BIO ENG

Born to a family of musicians, Saara Elina was drawn to the stage, initially studying to become a ballerina. 

After graduating from the ballet school of the Ballet School of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, she quickly turned into acting, aspiring to learn more about theatre work. 

After two failed attempts to get into a drama school, she got accepted to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 2008. 

Studying to become an actress in New York was filled with grounding sensations. Saara Elina studied the Meisner technique, but also Adler and Strasberg, alongside Shakespeare and the classics. She graduated in 2010, and began her professional career in Manhattan.

During the next two years Elina acted in several wildly experimental Off-Off-Broadway productions. Like a classical case be, the profound theatre work nourished her working palate, but not the actual palate. Struggling to make ends meet, and no breakthrough at site, she returned to Finland in 2012. 

Back in Europe, Saara began working in the independent film industry, then slowly moving towards variety of camera work in more mainstream productions. On the creative side, she has written a couple of scripts as well as produced two short films, with a few upcoming projects on the way.

Her latest lead role is playing Sofia in Joonas Makkonen's 'Detour to Father' that led her to a nomination at the 2024 Jussi-Awards for Best Breakthrough Perfromance. next she can be seen in Firemonkey's tv-series 'Deception'.