Julia Goldani Telles is a Brazilian-American actress and

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

. She is known for playing Sasha Torres on the short-lived

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

series ''

Bunheads ''Bunheads '' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Lamar Damon that aired on ABC Family from June 11, 2012, to February 25, 2013. Starring Sutton Foster, the show centers on a Las Vegas showgirl who ...

'' (2012–2013), Whitney Solloway on the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

original series ''The Affair'' (2014–2019), and Iris in the third season of ''

The Girlfriend Experience ''The Girlfriend Experience'' is a 2009 American slice-of-life drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, and starring then- pornographic actress Sasha Grey. It was shot in New York City, and a rough ...

'' (2021).

Early life

Goldani Telles was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to a Brazilian mother and Mexican father. She moved with her parents to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

when she was almost two years old. It was there that she was introduced to the world of ballet at the age of five. When the family relocated back to Los Angeles that year, Goldani Telles could speak only Portuguese and learned

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

after the family's move. Goldani Telles moved to New York City when she was 13. Goldani Telles trained at the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...

and Ballet Academy East, and appeared in numerous ballet performances including ''

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

'', ''

Nutcracker A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells. A decorative version, a nutcracker doll ...

'', ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', and ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

''. A case of

tendonitis Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...

and labral tears in her hips at the age of 15 forced Goldani Telles to stop practicing ballet for a year; to avoid depression, she decided to take a drama course.

Career

Goldani Telles studied at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Her first television role came in 2011 when she successfully auditioned for the part of Sasha Torres in ABC Family's ''Bunheads''. She did so, having never had an acting job before and without head-shots or a résumé. Her agent felt ''

'' should have been one of her first auditions as he felt she would be comfortable with the dancing aspect of the show. The pilot episode was filmed in November 2011. ''Bunheads'' was picked up to series and ran for eighteen episodes from June 11, 2012, to February 25, 2013. As well as ''Bunheads'', Goldani Telles also appeared in the Nat & Alex Wolff music video for the song "Greatest Prize" in early 2012. She also guest starred on the ''

Blue Bloods ''Blue Bloods'' is an American police procedural drama (film and television), drama television series that aired on CBS from September 24, 2010, to December 13, 2024, across 14 seasons and 293 episodes. Its main characters were members of the fi ...

'' episode "The Bogeyman" which aired January 10, 2014. Goldani Telles played the role of oldest daughter Whitney on the

drama series ''The Affair''. In May, 2021, Goldani Telles starred as Iris in the third season of the Starz series ''

.''

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldani Telles, Julia Living people Actresses from Los Angeles American people of Brazilian descent American actresses of Mexican descent American television actresses American child actresses American film actresses Actresses from New York (state) Actresses of Brazilian descent 21st-century American actresses School of American Ballet alumni Hispanic and Latino American actresses Brazilian ballerinas Brazilian ballet dancers Year of birth missing (living people)