Annet Mahendru

Anita Devi “Annet” Mahendru[3] (born November 5, 1985)[4] is an Afghan-born American actress,[5][6][7][8] known for her role as Nina Sergeevna Krilova on the FX period drama series The Americans (2013–2016), for which she garnered a nomination for the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014 and as Jennifer “Huck” Mallick in the AMC series The Walking Dead: World Beyond in 2020.

Mahendru was born in Kabul, DR Afghanistan. Her mother, Olga, is from Russia and her father, Ghanshan “Ken” Mahendru,[3] is a Hindu[9][7] Indian educator and journalist from Delhi who moved to Afghanistan when his father moved there for business and completed his studies there.[8][3][10] She had what she calls a “gypsy” childhood, spending her first seven years of her childhood between Afghanistan and St. Petersburg[11] and regularly travelling between St. Petersburg and Frankfurt before moving with her father to East Meadow, New York at age 13 after her parents separated.[12]

Mahendru attended East Meadow High School, where she was active in competitive cheerleading and kick line teams; she graduated in 2004.[3][13] She went on to earn an English degree from St. John’s University in New York City