most anticipa ...
. Her performances in the TV series ''Godfather'' (2014) and films such as ''The Norseman'' (2015) and ''Dreamfish'' (2016) were also widely covered by the news media. The latter film participated in the competition of the 27th Kinotavr Film Festival in Sochi and was nominated for the Russian Guild of Film Critics Award in the category Best Debut Film (2016). For her role of the
mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
Helena in ''Dreamfish'', Janušauskaitė received the Best Actress Award at the 25th Honfleur Russian Film Festival. She was nominated for the national film award of Lithuania, the , in 2017 in the category Best Supporting Actress for her role in the historical drama film ''Emilia'' (2016).
In 2017, Janušauskaitė became known to a broad audience in Russia and Germany thanks to her roles in major television films. In Russia, the actress is currently widely associated with her performance as Ruta Blaumane, chief of an analytical group in the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1960s, in Alexey Popogrebsky's historical drama '' The Optimists'' screened on
Russia-1
Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship ch ...
TV channel in April. In Germany, Janušauskaitė is known for her role as
double agent
In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...
Svetlana Sorokina in another period drama set in
1920s Berlin
The Golden Twenties was a particular vibrant period in the history of Berlin. After the Greater Berlin Act the city became the third largest municipality in the world and experienced its heyday as a major world city. It was known for its leadershi ...
Babylon Berlin
''Babylon Berlin'' is a German neo-noir television series. Created, written, and directed by Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Hendrik Handloegten. It is loosely based on novels by German author Volker Kutscher.
The series premiered on 13 O ...
'' that had its premiere in October on
Sky 1
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
. In this to date most expensive German TV series, the actress also appears as the singer Nikoros and performs inter alia the film's
main theme
In music, a subject is the material, usually a recognizable melody, upon which part or all of a composition is based. In forms other than the fugue, this may be known as the theme.
Characteristics
A subject may be perceivable as a complete m ...
, , released under the pseudonym Severija. In October 2018, after the series started to air on free TV, the song became the most popular song in Germany's Amazon and iTunes download charts. She considers the role in ''Babylon Berlin'' as her most memorable one so far.
Janušauskaitė has many interests and does not work solely as an actress. She wrote music for the children's theatre performances ''
The Little Match Girl
"The Little Match Girl" ( da, Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne, meaning "The little girl with the sulphur-sticks", i.e. matches) is a literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story, about a dying child's dre ...
'' (at Arts Printing House) and ''Evolution'', designed costumes for '' Now You See It / Now You Don't'' (both at Vilnius Puppet Theatre). Apart from that, she also appears as a fashion model.
Personal life
Janušauskaitė likes singing and plays piano. Her hobbies also include reading, painting, sewing, dancing, yoga, swimming, fencing and make-up design. Besides Lithuanian, she speaks English, German and Russian. She is married to the director of the Vilnius Puppet Theatre and has a son from her first marriage.
KinoPoisk
Kinopoisk (russian: Кинопоиск, a portmanteau of "cinema" and "search") is a Russian online database of information related to films, TV shows including cast, production team, biographies, plot summaries, ratings, and reviews. Since 2018 ...
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...