Hannaj Bang Bendz

Hannaj Bang Bendz is a multi award-winning actress best known for her dramatic and action roles in independent British films, such as "The Man Up The Stairs' (Best Actress, LA Film Awards) and "Glamour" (Amazon Prime, 2020). Hannaj was born in London, England, to her English mother (Michelle) and Danish father (Henrik). She spent her early childhood performing and practicing dramatic scenes with her two siblings for their home camcorder, as well as taking acting lessons at the local children's theatre group "Swish of the Curtain" in Christchurch, which rapidly nurtured her love of the performing arts. In secondary school Hannaj was signed up as one of/the lead role for every annual stage performance, and naturally continued on to study Theatre at GCSE and A-Level with the support of the school's well-beloved Drama Teacher, Miss J (Mandy Johnson). Hannaj applied to one Drama School, just before leaving college: The Bristol Old Vic. Upon being advised to garner some life experience, she chose time spent with animals in a pet shop, travelling to remote countries such as Peru and adopting general adult life skills, thus shifting her perception on the orthodox route into acting. In 2008, Hannaj began studying "Scriptwriting for Film and Television" at Bournemouth University, and in 2012, she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Animation Film Production from The Arts University at Bournemouth (AUB). The knowledge and contacts obtained from such studies opened other doors into the film industry. In 2013, Hannaj starred in her first Professional Theatre Production, "Dorian Gray" at The Lighthouse Theatre in Poole, and was cast in Docudrama "Black Ops: Operation Firemagic" directly after - which aired on both American Netflix and the History Channel. In 2017, Hannaj's performance as Julia in 'The Man Up The Stairs' secured several Best Actress awards across various festivals, most notably the LA Film Festival. In 2018, the short film "A Still Sunrise" premiered at Cannes Film Festival, in the 'Short Film Catalogue Corner', and shortly afterwards she featured as the lead role of Keeley Jones in popular small series "Seaside Town" (Amazon Prime, 2018). Hannaj's latest films, "3 Pints and a Rabbi" a dark comedy feature, playing opposite Amanda Abbington and Michael Maloney, and "God's Whisper" a Biblical Vampire short, are due for release soon. In the meantime, Hannaj has branched out into writer and producer roles. She is completing post-production on short Marvel fan-film "Salvaje", and is filming dark psychological feature "Jax", in which she stars in the lead role of Jax. Hannaj also regularly practices Mixed Martial Arts, in the forms of Kickboxing, Kali, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She has had some training in Kung Fu and Bo-Staff, as well as live fire-arms - all skills she utilises as often as possible for the right projects.