Antonella Lucia Montes Lentini (born March 23, 1995), professionally known as Ella Lentini, is an American actress, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for providing the voice and motion capture for the twin sisters Hannah and Beth Washington in the horror video game Until Dawn (2015), and for directing the short films Piece of Cake (2016) and Hemorrhage (2024).
Lentini's work frequently blends dramatic storytelling with political and social activism, focusing on LGBTQIA+ themes and reproductive rights.
Contents
Early life and education
Lentini was born Antonella Lucia Montes Lentini in New York City on March 23, 1995. She is a first-generation American and the youngest of five children. Her father, Lino Lentini, was a renowned Sicilian custom tailor, and her mother, Jennifer De Lentini, is a Peruvian painter and former pageant model. Growing up in a highly artistic household, she discovered a passion for storytelling early, staging Charlie Chaplin-style plays for family friends as a child.
As a teenager, Lentini attended a weekend program at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. While attending the Beacon School, she became heavily involved in political and social activism, volunteering for humanitarian trips to South Africa and post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.
Lentini completed her higher education at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Initially accepted for creative writing and photography, she ultimately developed her own self-directed Bachelor of Arts curriculum titled "Screenwriting as a Weapon". Concurrently, she trained professionally in acting under Anthony Abeson at a studio in Hell's Kitchen.
Career
Acting
Lentini began her career as a child actor, making her screen debut under her birth name, Antonella Lentini, as a schoolchild in Ruth Sergel's 2000 short film Cusp. In 2010, she made her primetime television debut as Tina Harper in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Her early film credits include roles in the independent thriller Run It (2009), the drama Disconnect (2012), and the horror film Greystone Park (2012). In 2013, she portrayed Francesca in the Disney Channel television movie The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex alongside Selena Gomez.
Lentini's breakout role came in 2015 when she was cast in Supermassive Games' interactive horror title Until Dawn. She provided the voice and extensive motion capture performance for the pivotal dual roles of Hannah and Beth Washington, whose disappearance sets the narrative in motion. She later reprised her roles in the spin-off titles Until Dawn: Rush of Blood (2016) and The Inpatient (2018).
Her television profile expanded with a guest appearance as Brandy in the Fox drama series 9-1-1 (2018), followed by a seven-episode arc as Betty Rutherford on the long-running soap opera General Hospital in 2023.
In 2024, she expanded into unscripted media, hosting three episodes of the series Junebeam, and starred as El in the six-episode television drama Looking for Love.
Filmmaking and directing
As a filmmaker, Lentini focuses on highly visual narratives tied to social advocacy. She made her directorial debut with the 2016 short film Piece of Cake, which she also wrote and starred in as Alex. The film toured internationally on the festival circuit, concluding at HBO's Outfest, and successfully raised over $10,000 for an LGBTQIA+ non-profit organization. She followed this with several short projects, including Complex Human Seeks Similar (2019) and Until It's Safe (2020).
In 2024, Lentini wrote and directed Hemorrhage, a psychological thriller exploring a young couple traveling across state lines for medical care in a post-Roe v. Wade United States. The short film received significant acclaim on the independent circuit, netting her multiple awards for directing and social impact.