Anita Petry was born and raised in Brazil, to a German-Italian family. She started acting at age 14, participating in amateur theatre productions in Brasilia, where she grew up. Petry moved to New York City in 2007, where she finished college, at The City College of New York, and went on to be part of the Columbia University MFA Acting class of 2013. She is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish.