Anna Yakunina was born on October 9, 1968, in Moscow, Russia, to a family of students at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (GITIS). Her mother, Olga Velikanova, went on to become a renowned theater director, while her father, Alexander Yakunin, was an actor at the Moscow Sovet Theater.
After completing her secondary education, Anna enrolled in the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg, where she spent four years studying dance. However, she did not complete her studies and instead returned to Moscow.
In Moscow, Anna attended the School-Studio of the Ensemble of Folk Dance under Igor Moiseyev, where she honed her skills in dance and theater. In 1986, she was accepted into the directing department at GITIS, where she studied under the guidance of renowned director Boris Golubovsky and actor Boris Golubovsky.
Anna graduated from GITIS in 1990 and went on to join the Satirikon Theater, where she continued to develop her craft as an actress. In 2004, she was invited by renowned director Mark Zakharov to join the Leningrad Kamerny Theater (Lemkom),and has since become a core member of the troupe.
