Alexa Davalos Dunas (born May 28, 1982[1]) is an American actress. Her early role as Gwen Raiden on the fourth season of the TV series Angel (2002–03) was followed by other television roles and some Hollywood films, including The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and Defiance (2008). In the late 2010s, she starred as Juliana Crain, the main character in the Amazon Studios series The Man in the High Castle. She also played Special Agent Kristin Gaines in the CBS drama series FBI: Most Wanted (2021–2023).
Early life
Davalos was born in Paris, France to American parents, photographer Jeff Dunas and actress Elyssa Davalos, granddaughter of actor Richard Davalos. Davalos spent most of her childhood in France and Italy, before settling in New York.[2] She has stated "I tend to curse in French more often than I do in English."[3]
She is of Spanish and Finnish descent on her mother's side.[4] Her father's family is Jewish (her paternal ancestors lived in Vilnius in Lithuania).[5] She was raised "without much religion", though she attended Hebrew school for a time.[6]
Davalos struck out on her own at seventeen and moved to New York City. She supported herself by modeling for photographers like Peter Lindbergh. "I had a mission," she recalls. "I wanted to be out in the world, doing my own thing. Working in a theatre, I discovered that I really wanted to act."[3] Her passion soon grew towards acting, and she attended the Off-BroadwayFlea Theater in New York.[3] She kept her acting plans from her family until her career started to take off.[7]
In addition to her film roles, she also continued to appear in television series, including Reunion (2005–2006) and Mob City (2013).[13] In the latter, she played the female lead and reunited again with Frank Darabont.[15] However, these television series were short-lived.[13] In 2015, Davalos started acting in The Man in the High Castle (2015–2019), an Amazon Studios series based on the Philip K. Dicknovel of the same name. Starring as Juliana Crane, the main character of the series, she played the biggest role of her career up to that point. She then made a brief appearance in The Punisher, along with star Jon Bernthal;[16] both of whom were also in Mob City. In the early 2020s, Davalos had a regular role in two seasons of the CBS crime series FBI: Most Wanted as Special Agent Kristin Gaines.[17]
Personal life
Davalos is a close friend of actresses Amanda Righetti and Chyler Leigh, and was Righetti's bridesmaid at her wedding.[18] Davalos considers herself to be a "dork" and loves to travel and read.[19] She guards her private life stating, "I think it's a choice. I think it's a conscious choice, and what you allow to affect you and what you don't."[citation needed]
