Although the new cop drama “The Mysteries of Laura” starring Debra Messing opened with mixed reviews last month, critics are taking notice of Janina Gavankar, who plays Meredith Bose, a strict and not-easily-amused detective who resents her colleague.
The only other supporting cast of notice is Janina Gavankar, the “bitchy” co-worker who rightfully calls Laura out on recklessly firing her weapon and tries to focus on proper police procedures, only to be scoffed at and ridiculed, Popinsomniacs says in its review of the show’s pilot episode that aired on NBC on Sept. 17.
However, ratings were bad for the show – it got 24% of rating, based on the 29 reviews, and has an average rating of 3.9/10. On Metacritic, a website that aggregates music, game, television and movie reviews from the leading critics, the series got a score of 37 over 100, based on 26 critics, this indicates unfavorable reviews.
Though she had small roles in movies like “Barbershop” and played an intern for two episodes on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Gavankar’s first big acting role came on Showtime’s “The L Word,” where she played Papi, a lesbian lothario for two seasons. From there, it was a role on ABC Family’s supernatural series “The Gates,” where she played an officer in a gated community full of vampires and werewolves.
Then, she jumped to another set of vampires and werewolves, with a role on “True Blood,” playing Luna. She’s also appeared in “The League,” playing Shiva, who is the “deity” of their league’s trophy.
Most recently, she appeared in the first season of “Arrow,” playing McKenna Hall, the detective who Oliver briefly dates. Just before she joined “The Mysteries of Laura,” Gavankar played Tessa on the fifth season of “The Vampire Diaries.”
But acting is just one of the things the 24-year-old is well-known for. In an interview on the now off-air “Attack of the Show,” Gavankar claimed to be the first actor on Twitter in 2006. She is also a self-proclaimed gamer, and spends a lot of her time trying to help other actors reach more fans with their online media presence, according to her website.
Gavankar has a music career too. She was a member of the now defunct girl group, Endera, who was signed to Cash Money Records.
Along with singing, she also plays piano and percussion. Her last single, “Waiting for Godot,” was released in 2012.