Elysia Rotaru

1.1. Childhood and Background

Rotaru was born in Vancouver, Canada, to Romanian parents. Growing up, she became fluently bilingual in both English and Romanian. From a young age, Rotaru displayed a strong affinity for the arts, actively participating in dance classes, engaging in school plays, and performing at piano recitals.

1.2. Academic Background

Rotaru initially enrolled at Simon Fraser University with the intention of pursuing a career in psychology. However, during her studies, she shifted her academic focus to theatre, ultimately earning a degree specializing in theatre. In addition to her university education, Rotaru also undertook studies in traditional Chinese medicine, reflecting a diverse range of interests beyond her primary artistic field.

2.1. Early Roles

Rotaru began her acting career in 2008 with a guest appearance on an episode of the USA Network series Psych. This debut was quickly followed by roles in other notable television series, including Eureka on SyFy and Smallville and Supernatural on The CW. In 2010, she secured a recurring role as Betsy in the series Hellcats. Additionally, Rotaru appeared in the 2011 film Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, where she portrayed Ingrid, a character within the fictional horror film The Foot depicted in the movie.

2.2. Notable Roles

In 2015, Rotaru's career gained further momentum with guest appearances in television series such as Motive, broadcast on ABC, and iZombie on The CW. During this period, she also lent her voice to the character Sabine Wren for a temporary stint in Disney XD's Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales. A significant development occurred on August 10, 2015, when Rotaru was cast in the prominent role of Taiana Venediktov in The CW's superhero series Arrow. In this role, she portrayed a love interest for the main character, Oliver Queen. Rotaru has also established herself as a prolific voice actress, notably portraying Black Canary in the direct-to-video animated films Justice Society: World War II (2021) and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (2024), alongside numerous voice roles in video games.

3.1. Film

3.2. Television

3.3. Video Games

3.4. Web Series