CARIS VUJCEC
Actor . producer . director

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Caris Vujcec is an award-winning American-born actress, writer, producer and director of Mediterranean descent. With a career spanning Broadway, television and original content creation, as a storyteller and filmmaker, she has a passion for narratives highlighting dynamic, powerful and vulnerable, multi-faceted female leads. Caris created, wrote, executive produced, co-directed and leads the cast in the international award-winning digital series, The Pepper Project.

She is best known for her role in the hit romantic comedy, P.S. I Love You, and for her long-standing recurring role of Detective Louise Campesi on Law & Order - both Criminal Intent and SVU (opposite Mariska Hargitay and Danny Pino). Caris most recently was on Broadway understudying both the title role of Chole (Uma Thurman) and supporting role, Jeanette (Blair Brown) in 'The Parisian Woman' by Beau Willimon, directed by Pam MacKinnon. She has performed Off-Broadway and in many regional theaters, playing such favorite roles as Gertrude in Hamlet at The Pittsburgh Public Theater, Lady Macbeth at The Repertory Theater of St. Louis and Nadia in David Hare's The Vertical Hour at The Pioneer Theater in Salt Lake City.

The Pepper Project series, having screened to much acclaim at numerous festivals and in competitions worldwide, was ranked the #1 U.S. digital series in the 2017 Web Series World Cup, and has won and been nominated, along with Pepper: Ricochet, for over 40 awards. Festivals include: DC Web Fest 9 (2021), where Caris was honored with the Inaugural Legacy Creator Award; New Jersey Web Festival, Best Director and Outstanding Thriller; Baltimore Next Media Web Fest, Best Dramatic Actress; Brooklyn Web Fest, Best Drama Series; Dances With Films; die Seriale, Best Actress; Austin Web Fest, Best Actress, Sound Design, Audience Choice; Sicily Web Fest, War/Action/Adventure; Miami Web Fest, Best Suspense/Thriller; Bilbao Web Fest - Starlet Amets; ITVFest and La Femme.

Caris passionately believes in and supports indie-creator content, having presented and served on Jury Panels at such U.S.-based and International Festivals as: Montreal Digital Web Fest; die Seriale, Germany - Official Jury, 2019, and Pitch Deck Creation Workshop; International Creator Panel, 2017; Minnesota Web Fest, Jury 2018, 2019; Sicily Web Fest, International Creator Panel, 2017; Austin Web Fest, Female Filmmaker Panel, 2017.

Caris received a Master of Fine Arts in Acting and Directing from The University of Missouri-Kansas City and graduated with a B.S. from The S.I. Newhouse School of Communications and Department of Drama at Syracuse University. She was inducted into the Liverpool Central School District's Fine Arts Hall of Fame, 2015 Honorees, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the area of fine arts, in the community and at-large. She is an active member of New York Women in Film and Television (NYWIFT) and Catalyst Storieroad, and is a faculty member at The New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. She also has served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Film and Speech at CUNY Hostos in the Bronx. An avid cyclist, Caris rides for BIKE MS and is a nine-time Elite 200 fundraiser for the NYC Chapter. She is a daughter, sister and proud aunt to five amazing people, and is based in New York City.