Yulia Petrauskas

Yulia Petrauskas, was born in Toronto, Ontario to Irena Simanavicius, an entrepreneur and all around bad ass single mother. She is of Lithuanian descent. Yulia grew up in Parkdale and attended Etobicoke School of The Arts. While still in attendance at Etobicoke School of The Arts, Yulia supported herself with many odd jobs in high school, most notably working for a party and costume company and playing multiple mascot characters, including: a gold fish, a giant tub of yogurt and Barney at many functions and children's birthday parties, where she was frequently used as a human piñata. Yulia was able to develop and hone her artistic craft at the Etobicoke School of the Arts and Central Technical School. While attending school, Yulia was also granted the opportunity to nurture her sense of identity and connection to her culture through completing her junior year in Germany where she had the opportunity to live and study as a young teen. While there Yulia attended Vasario 16-osios Gimnazija, a school established in Diepholz in 1950, as a private school for children of Lithuanian refugees. Her family also attended this institution post WWII. Yulia Petrauskas is personally driven by storytelling and capturing the humanity within her characters. This is her core passion. Upon graduation from Humber College's Theatre program in 2008 (under the wonderful direction of Diana Belshaw), Yulia was accepted into the Queer Youth Arts Program at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre where she was nurtured to develop her voice as an artist even further. Yulia has been working steadily within the Film and TV industry ever since. Her first break came fresh out of theatre school as the only female lead in the series, Breakout (2009). Her competitive sports background plays a huge part in much of her work. Yulia's acting style is much like her athleticism, fearless - resultantly she performs a lion's share of her stunts. It is her fearless attitude, and quick wit that has captured audiences across the country, and abroad.