Star Wars: Battlefront II’s Janina Gavankar straddles being a fan, an actress, and a gamer

Janina Gavankar didn’t grow up playing games, as she had a strict upbringing. But in her 20s, she became what she calls a “super-fan girl” who wanted to wanted to break into the game industry and get acting roles. She succeeded, as she is the actress playing Iden Versio, the main character of Star Wars: Battlefront II, one of the biggest games of the year from Electronic Arts.

Gavankar is also a passionate gamer and a tech-savvy industry insider. She recently created theForum.games, a forum for game developers where they can privately discuss matters with other professionals, and she is looking to expand her role in games with strong narratives. She wants to see more strong, realistic female characters in video games that reflect what gamers are really interested in. And, in an interview with GamesBeat, she said she understands much of the anger that gamers have expressed on the Internet about issues of respect, including EA’s recent struggles with fans about loot crates.