Arsinée Khanjian

Arsinee Khanjian is an acclaimed actress in theater and independent cinema. When her homeland became dangerous due to growing political unrest, Khanjian's family fled to Montreal when she was 17. Her family urged her to pursue her education, and she earned her bachelor's degree in French and Spanish from Concordia University, before getting her master's in political science from the University of Toronto. In 1984, she landed her first acting role, in the Atom Egoyan dramedy "Next of Kin." She and Egoyan fell in love, married, and continued to collaborate on a number of films, including: the mystery thriller "Exotica," the drama "The Sweet Hereafter," the thriller "Felicia's Journey," and the drama "Ararat." The last of these earned Khanjian a Genie Award and the Best Actress Award from the Durban International Film Festival in 2003. Egoyan has stated his wife is more than his collaborator and the mother of his child, she is his muse. In 2009, Khanjian appeared on the crime drama series "The Border" on Canadian television.