An award-winning actress ('Best Actress' Los Angeles Film Awards, 2017) , Hannaj was born in London, England, to her English mother (Michelle Bryant) and Danish father (Henrik Bang Bendz) and is the middle child of the three Bang Bendz offspring. Her parents split when she was five and her subsequent childhood years were spent growing up on a council estate in the quiet seaside town of Bournemouth. Later, her stepfather moved the family to rural Gloucestershire, where she spent her adolescent years testing out a growing passion for acting, amidst the rolling hills of the countryside.Achieving her highest A-Level grades in Drama and Theatre, she decided to relocate back to Bournemouth and study 'Scriptwriting for Film and Television' at Bournemouth University, graduating in BA(Hons) Animation Production at The Arts University Bournemouth, before embarking on her professional acting career. She landed her first professional theatre role in 2013 (Dorian Gary, The Lighthouse, Poole) and featured in a lead role in documentary-drama (Black Ops 2: Operation Fire Magic) which aired on the History Channel and American Netflix. Since then she has secured lead roles in features, shorts, music videos and more, winning several awards for the recent short 'The Man Up the Stairs'. Her latest lead role in a short film, 'A Still Sunrise' has been accepted into the Short Film Catalogue Corner at Cannes Film Festival (2018). She continues to explore her craft in drama, horror and action within the 'Indie Film' industry.With a penchant for more physically demanding roles, she puts into practice her Kickboxing, Kali, Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu lessons.