Bio
A graduate both from the University of Piraeus (Athens, Greece) with a Bachelor of Business Administration and the prestigious Drama School of Athens, Eva-Maria Leonardou is a diversely educated artist. Shortly after graduation she was handpicked by Oscar nominated Writer/Director Nikos Foskolos to play the lead in his television series, which AFTER HER ARRIVAL BECAME THE NUMBER ONE RATED TELEVISION SHOW in all of Greece. This led to a string of successful roles on both stage and screen. Within a year she became the lead actress of Greece’s longest running prime time television show, SHE WAS AWARDED BY THE NETWORK, and performed at Herod’s 5000 Seat Roman Theatre in front of sold out crowds.
Giving up a flourishing career in Greece, Eva-Maria Leonardou came to the US to fulfill a lifelong dream to bring her talent to the American stage and screen. Being fluent both in English and Greek, she is also versed in German and Italian.
Soon after her arrival, United States recognized her as an "ALIEN OF EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY IN ACTING" and offered her permanent residence. She became a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild and jumped into work right away. She co-starred in the movie RIVALS OF JESUS for National Geographic. She executive-produced, wrote, directed and starred in the short film WORK OF ART, which made it to the final round of Steven Spielberg’s directing contest On the Lot. Ms Leonardou was also cast as the female lead in the feature film ON A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, which has won numerous festival awards. She wrote her second Feature Screenplay, 2012 WHEN THE KNIGHTS DIED, which is currently in development and continues to work both as an actress, writer and director.
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