Ksenia Solo (born 8 October 1987; pronounced ) is a Latvian-Canadian actress known for portraying Mackenzie "Kenzi" Malikov on ''

Lost Girl ''Lost Girl'' is a Canadian supernatural drama television series that premiered on Showcase on September 12, 2010, and ran for five seasons. It follows the life of a bisexual succubus named Bo, played by Anna Silk, as she learns to control ...

''. She portrayed

Peggy Shippen Margaret Shippen (July 11, 1760 – August 24, 1804) was the second wife of General Benedict Arnold. She has been described as "the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution". Shippen was born into a prominent Philadelphia family with Loyalist ...

on '' Turn: Washington's Spies''. Solo also portrayed the character "Natasha" in the 2010 American television series ''

Life Unexpected ''Life Unexpected'' is an American teen drama television series that aired for two seasons from January 18, 2010 to January 18, 2011. It was produced by Best Day Ever Productions and Mojo Films in association with CBS Productions and Warner Bro ...

'' and Shay Davydov in Season 3 of ''

Orphan Black ''Orphan Black'' is a Canadian science-fiction thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, one of several genetically identica ...

''. As of 2024, her most recent work was in the main cast for the two seasons of the series ''

Project Blue Book Project Blue Book was the code name for the systematic study of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by the United States Air Force from March 1952 to its termination on December 17, 1969. The project, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Fo ...

'' (2019–20).

Early life

Solo was born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

and is of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

heritage. At the age of five, she moved with her family to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where she was raised. She studied

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

until the age of 14, when a back injury forced her to stop; her mother is a former ballerina-turned-actress.

Career

Solo played Zoey Jones on the APTN series '' renegadepress.com''. In both 2005 and 2006, she won the

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series for her work on the show. She went on to appear in other Canadian television series and movies, such as the films '' Love Thy Neighbor'' and ''

Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiz ...

'', as well as guest-starring on the television series ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American Action film, action Crime film, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theophilus "Theo" Kojak. Tak ...

''. In 2010, Solo played a small role in

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...

's ''

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent ...

'' starring

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

and

Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, and raised in Los Angeles, she was Jackie Burkhart on ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) and has voiced Meg Griffin on ''Family Guy'' since ...

. From 2010 to 2011 she played Natasha Siviac in the CW series ''

''. From 2010 to 2015, she starred as Kenzi in the Showcase series ''

''; Solo's heritage and fluency in the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

were written into the role. She was cast as Dodge in the pilot episode of ''

Locke & Key ''Locke & Key'' is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, and published by IDW Publishing. Plot summary This plot is presented in chronological order. In 1775 during the American Revolution, a ...

'', but the series was not picked up by

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

. In 2013, Solo began filming the

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

''Another You'' on location in

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...

. In 2015, Solo joined the main cast of '' Turn: Washington's Spies'' as

. She also had a recurring role in Season 3 of ''

'' as Shay. Solo is actively involved with the anti-bullying foundation Stand for the Silent, and was made one of their directors.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solo, Ksenia 1987 births Living people 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian ballerinas Canadian child actresses Canadian female dancers Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners Latvian emigrants to Canada Actresses from Riga Canadian people of Russian descent Latvian people of Russian descent