Rea Lest

Rea Lest

Born: May 14, 1990
in Tallinn, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Estonia]
Rea Lest-Liik (born May 14, 1990) is an Estonian stage and film actress who came to prominence in the 2010s following leading roles in several Estonian films, such as Mother, Manslayer/Virgin/Shadow and November. She has won several awards for stage and film roles.

Rea Lest was born and raised in Tallinn. She is a 2009 graduate of the Jakob Westholm Gymnasium secondary school. In 2010, she enrolled at the University of Tartu to study art therapy, but left shortly after to enroll in the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre's drama department to study acting under instructor Tiit Ojasoo. In 2012, she won the Voldemar Panso Young Actor Award while studying at academy. She graduated from the academy in 2014. Among her graduating classmates were actors Jaanika Arum, Helena Pruuli, Reimo Sagor, Simeoni Sundja, Kärt Tammjärv, and future husband Jörgen Liik.

In 2014, shortly after graduating from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Lest began an engagement at the Theatre NO99; a non-profit foundation repertory theatre in Tallinn. Lest left the theatre in 2018, prior to its closing in 2019.

Lest made her film debut in the 2014 student film comedy short Lõputu suvi (English: Endless Summer), directed by Jaan Penjam, and was Penjam's master's thesis production for the Film Department of the Baltic Film and Media School. In 2016, she was cast in her first feature-length film as the character Riin in the Kadri Kõusaar directed darkly comic crime mystery Ema (English: Mother). The film was selected as Estonia's entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film category at the 2017 89th Academy Awards.

In 2016, was cast in the lead role of Liina in the 2017 Rainer Sarnet directed gothic fantasy thriller November, based on Andrus Kivirähk's 2000 novel Rehepapp ehk November. The film received positive reviews and was selected as the Estonian entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. It made its North American premiere in the International Narrative Competition at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017. The film is also notable for being Estonian veteran actor Arvo Kukumägi's last film role before his death in May 2017.

The same year, Lest appeared as the lead in the Sulev Keedus directed drama Mehetapja/Süütu/Vari (English: The Man Slayer/The Virgin/The Shadow). Lest portrayed three different protagonists in three historical triptychs of women in Estonia struggling to decide their own destiny.

In 2019, she appeared in a leading role opposite former Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre classmate Reimo Sagor in the Martti Helde directed psychological thriller Skandinaavia vaikus (English: Scandinavian Silence). The film won both the critics and the audience award at the 2019 Riga Film Festival.

Movies for Rea Lest...

Azrael
Title: Azrael
Character: Liesl
Released: March 9, 2024
Type: Movie
Many years following the apocalypse, a devout cult of mute zealots hunts down a young woman, Azrael, who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil that resides deep within the surrounding wilderness – yet she will stop at nothing to ensure her own survival. In what follows, Azrael makes a savage bid for freedom as her escape accelerates towards a vicious, revenge-fueled showdown.
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Dark Paradise
Title: Dark Paradise
Character: Karmen
Released: September 22, 2023
Type: Movie
After 27-year-old Karmen's father dies, the security structures of her previous life start falling apart, as her relationship with her half-brother Viktor also deteriorates, and she faces the darkness and emptiness of the universe.
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Dual
Title: Dual
Character: Emergency Room Receptionist
Released: March 18, 2022
Type: Movie
A terminally ill woman opts for a cloning procedure to ease her loss on her friends and family. When she makes a miraculous recovery, her attempts to have her clone decommissioned fail and lead to a court-mandated duel to the death.
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Scandinavian Silence
Title: Scandinavian Silence
Character: She
Released: March 29, 2019
Type: Movie
A recently released convict reunites with his sister. They set out on a journey but soon realize that years apart have made communication all but impossible.
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FRESH BLOOD: Own and Stranger
Title: FRESH BLOOD: Own and Stranger
Character: Grete (segment "True")
Released: November 2, 2018
Type: Movie
Six fresh short films on the topic "Own and Stranger" from even more fresh Estonian directors.
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True
Title: True
Character: Grete
Released: November 1, 2018
Type: Movie
In True, five strangers meet in a doctor’s office. In a changing world, even an innocent joke is enough to trigger an avalanche.
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Manslayer/Virgin/Shadow
Title: Manslayer/Virgin/Shadow
Character: Maara (Manslayer) / Elina (Virgin) / Luna Lee (Shadow)
Released: November 25, 2017
Type: Movie
The film consists of three chapters. The Manslayer takes place more than a hundred years ago. The leading character Maara is a young bride who is about to start her life in her new family. The Virgin, set in the spring of 1949, tells the story of a young woman called Elina, who has been deported from Ingria into Estonia during the previous war. The Shadow moves in the present, on the border of real life and fantasy. The main character, Luna Lee, has decided to flee from home. Is there anything besides emptiness somewhere? The film is led by the singularity of the leading character - Maara, Elina and Luna Lee are all played by the same actress.
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November
Title: November
Character: Liina
Released: February 3, 2017
Type: Movie
In a poor Estonian village, a group of peasants use magic and folk remedies to survive the winter, and a young woman tries to get a young man to love her.
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Mother
Title: Mother
Character: Riin
Released: January 7, 2016
Type: Movie
A woman's adult son has fallen into a coma after being shot. Taking care of him at home, she has to face a whole town trying to solve the puzzle of what exactly happened.
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The Black Hole
Title: The Black Hole
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
A black hole appears mysteriously in a lilac bush of a tower block district. A sinister-looking comet shines in the sky, and certain events start to unfold, calling the inhabitants’ dreams of a better life into question. Especially when facing aliens, a giant spider and an Austrian in breeches.
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Aurora
Title: Aurora
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
A religious leader's daughter enters into a secret extramarital affair, which collapses her life. Years later, at a family wedding anniversary celebration, she receives a message that rips open old wounds.