Kersti Heinloo (born 26 September 1976) is an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n stage, film and television actress who began her career in radio.

Early life and education

Born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

, Kersti Heinloo received her secondary education at the

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

Koidula Gymnasium, graduating in 1994. From 1995 until 1996, she studied radio direction at the Tallinn Pedagogical University (now,

Tallinn University Tallinn University (TLU; , ''TLÜ'') is a public research university in Estonia. Located in the centre of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn University is one of the three largest institutions of higher education in the country. Both QS ...

) before applying and being accepted to the performing arts department of the

Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (''Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia'') began as a mixed choir of the Estonia Society Musical Department (EMD) on the eve of World War I. The assembly of the Estonia Society created the Tallinn Higher Musi ...

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, where she graduated from in 2000. Among her graduating classmates were actors

Maarja Jakobson Maarja Jakobson (born 8 December 1977) is an Estonian television, stage and film actress whose career began in the late 1990s. Early life and education Maarja Jakobson was born in Tartu in 1977. She is distantly related to 19th-century writer and ...

Margus Prangel Margus Prangel (born 7 July 1974 in Tallinn) is an Estonian actor. In 2000 he graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. From 2000 until 2011, he worked at the Estonian Drama Theatre. Since 2011, he has been a freelancer actor. Besi ...

, Eva Püssa,

Katrin Pärn Katrin Pärn (born 20 May 1977) is an Estonian stage, film and television actress and singer. Early life and education Katrin Pärn was born in Tallinn to actor, theatre founder, and director Eino Baskin (1929–2015) and actress and politician ...

Tambet Tuisk Tambet Tuisk (born 23 May 1976) is an Estonian actor. He has appeared in more than twenty films since 1999. Selected filmography References External links * 1976 births Living people Estonian male film actors {{Estonia-actor-stub ...

, Piret Simson and directors Urmas Lennuk, Tiit Ojasoo and Vahur Keller. From 2005 to 2006, she took a one-year course in motion picture production at the

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Film School in the U.K.

Stage career

In 2000, Heinloo began a five year engagement at the

Vanemuine Vanemuine () is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It is the first Estonian language, Estonian-language theatre. Stemming from the Vanemuine Society (1865), the theatre's first performance was Lydia Koidula's ''Saaremaa Onupoeg'' ("The cousin from S ...

theatre in Tartu; she made her stage debut in a production of

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...

's ''

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', often known simply as ''Tom Jones'', is a comic novel by English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. It is a ''Bildungsroman'' and a picaresque novel. It was first published on 28 February 1749 in ...

''. She would perform in a variety of roles in works by such international playwrights and authors as:

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

, Roberto Zucco,

Jerry Bock Jerrold Lewis Bock (November 23, 1928November 3, 2010) was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical '' Fiorello!'' and the Tony A ...

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English writer best known for her 1847 novel, ''Wuthering Heights''. She also co-authored a book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte and Anne Bront� ...

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

and

Willy Russell William Russell (born 23 August 1946) is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are '' Educating Rita'', '' Shirley Valentine'', '' Blood Brothers'' and '' Our Day Out''. Early life Russell was born in Whiston, Lanc ...

, among others. Roles in works by Estonian authors and playwrights at the Vanemuine include: Mati Unt,

August Gailit August Gailit (9 January 1891 – 5 November 1960) was an Estonians, Estonian writer. Life Georg August Gailit was born in Lossiküla, Kuiksilla (near Sangaste Castle), Sangaste Parish (now Otepää Parish), Kreis Dorpat, Governorate of Livonia, ...

Juhan Smuul Juhan Smuul (18 February 1922 – 13 April 1971) was an Estonian writer. Until 1954 he used the given name Johannes Schmuul. Smuul was one of the most recognized writers in Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Estonia and was a member of th ...

Johann Voldemar Jannsen Johann Voldemar Jannsen ( – ) was an Estonian journalist. He was one of the earliest figures of the Estonian national awakening, which he promoted through his newspaper, the ''Eesti Postimees'', and two Estonian Song Festivals. He wrote the nat ...

Jaan Kaplinski Jaan Kaplinski (22 January 1941 – 8 August 2021 ) was an Estonian poet, philosopher, politician, and culture critic, known for his focus on global issues and support for left-wing/ liberal thinking. He was influenced by Eastern philosophical s ...

, Urmas Vadi, Loone Ots, Ivar Põllu, Kauksi Ülle and others. For two years after leaving the Vanemuine, Heinloo was a freelance actress. In 2007, she began an engagement as an actress at the

Estonian Drama Theatre The Estonian Drama Theatre () is a theatre in Tallinn, Estonia. It has the role of a national theatre for Estonia. The Estonia Theatre is located next door. History The building that houses the Estonian Drama Theatre was originally built for the ...

(''Eesti Draamateater'') where she made her stage debut in the role of Annikki in

Antti Tuuri Antti Elias Tuuri (born 1 October 1944, Kauhava, Southern Ostrobothnia) is a Finnish writer, known for his works dealing with Southern Ostrobothnia. The ''Äitini-suku''-series tells the stories of the Finns who immigrated to the United State ...

's ''A River Flows Through the City''. Other prominent roles at the Estonian Drama Theatre were in works by Lauri Lagle,

, Shakespeare,

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

Enda Walsh Enda Walsh (born 1967) is an Irish playwright. Biography Enda Walsh was born in Kilbarrack, North Dublin on 7 February 1967. His father ran a furniture shop and his mother had been an actress. He is the second youngest of six children. Walsh ...

, Madis Kõiv,

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

and

Andrus Kivirähk Andrus Kivirähk (born 17 August 1970) is an Estonian writer, a playwright, topical satirist, and screenwriter. As of 2004, 25,000 copies of his novel ''Rehepapp ehk November'' (''Old Barny or November'') had been sold, making him the most popul ...

. Heinloo has also performed onstage at the

Tallinn City Theatre Tallinn City Theatre () is a repertory theatre located in the medieval old town of Tallinn, Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from ...

, Tartu New Theatre, MTÜ Tuulekell and Kell Kümme theatres.

Film and television

Kersti Heinloo made her film debut in a small role in the 1998 Sulev Keedus directed drama '' Georgica''. This was followed by a starring role as Monika, opposite actor

Mait Malmsten Mait Malmsten (born 6 September 1972 in Viljandi) is an Estonian actor. Malmsten comes from a family of actors. His father is actor Rein Malmsten. His paternal grandparents were actors Franz Malmsten and Eva Meil. His great-uncle was actor Hugo M ...

, in the 2002

Marko Raat Marko Raat (born 1 July 1973 in Tallinn) is an Estonian film director, scenarist and cameraman. He has made as author documentaries, full-length features, video art works, directed in theatre and has been involved in several art projects. Film ...

directed action-adventure '' Agent Sinikael'' (English release title: ''Agent Wild Duck''). Other starring roles include that of Tuule in the Marko Raat directed 2010 drama ''Nuga'' and the 2011 TTV six-part satirical comedy television mini-series ''Teise mehe pea'', directed by

Roman Baskin Roman Baskin (25 December 1954 – 13 September 2018) was an Estonian actor and director of stage and screen. His parents were Eino Baskin and Ita Ever. Baskin's credits as an actor included '' Lotte from Gadgetville'' (2006), '' 186 Kilometres' ...

and co-starring Jan Uuspõld. Heinloo is possibly best recalled by television audiences as the character Maria in the Kanal 2 drama eries ''Pilvede all'', a role she played from 2010 until 2015. In 2016, she appeared in the Anu Aun directed drama film ''Polaarpoiss''. In 2023, she appeared as Ülle in the Mart Kivastik penned and directed comedy feature film ''Taevatrepp''. In 2017, she provided the voice of Mother in the Sulev Keedus directed drama film ''Mehetapja/Süütu/Vari'' and in 2019, had a starring role in the Urmas Eero Liiv-directed horror film ''Kiirtee põrgusse''. In 2024, she appeared as Liise in the Jaak Kilmi directed and Indrek Hargla penned period crime drama feature film ''Vari''; a fictionalized account of poet Juhan Liiv.

Personal life

Kersti Heinloo currently resides in Tallinn. She is married to actor Janek Joost and the couple have two sons.

Awards

* Voldemar Panso Prize (1998) *Best Female Colleague award, Vanemuise (2000) *Väike Ants, Estonian Drama Theatre Prize (2010) * (2011) *Suur Ants, Estonian Drama Theatre Prize (2011) *Estonian Theatre Award, Best Female Leading role (Julie; ''Preili Julie'') (2014)Laureaadid 2014
Eesti Teatriliit (Estonian Theatre Association)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinloo, Kersti 1976 births Living people Estonian stage actresses Estonian film actresses Estonian television actresses Estonian child actresses Actresses from Tartu Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni 20th-century Estonian actresses 21st-century Estonian actresses