Luana Velis

Luana Velis was born in Bergisch-Gladbach and grew up between Cologne and Chile. After completing a high school ballet education, she studied acting at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Bochum. At the 2015 Theatertreffen of German-speaking acting students, she was awarded a solo prize. From 2015 to 2021, she was a member of the ensemble at Schauspielhaus Bochum, Schauspiel Frankfurt, and the Residenztheater in Munich. She has worked with directors such as Luk Perceval, Jan-Christoph Gockel, Calixto Bieito, Roger Vontobel, Michał Borczuch, Marius von Mayenburg, Viktor Bodó, and Stefan Bachmann.

The NRW critics’ survey named Luana Velis the Best Young Actress of the 2016/2017 season. For her leading role in the feature film Luz by Tilman Singer, she was awarded “Best Actress” at the Fantapoa Film Festival in Brazil. Since 2021, she has performed as a freelance actress at the Berliner Ensemble, Schauspiel Köln, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Grips Theater in Berlin, and Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus.

From the 2024/2025 season, she can be seen in the production Johann Holtrop (dir. Stefan Bachmann) at the Burgtheater in Vienna, which was awarded the Faust Prize in 2024.

In addition, she develops her own projects. Her evening performance Suchen.Sex.Sprechen premiered at Theater Augsburg in 2022 and was shown at the Britney X Festival at Schauspiel Köln, and her evening Viola Chilensis was nominated for the Folkwang Prize.

She is now a member of the ensemble at Theaterhaus Jena.