Born Name
Juliana Jay Harkavy
Nick Name
Jules, Jewels, Juice (Her brother August calls her by this name)
Sun Sign
Capricorn
Born Place
New York City, USA
ResidenceÂ
- Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
- Vancouver, Canada when filming for Arrow
Nationality
Education
During her pre-teen and teen years, Juliana trained at the prestigious Young Actors Space in Sherman Oaks, California for 9 years.
She acquired her elementary education from Le Lycée Français de Los Angeles, a private bi-lingual International school that made her fluent in French.
She studied for a brief period in the South of France and finally achieved her high school diploma by graduating from Milken Community High School, Los Angeles.
For higher education, Juliana enrolled in New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts to major in theatre and was placed in The Meisner Studio for primary training.
Occupation
Actress, Writer, Musician
Family
- Father – Michael David Harkavy (Founder & CEO of Global Media & Art Media Strategies, New Mexico)
- Mother – Berta M. Carela (Artist, Writer, Educator)
- Siblings – August Bushido Karela Harkavy (13 Years Junior Younger Brother)
- Others – Peter G. Kupchick (Father-in-law) (Heating & Cooling Business Owner), Brenda Kupchick (Mother-in-law) (State Representative from Fairfield, Connecticut, Co-Owner Peter Kupchick Heating & Cooling Business)
Manager
- Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), Beverly Hills, California
- Brevard Talent Group, Orlando, Florida
Genre
Pop, Rock, Alternative / Indie
Instruments
Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Flute
Labels
Unsigned
Build
Athletic
Height
5 ft 8 in or 173 cm
Weight
58 kg or 128 lbs
Boyfriend / Spouse
Juliana has dated –
- Peter Christopher Kupchick aka Pete (2007–Present) – Juliana married her long-time boyfriend Pete, who is a Fairfield, Connecticut native, on June 19, 2014. She met him while living in Orlando, Florida at the age of 21 where they continued to live together for nearly a decade before moving to Los Angeles, California in 2016. Juliana stated that when she first met Pete both of them were coming through a dark and difficult period in their life and hence bonded over their struggle. For years, the couple was flat broke and could only afford to eat eggs and rice for their meals. Nevertheless, the couple supported each other through the struggle. Her husband is a non-actor who graduated from Northeastern University and works in Automobile Finance & Sales. The couple continues to share their mutual love for traveling, fitness, animal rescue and dogs.
Race / Ethnicity
Multiracial
Her father is Ashkenazi Jewish with Russian and Hungarian ancestry.
Her mother is predominantly African-American with Dominican Republic, African and partly Chinese ancestry.
Hair Color
Dark Brown
Eye Color
Green
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Arched brows and full lips
- Prominent mole above right upper lip
- Lean and muscular figure
Brand Endorsements
- Part of national Verizon commercial featuring Simon Cowell in the lead (2017).
- Cast in Home Depot national ad campaign (2017).
- Part of national Cotton commercial (2011).
Religion
She was raised in an interfaith family. Hence, her religious beliefs are not confirmed.
Best Known For
Being cast as a series regular on Arrow in 2017 (and hence has appeared in numerous episodes) to play the character of Dinah Drake / Black Canary and featured in the parallel universe of DC Comics characters in The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.
As a Singer
Commercially, she has sung various covers of other artists.
First Film
Juliana’s first theatrical film appearance was in the family drama film A Little Princess for her role as Girl in India in 1995. Her role wasn’t credited.
Her first credited role in a theatrical film was in Dolphin Tale in the role of Rebecca in 2011.
First TV Show
In 2010, Juliana had 1 episode guest role appearance as Amy in The Glades in 2010.
Personal Trainer
DIET
- Before becoming a mainstream actress, Juliana struggled with maintaining her weight but, finally got a grip on her fitness by learning about food and nutrition.
- She focuses on eating in moderation and portion control. She does not stack her plate high with food to eat it all in one sitting.
- Juliana prefers to eat 5 times a day to keep her metabolism high.
- She does not necessarily cut carbs or restrict calories but always carries healthy snacks with her such as nuts, fruits, and granola bars to avoid binging on junk or processed food to cope with unexpected hunger.
- She does not consume aerated soft drinks / soda at all and might have a diet soda once in a while for lack of a better choice.
- She tries to drink a gallon of water a day.
- Juliana schedules a weekly cheat day to consume pizza and chocolate.
- Although she loves baking cake, cookies and pies for self-indulgence, the actress swears that cooking is an empowering tool to limit the intake of processed food and arm your diet with high-quality whole foods.
- She absolutely avoids white bread and potatoes, occasionally eats white rice but primarily sticks to whole grains and sweet potatoes as a carbohydrate source.
- She does not eat red meat. Her main source of lean protein is chicken, fish, and eggs.
- She is a self-proclaimed chocoholic but does a good job of practicing self-restraint.
- She often takes vitamin supplements particularly Vitamin E for skin, Biotin for hair and fish oil for healthy joints.
TRAINING
- Juliana does not believe in high volume training sessions and claims one can see results by strength training 3 times a week as long as those sessions are intense.
- However, the actress does not mind doing cardio every day.
- She prefers playing an outdoor sport such as basketball rather than getting on the treadmill.
- She particularly loves taking dance classes to burn calories and often dances in the privacy of her home in front of the mirror to unwind and lighten her mood.
- Her other favorite activities are riding a bike, roller skating, and Yoga.
- Ever since Juliana was cast on Arrow, her weight training sessions became more intense to gain muscle.
- Before getting started with weights, she always prepares her muscles with foam rolling.
- Juliana’s workout primarily comprises of exercises with free weights for functional strength and involves the use of kettlebells, dumbbells, barbell, resistance bands, cables or body weight.
- She finishes off with a machine to max out her muscle burn.
- For Arrow, Juliana also started learning boxing and Tae Bo martial art under the supervision of her on set stunt double, Ivett Gonda who is a former Olympian in Taekwondo.
- She avoids weighing herself to prevent getting caught up with a specific number and simply goes by how she feels.
- Juliana shared that intense weight training sessions are cathartic for stress and anger release which leave her calm and centered for the rest of the day.
- Before filming every action scene on the Arrow, the actress likes to prepare mentally by doing push-ups and pull-ups in her trailer.
- Her body weight usually fluctuates between 120 lbs and 130 lbs.
Juliana Harkavy Favorite Things
- Guilty Pleasure – Cake particularly chocolate cake
- Color – Green
- About Playing Dinah on Arrow – Getting to know and explore Vancouver city as well as the rest of Canada
- Game of Thrones Character – Lady Sansa Stark
- Cocktail – Shirley Temple with extra cherries OR Grey Goose Martini with lots of olives
- Person, She Likes to Follow on Twitter / Instagram – George Takei on Twitter, Carley Page Summers on Instagram
- TV Shows – Game of Thrones, This is Us, Transparent, The Walking Dead
- Websites – Pinterest, Google, Facebook
- Inspiring Book – The Four Agreements
- Outdoor Activity on a Day Off – Shopping at flea markets for home décor
- Sports Team – New York Giants
- Meal – Squid ink pasta in Venice, Italy
- Childhood Celebrity Crush – Taylor Hanson (musician), Kevin Costner in Dance with Wolves (1990)
- For Body – Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner by Lush
- For Hair – Gold Lust Nourishing Hair Oil by Oribé
- For Face – Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster by Clarins
- Animal – Dog (Pitbull breed)
- Celebrity Crush – Gordon Ramsay
- Perfume – Hanae Mori, the Butterfly eau de toilette (wearing it since the age of 15)
- Beauty Secret – Timeout in the steam room
Source – YouTube, Marie Claire, Twitter, Uproxx, Bella NYC, JulianaHarkavy.com, US Magazine
Juliana Harkavy Facts
- She was the first baby born in Manhattan, New York in 1985.
- As a child, she used to eat soap and loved nibbling the Dove soap bar.
- While growing up after writing music, poetry, and stories; dance and athletics were Juliana’s secondary passion.
- Juliana got her first acting job at the age of 10 in a commercial for the Fox Kids series called Goosebumps.
- While still in school, she briefly aspired to be an astronomer but dropped the idea when she realized she was terrible at Mathematics.
- She used to dislike her nose and once considered getting a nose job but her younger brother talked her out of it.
- At the age of 27, Louise played the role of a 60-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s and was the onscreen mother of fellow actor Ford D’Aprix who is much older than her in real life.
- Juliana and her husband are deeply attached to their 3 rescue dogs.
- When she is stressed or angry, her husband starts calling her random names such as Beth, Susan, etc that immediately makes her laugh.
- Her dream role is to play a man.
- Before finding work as an actress, Juliana used to work as a daycare teacher to 1 & 2-year-olds. She used to change 20 diapers a day but felt extremely fulfilled.
- Kat Dennings, known for 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017), is her best friend.
- If she had not been an actress / musician, Juliana would have loved to run a bakery.
- Some of her lesser-known self-proclaimed talents include the ability to yodel, belch loudly and figure out how to play any song on the piano just by listening to it.
- Juliana also has a lot of knowledge of aromatherapy. She maintains a personal apothecary of essential oils to curb and prevent many ailments.
- Her father used to work for DC Comics and is the former senior vice-president of Warner Brothers Entertainment. Hence, she often got to hang around on movie sets. She once ruined Kevin Costner’s take on the sets of Wyatt Earp (1994) which provoked him to yell at her.
- To know more about the actress, visit her official website @ julianaharkavy.com.
- Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and official YouTube.
Featured Image by Juliana Harkavy / Instagram
