Annet Mahendru Biography

Anita Devi "Annet" Mahendru is an American actress, best known for her role as Nina Sergeevna Krilova on the FX period drama series The Americans (2013-2018).

Early and personal life

Mahendru was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, the daughter of Olga and Ghanshan "Ken" Mahendru. Her mother is a Russian businesswoman and artist, and her father, a Hindu Indian, is an educator and journalist. She had what she calls a "gypsy" childhood, regularly travelling between St. Petersburg and Frankfurt before moving with her father to East Meadow, New York at the age of 13 after her parents separated.

Mahendru attended East Meadow High School, where she was active in competitive cheerleading and kick line teams, and graduated in 2004. She went on to earn an English degree from St. John's University.

Mahendru is fluent in German, Russian and English, and also speaks Hindi, French and Persian. and initially wanted to use what she has called her "ethnic ambiguity" to work for the United Nations. She was enrolled at New York University for a Master's degree in international relations, but dropped out to pursue acting. She then moved to Los Angeles and studied improv at The Groundlings.

Career

Mahendru began her acting career in 2006, appearing in an episode of the sitcom Love Monkey, an episode of the drama Conviction, a Law & Order spinoff, and the short film The Art of Love. The following year, she appeared in an episode of the HBO comedy-drama Entourage. Her next significant roles came in 2011, in episodes of the sitcoms Big Time Rush and 2 Broke Girls. In 2012, she starred in an episode of the sitcom Mike & Molly.

In 2013, Mahendru began playing the recurring character Nina Sergeevna on the FX drama The Americans, appeared in an episode of the crime series White Collar, and played Agent Rosen in two episodes of the crime drama The Blacklist. She also starred in her first film, the fantasy horror Escape from Tomorrow, which drew attention because most of it was filmed on location at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland without permission from The Walt Disney Company, owner and operator of both parks.

In 2014, Mahendru was promoted to a series regular for the second season of The Americans. She also starred in the comedy-drama film Bridge and Tunnel, had a voice role in the 2014 animated film Penguins of Madagascar, and guest-starred in the 2016 X-Files miniseries as Sveta, a possible UFO abductee. She went on to play Nafisa Al-Qadi on the FX series Tyrant.

Mahendru stars in the title role of the independent feature film Sally Pacholok (2015), which premiered at and won Best Feature at the DC Independent Film Festival, in Washington, DC

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	The Art of Love	Kala	Short film
2008	El Padrino 2	Serge's Wife
2009	Erza: Fear of a Faceless God	Erza
2010	Ungu	Narrator	Short film
2010	Duel of the Overmen	Ausler	Short film
2011	El Padrino II: Border Intrusion	Serge's Wife
2011	American Badass: Bernie's Back!	Janet
2011	The Hollow	Katie	Short film
2011	Missed Call	Steph	Short film
2011	Love, Gloria	Katie
2011	Almaz	Natasha	Short film
2012	Got Rights?	Afghani Female	Short film
2012	Captain Planet 4	Scripty	Short film
2013	Escape from Tomorrow	Isabelle
2013	Metropolitan Stories	Esmeralda	Short film
2014	Bridge and Tunnel	Kelly Jones
2014	Smokey Eyes	Barbara	Short film
2014	Penguins of Madagascar	Eva	Voice
2015	Sally Pacholok	Sally Pacholok

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Love Monkey	Groupie	Episode: "The Onone That Got Away"
2006	Conviction	Waitress	Episode: "180.80"
2007	Entourage	French Girlfriend	Episode: "The Cannes Kids"
2011	Torchwood: Web of Lies	Pilot	Voice Episode: "Missing Day: Part 1"
2011	Big Time Rush	Princess Svetlana	Episode: "Big Time Wedding"
2011	2 Broke Girls	Robin	Episode: "And the Pop-Up Sale"
2012	Mike & Molly	Flight Attendant	Episode: "The Honeymoon is Over"
2013	The Blacklist	Agent Rosen	2 episodes
2013	White Collar	Katya	Episode: "Ice Breaker"
2014	Grey's Anatomy	Ana	Episode: "Only Mama Knows"
2015	The Following	Eliza	4 episodes
2016	The X-Files	Sveta	Episode: "My Struggle: Part 1"
2013-16	The Americans	Nina Sergeevna Krilova	42 episodes Nominated"?Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
2016	Tyrant	Nafisa Al-Qadi	9 episodes