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 (2014), for which she received an Award for Best Actress at the Kinotavr Film Festival, a Golden Eagle Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as Nika Award 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 (both 2017).
Early life
Severija Janušauskaitė was born on 22 October 1981 in Šiauliai. 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 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. One year later, she played the role of Queen Margaret in Ivona, Princess of Burgundia, accepting an offer by Jonas Vaitkus, her postgraduate studies professor. 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 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 (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. Its screenplay received the New Talent Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
Janušauskaitė gained popularity in Russia and abroad for her role in Anna Melikian's film Star (2014). Her performance of socialite Margarita was highly praised by film critics, resulting in the Best Actress Award at the 25th Sochi Open Russian Film Festival (2014), a Golden Eagle Award for Best Supporting Actress (2015) as well as Nika Award 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. 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 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 TV channel in April. In Germany, Janušauskaitė is known for her role as double agent Svetlana Sorokina in another period drama set in 1920s Berlin, Tom Tykwer's Babylon Berlin that had its premiere in October on Sky 1. 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, , 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 (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.
Works
Theatre
Premiere English Title Original Title Role Venue 2006 Woman from the Past Moteris iš praeities Romi Arts Printing House, Vilnius 2007 Ivona, Princess of Burgundia Ivona, Burgundo kunigaikštytė Queen Margaret State Youth Theatre of Lithuania, Vilnius 2008 Ferryman Keltininkas Beatričė Vilnius City Theatre / OKT 2008 Patriots Patriotai Liucija State Youth Theatre of Lithuania, Vilnius 2010 Barbara and Sigismund Barbora ir Žygimantas Barbora State Youth Theatre of Lithuania, Vilnius 2011 Persona Persona Elisabet Vogler Arts Printing House, Vilnius 2013 Intimacy Intymumas Lulu VMU Theatre & Mens Publica Theatre, Kaunas 2014 The Little Match Girl Mergaitė su degtukais [composer] Arts Printing House, Vilnius 2015 Evolution Evoliucija [composer] Vilnius Puppet Theatre 2016 Now You See It / Now You Don't Čia buvo / Čia nėra [costume designer] Vilnius Puppet Theatre
Film
Year English Title Original Title Role Notes 2004 The Flame woman short film 2006 No Focus Nefokuse smoking girl short film 2007 War and Peace Война и мир gipsy dancer and singer TV series 2008 Honeytrap Honningfellen Vaida Balandytė TV series 2009 The Other Side of the Wall Les dernières heures du mur Marlene 2010 2h_Two Hours 2h_Dvi valandos Agnija short film2010 Anarchy Girls Sandra I Love The Bullet In Your Heart Myliu kulką tavo širdyje Laura Laima Determines the Destiny voice role2011 The Crown Jewels Kronjuvelerna prison guard The Fortress of Sleeping Butterflies Silvija2012 Comma Komats actress short film Experman Expermenas Lucy short film Letters to Sofija Laiškai Sofijai Helen Reeba Ryba short film 2013 Violence Smurtas Julie short film2014 Godfather Крёстный Kristin TV series Star Звезда MargaritaSugar Time Zuckerzeit announced2015 Chasing Solace Lina short filmUntil NoПока нетshort filmThe Exact AddressТочный адресshort film The Norseman Норвег BrynhildSinickis - Juokas pro ašaras Sinickis - Juokas pro ašarasmusic videoThe Roop - Be MineThe Roop - Be Minemusic video2016 About Football and Angels О футболе и про ангелов angel short film Dreamfish Рыба-мечта Helena Emilia actress2017 The Optimists Ruta Blaumane TV series Babylon Berlin Babylon Berlin Swetlana Sorokina / Nikoros TV series2018MotherlandGimtinėViktorija Isaac Izaokas Elena What Silent Gerda Knows Ko zina klusā Gerda Baroness Emma Unburied Nepalaidotas Eglė short filmShort WavesКороткие волныBloody Lady Catherine II TV series Polina Varvara Mermaids Русалки Ulyana TV series Selfie Селфи Lera Sleepers (season 2) Ingrid Watson TV series A Rough Draft Черновик Renata Ivanova TV series 2020 The Silver Skates Серебряные коньки Severina 2022 The Playlist Maxine Silverson TV miniseries
Dubbing
Year English Title Local Title Role 2007 Ratatouille La Troškinys Colette Tatou 2007 The Simpsons Movie Simpsonų filmas Bart Simpson 2007 Shrek the Third Šrekas 3 Rapunzel
Accolades
Year Association Category Work Result 2008 Best Supporting Actress Patriots (State Youth Theatre of Lithuania, Vilnius) 2013Fortune Fortune Diploma Intimacy (Mens Publica Theatre, Kaunas) 2013 Fortune Young Theatre Critics Award Intimacy (VDU Theatre, Kaunas) 2013Vilnius International Film FestivalBest Lithuanian Actress 2014 Sochi Open Russian Film Festival Best Actress Star 2015 Golden Eagle Award Best Supporting Actress Star 2015 Nika Award Best Actress Star 2015 Nika Award Discovery of the Year Star 2015 White Elephant Award Best Actress Star 2015 Vilnius International Film Festival Best Lithuanian Actress 2016 Honfleur Russian Film Festival Best Actress Dreamfish 2017Silver Crane AwardBest Supporting ActressEmilia
References
Further reading
External links
Severija Janušauskaitė on KinoPoisk Severija Janušauskaitė on Spotify