Episode 47 - From Game of Thrones to Genius, Ania Bukstein is Taking on Hollywood

"When Game of Thrones aired last year, I went to L.A [...] and I met the casting team for Genius. And she told me: Listen, I have an audition for you. And I taped for Mileva, for his [Einstein's] wife. Then, a week after, I got a phone call: come to London to meet Ron Howard. [...] I met with Ron and I read for him and I didn't get the part. I cried for a month... Maybe two." Not too many people can write Game of Thrones on their acting resume, and probably only one Israeli. Anya Bukstein grew up in Moscow in the time of the USSR. She moved to Israel with her parents at age 8 and began her acting career at age 12 with her performance in the Israeli film A New Country - a performance for which she was nominated for an Ophir Award, Israel’s most prestigious acting accolade. Since then, Anya has had quite a few acting gigs, both on stage and on the screen, most recently performing alongside Jeffery Rush in National Geographic’s Genius, a drama series about the life of Albert Einstein. Singing and playing the piano since childhood, Ania decided to expand beyond the screen and in 2013 she released 8 tracks on her eponymously named debut album. She’s released a few successful singles with world renowned DJ Offer Nissim and she's now finishing up her second album. Today we’re talking to Anya Bukstein and we’ll try to steer clear of any Game of Thrones spoilers.