Since 2003, Janušauskaitė has performed at several Lithuanian theatres, such as the State Youth Theatre of Lithuania, Oskaras Koršunovas Theatre (OKT), VDU / Mens Publica Theatre, and Lėlė (Vilnius Puppet Theatre), as well as the Arts Printing House, a creative space in Vilnius. After being selected in an open competition, Janušauskaitė was hired in 2006 to play her first major stage role in
Woman from the Past, based on a play by
Roland Schimmelpfennig. One year later, she played the role of Queen Margaret in
Ivona, Princess of Burgundia, accepting an offer by
Jonas Vaitkus, her postgraduate studies professor. in 2008 Severija Janušauskaitė was nominated for the
Golden Stage Cross, the highest theatre award of Lithuania. and Elisabet Vogler in an adaptation of
Ingmar Bergman's film
Persona. The actress was awarded a Fortune Diploma and a Young Theatre Critics Award in 2013 Janušauskaitė started her film career in 2004 with the short film
The Flame. Its
screenplay received the New Talent Award at the
Cannes Film Festival in 2007. a
Golden Eagle Award for Best Supporting Actress (2015) as well as
Nika Award and
White Elephant Award nominations in the categories Best Actress and Discovery of the Year (both 2015). The following years were characterized by growing critical and public acclaim. In 2013 and 2015, Janušauskaitė was nominated for the Best Lithuanian Actress Award at
Vilnius International Film Festival. The latter film participated in the competition of the 27th Kinotavr Film Festival in Sochi and was nominated for the
Russian Guild of Film Critics Award in the category Best Debut Film (2016). For her role of the
mermaid Helena in
Dreamfish, Janušauskaitė received the Best Actress Award at the
25th Honfleur Russian Film Festival. In 2017, Janušauskaitė became known to a broad audience in Russia and Germany thanks to her roles in major television films. In Russia, the actress is currently widely associated with her performance as Ruta Blaumane, chief of an analytical group in the
Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 1960s, in
Alexey Popogrebsky's historical drama
The Optimists screened on
Russia-1 TV channel in April. In Germany, Janušauskaitė is known for her role as
double agent Svetlana Sorokina in another period drama set in
1920s Berlin,
Tom Tykwer's Babylon Berlin that had its premiere in October on
Sky 1. In this to date most expensive German TV series, the actress also appears as the singer Nikoros and performs inter alia the film's
main theme, , released under the pseudonym
Severija. In October 2018, after the series started to air on free TV, the song became the most popular song in Germany's Amazon and iTunes download charts. She considers the role in
Babylon Berlin as her most memorable one so far. Janušauskaitė has many interests and does not work solely as an actress. She wrote music for the children's theatre performances
The Little Match Girl (at Arts Printing House) and
Evolution, designed costumes for ''
Now You See It / Now You Don't'' (both at Vilnius Puppet Theatre). Apart from that, she also appears as a fashion model. ==Personal life==