Kristina Anapau

Early life

Kristina Elizabeth Anapau Roper was born in Hawaii. She graduated from high school at age 15 and began her studies at University of Hawaii that same year. Before gaining success as an actress, Anapau had intended to become a classical ballerina, having trained seriously since the age of 4. She is a classically trained pianist and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Skidmore College in New York.

Early career (1997–2009)

As a student of 16, while majoring in Art History and Dance, and with no plans of being an actress, Anapau was discovered by a talent agent and encouraged to audition for a new Universal Television film Escape from Atlantis (1997), which would be filming in Anapau's native Hawaii.

The role of Katriana in the Strathford Hamilton directed production would ignite Anapau's passion for acting, and at the bequest of the filmmaker, she relocated to Los Angeles where she pursued more work, ultimately continuing to work steadily across theater, film, and television.

Over the next few years, Anapau appeared in numerous productions, including the films Madison, starring Jim Caviezel and Academy Award Nominee Bruce Dern, the Lions Gate comedy 100 Girls, and Warner Brother's The Opposite Sex, as well as TV series General Hospital and Once and Again.

At age 20, Anapau joined the girl group "3G's" and they landed a recording contract with Hollywood Records and they spent the better part of a year recording an album and opening for Destiny's Child on MTV's TRL Tour.

In 2002, convinced acting was her true calling card, Anapau reappeared in front of the lens.

Anapau starred with Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg in the Dimension Films thriller Cursed, directed by Wes Craven, and then acted alongside Golden Globe winner Diane Venora and Greg Germann in THINKFilm's independent feature Self Medicated, winner of over 35 international film awards. She also starred as Cassidy Merteuil in the Sony Pictures/Newmarket Films release, Cruel Intentions 3. Also during this time, Anapau guest starred and recurred on many noteworthy television productions, including House, M.D., CSI:NY, Monk, Without A Trace, and Knight Rider.

Anapau also starred opposite comedian Dane Cook in the Sony Television produced pilot, Cooked.

Recent work (2009–present)

In 2009, Anapau was cast in Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, and Vincent Cassel. The film went on to gross over $300 million worldwide and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards.

"Darren [Aronofsky] is a genius whose focus and discipline on set is contagious", Anapau said in an interview, reflecting on her work in the 2010 film. "To say that working on Black Swan was inspiring would be an understatement."

Anapau then completed several independent films including The Speak, in which she stars opposite Tom Sizemore, and the paranormal thriller 5 Souls, which she also co-produced. She appeared on the AMC series The Glades and then went on to land the role of faerie, Maurella, in Alan Ball's HBO hit series, True Blood, recurring from season 4 through the present.

In 2012, Anapau appeared on the NBC show Grimm, where she played "Megan Marston, a quiet, sheepish secretary working at a Wesen church who is actually a sheep-like creature dubbed a Seelengut".

Anapau stars as Theresa in Tedi Sarafian's paranormal feature Altergeist (aka Sighting), and as Lisa Westbrook in the sci-fi action film BlackJacks, both set for a 2013 release.

Anapau says she enjoys working in film and television equally, saying they have their "respective pleasures and challenges" and simply looks "for content that inspires me and hopefully elevates the world in some way—films have a track record of best fulfilling both the previous and the later, but there are some really incredible television shows out there that are doing the same. There is a lot of freedom to cross back and forth within the industry now."

True Blood

Anapau made her debut as the faerie Maurella on episode of 11 of True Blood's fourth season, and reprised the role in the fifth.

The actress told The Huffington Post in an interview that "It was such a privilege to join the cast of True Blood. I was a huge Alan Ball fan prior to joining the show-- I'm so fortunate to work with an amazing group of people, immensely talented actors and fantastic crew."

When asked about seeing a greater prevalence of strong, powerful female characters like those on True Blood, Anapau says, "Women audience members want to see strong women doing interesting things in film and on television – it's good for the industry and great for the world."

Public image

Anapau has graced the cover of the Holiday 2012 issues of both Modern Luxury and Status LA magazine. She has also been a cover model for Stuff magazine. She was also one of Stuff magazine's "103 Sexiest Women in the World". as well as Stuff Magazine's "Hollywood's Most Wanted- 50 Hottest Women to Watch"

Other ventures

2012 marked Anapau's entry into the realm of editorial writing, with published articles in The Stndrd magazine, Status LA magazine, and The Hollywood Film Journal.

Awards and nominations

She won the Copper Wing Award at the 2006 Phoenix Film Festival for Best Ensemble for Self Medicated (2005).

She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble for Black Swan.

Kristina won the Actress No Ka Oi award at the 2011 Big Island Film Festival.