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Janina Zione Gavankar was born on November 29, 1980, in Joliet, Illinois, to parents from Mumbai and Pune, India, according to Wikipedia. She trained as a pianist, vocalist and orchestral percussionist and majored in theatre at the University of Illinois Chicago.
She joined The L Word as series regular Eva "Papi" Torres in 2006 and went on to play Leigh Turner on The Gates, shapeshifter Luna Garza on HBO's True Blood, McKenna Hall on Arrow, Diana Thomas on Sleepy Hollow, Qetsiyah and Tessa on The Vampire Diaries, and Shiva, namesake of the trophy, on The League. In late 2019 she joined Apple TV's The Morning Show as co-anchor Alison Namazi.
She played Iden Versio, the lead of the campaign in EA's Star Wars Battlefront II (2017), and was Ms. Dewey, the face of a Microsoft search engine. She also appears regularly in Funny or Die shorts.
In October 2026 she debuted as the new voice of Apu's wife, Manjula, in the Halloween episode "The Revengening," taking over from Jan Hooks and Tress MacNeille, according to the BBC and The Guardian. Read Apu returns to The Simpsons with a new voice, and visit the Sunil Malhotra hub.
Sources: Wikipedia
Our newest Janina Gavankar story, from October 19, 2026, is "Apu Speaks Again on 'The Simpsons' After Nearly a Decade, and His New Voice Was Ready to Walk Away": Sunil Malhotra voiced the Kwik-E-Mart favorite in Sunday's Halloween episode, 'The Revengening,' with Janina Gavankar as Manjula. He calls it 'a reclamation,' but he almost turned the role down.
Janina Gavankar, who debuted in the role in October 2026 (our report).
Shapeshifter Luna Garza (Wikipedia).
Yes. She played Iden Versio, the lead of Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) (Wikipedia).
