Sasha Anika's Journey from Dance Classes to Finding Freedom Through Acting

A chance invitation from a friend led Sasha Anika to her first acting class—and ultimately to a career on screen. Today, the Ukrainian actress is building a growing résumé in vertical dramas while pursuing the sense of freedom that first drew her to the craft.

Sasha Anika has become a familiar face to viewers of vertical dramas through roles in romance, mafia, and fantasy-inspired stories. But for the Ukrainian actress, acting was never part of a carefully planned career path. Instead, it began with a simple invitation from a friend—and a feeling she has been chasing ever since.

Sasha Anika behind the scenes of "Love Tied by Hate" | Source: instagram/ssasha.anika

Discovering Acting Through Dance

Before she stepped in front of a camera, Anika spent her time dancing. It was through dance that she first encountered acting, after a friend invited her to try an acting class.

The experience left an immediate impression.

"I felt as free as never," she recalled during a Q&A with fellow vertical drama actress Mary Vysnevska. "And that was the exact moment when I thought, like, 'Wow, I'm in love with this. I want to be that free in my life.'"

That feeling stayed with her. Although she began acting in 2019 and later stepped away for a period, she eventually attended film school and realized she could not imagine a future without performing.

Building a Career in Vertical Dramas

In the years that followed, Anika steadily built her acting résumé through a growing number of vertical dramas and digital productions.

Her credits include "Make Me Yours," "Act Like You Love Me," "The President's Secret Daughter," "The Mafia Beast Won Me in a Gamble," "My Billionaire Boss Claimed Me as His Prize," "I Became My CEO's Darkest Secret," "Taboo Match," "Under the Royal Rule," "Spark Me Tenderly," "Sold to the Possessive Mafia Boss," "The Shy Beauty and the Billionaire Beast," and "A Queen for the Mafia Kings," among many others.

Along the way, she has become part of a generation of Ukrainian actors helping bring vertical dramas to audiences around the world.

Among her favorite projects is "Taboo Match," which she described as a particularly enjoyable experience because of both the filming process and the script itself. She also remembers the early days of "LoveBuster" fondly, describing the atmosphere surrounding the production as "kind of magical."

Creating During Challenging Times

Like many performers working in Ukraine today, Anika has continued acting while navigating the realities of war.

In a social media Q&A, she wrote about filming during air-raid alerts and the challenges that come with working under those conditions. She also shared that sleepless nights caused by attacks can make it difficult to maintain normal routines, though she continues pursuing her career despite those obstacles.

Those experiences have become part of the reality faced by many actors and production crews working in Ukraine's growing film and vertical drama industries.

Life Beyond the Camera

Outside of acting, Anika has lived in several countries, including France, Germany, and China. Those experiences helped shape her perspective and contributed to her language skills, including English.

She also enjoys staying active through yoga, Pilates, stretching, swimming, and boxing. Travel remains another passion, though she admits she is not much of a planner.

In fact, when asked what might surprise people about her, she revealed that she has only taken one planned vacation in her life.

"I'm never planning my vacation," she said. "And it's always either spontaneous or no vacation."

Sasha Anika behind the scenes of "Love Tied by Hate" | Source: instagram/ssasha.anika

Fun Facts About Sasha Anika

She describes herself in three words

Asked to describe herself not in relation to acting, Anika offered a memorable answer:

"Sleep. Fire. Food."

She has a pre-shoot good luck ritual

When she's in a bad mood before filming, Anika turns to a favorite treat called Chervonyi Mak.

She joked that eating one before a shoot helps ensure the day will be fun.

She separates actors from their characters

Despite appearing in romance-focused stories, Anika says she's more likely to develop a crush on a character than on the actor portraying them.

"Because usually you don't know this person that well," she explained. So it's not a crush on that person. It's a crush on the character he's playing."

One romantic scene ended with a broken lamp

While filming a romantic scene, Anika recalled being lifted during a kissing sequence and becoming more focused on her back pain than the romance. The situation quickly turned into laughter, and by the end of the scene the pair had accidentally broken a lamp and ended up on the floor laughing.

The movie that reflects her outlook on life

Asked which film best reflects her own life, Anika chose Jim Jarmusch's "Paterson," saying she connects with its message that happiness can be found in life's small everyday moments.

Sasha Anika behind the scenes of a series | Source: instagram/ssasha.anika

Looking Ahead

Although her career is still developing, Anika has already built an impressive list of credits in a relatively short time. From discovering acting through dance classes to becoming a familiar face in vertical dramas, she has continued following the sense of freedom that first drew her to the craft.

And judging by the growing number of projects on her résumé, that journey is only getting started.