Background:She was born on November 5th, Year of the Dragon in Moscow,
Russia. Her family emigrated to the US when she was 4 years old giving
her a chance to grow up all American in the ghetto fabulous Lower East
Side in Manhattan. She still speaks fluent Russian. Growing up to be a
12 year old pregoid was not in the cards for our heroine! She's a
third generation classical piano prodigy who was taught to play music
by three family members including her Grandmother, Father and Mother -
all of whom finished and were teachers themselves at the Moscow
Conservatory of Music. She also picked up on the electric guitar after
being introduced to Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony McAlpine and Vinnie Moore
at age 13 when she was recruited for her first rock band. She attended
The Manhattan School of Music, Lucy Moses Conservatory and was home
taught from age 6.
Education:She attended LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts (the
infamous "FAME" TV show High School and yes they did dance on tables)
as an art major (yes she also draws, paints and sculpts with the best
of them - she designed tattoos for years - her specialties are naked
women, dragons and skulls). She went on to get her first degree in
Molecular Bio in college - only four people graduated with that degree
that year. After that it was on to Baruch Graduate School for her MBA.
Career:After her MBA, she wanted to take some time from academia and pursue her
two lifelong other passions: martial arts and acting. She began
studying Kung Fu (because everybody loves Kung Fu fighting!) with
several schools, including study under a real Shaolin monk. Being a
woman of peace, she didn't ever want to spar or kick ass in real life.
So what is the answer to Bruce Lee's question for the ages: "What is
the art of fighting without fighting?" The Answer: STUNTWORK! She
started to pursue just that in NYC and then moved out to Hollywood
where she currently is kicking (choreographed) ass.
Gaming Experience:Ever since she got into playing Tomb Raider, she's been hooked
on first person shooter games. "I'm in love with Prince of Persia. Is
that wrong LOL!" She's been cosplaying Lara Croft for almost a decade
and just can't get tired of that character. As an actress, she
decided to be the biggest geek imaginable and did a fan film
(wrote/produced/starred) based on BloodRayne - simply because she had
a better costume than the movies and knew they couldn't possibly do
any worse than Uwe Boll. She's also completely nuts over Dance Dance
Revolution.
Public Appearances:Because of her full time acting, stuntwork, modeling, and costumed convention work at gaming conventions, Vera has extensive public appearances. A list is available upon request.
