Angeliki Papoulia

Angeliki Papoulia, born in Athens, is basically one of those actors who just keeps showing up in the wildest, most talked-about films to come out of Greece in the past couple decades. She studied theater at the University of Athens and the Empros Drama School, so yeah, she definitely knows her stuff. She’s fluent in English and French, which, let’s be honest, probably makes her life a lot easier on international sets. Her big break came with “Matchbox” in 2002, but everyone really started noticing her after she played the older daughter in “Dogtooth,” that bonkers Yorgos Lanthimos movie that won at Cannes and even got an Oscar nod. She kept rolling with Lanthimos, showing up in “Alps” and “The Lobster,” both of which grabbed major awards and stirred plenty of conversation. Not just a film person, she co-founded the blitz theatre group in 2004, writing, directing, and acting in all their performances until 2017—those shows have hit festivals and big stages all over Europe, from Avignon to Berlin and beyond. Papoulia’s also worked with directors like Syllas Tzoumerkas in “A Blast” and “The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea,” plus Romola Garai’s “Amulet,” which landed at Sundance in 2020. She snagged Best Actress at Sarajevo for “Dogtooth,” too. Lately, she’s been co-directing theatre in Switzerland and working with iconic Greek directors, so she’s not slowing down. Basically, if there’s a weird, bold Greek film or edgy theater piece, odds are Papoulia’s somewhere in the credits.