Ivanna Sakhno

Ivanna Anatoliyivna Sakhno, born on 14 November 1997, is a remarkable Ukrainian actress and activist, now based in the United States. Known for portraying diverse roles such as Cadet Viktoriya in the science fiction monster film Pacific Rim Uprising (2018), the hitwoman Nadedja in the 2018 action comedy film The Spy Who Dumped Me, and Shin Hati in the 2023's Ahsoka television series. She has been active in the film industry since 2005 and has already achieved significant prominence in Ukraine starring in the first ever Ukrainian-language sitcom, Lesia + Roma, and the 2013 biopic Ivan the Powerful. She was born into a family of local filmmakers in Kyiv, Ukraine, her parents being Halyna Kuvivchak-Sakhno, a director, and Anatolii Sakhno, a cinematographer. Her ambition towards acting started stirring in 2004 after watching the film Amélie, and at the age of 13, she moved to Vancouver for her English studies. Sakhno was discovered by Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins at a casting workshop and eventually relocated to the United States in 2013, to chase her acting dreams. She studied at Beverly Hills High School and later at the acclaimed Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, working with Ivana Chubbuck. The actress made her first appearance in an American television series opposite Zoë Kravitz in Hulu’s series High Fidelity in 2020. Apart from her involvement in the film industry, Sakhno is also an active participant in supporting her Ukrainian heritage and country. She expressed her support for Ukrainian political prisoners in recent years and following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sakhno publicly condemned Russia’s actions and expressed support for her country.