Karina Smulders (Utrecht, 1980) was cast for the popular daytime ‘Onderweg naar Morgen’ when she was sixteen years old. After two years, she left the show and was admitted to the Academy of Performing Arts in Amsterdam where she graduated with honor in 2002 A year earlier, as an apprentice, she created the role of Katalijne in Lot Vekemans’ ‘Truckstop’ for the Muztheater. She appeared in many feature films, including ‘Ik omhels je met 1000 armen’, ‘Wolfsbergen’, ‘Kom niet aan mijn kinderen’, ‘Sum of Histories’ and her star turn as Ada van Holland in ‘Bride Flight’.
From 2002 till 2012 Karina was an ensemble member of Toneelgroep Amsterdam, the most renowned Dutch theatre company, led by Ivo van Hove. She performed in numerous plays, both classical and modern: True Love, Othello, Hedda Gabler, The Taming of the Shrew, Cries and Whispers, After the Fall, Roman Tragedies and The Russians!. Her role in After the Rehearsal / Persona in 2013 earned her a nomination for the Theo d’Or for best leading actress performance in play.
After her time with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Karina worked as a freelance actress with several different companies. For her role as Hedda in Hedda Gabler she again earned a nomination for the Theo d’Or in 2017.
In addition to her work on stage, Karina has been seen in many tv-series, like Familie Kruys, Divorce and Nieuwe Buren. This year she will play Xandra – a dark soul, mother, wife and an Amsterdam socialite who secretly runs a high-end escort service – in the new series Keizersvrouwen directed by Ben Sombogaart.
