Shpend Xani

Shpend Xani is a classically trained Albanian-American actor and foreign language dialect coach based in New York City. He was born and raised in Kosovo, moved to Colorado as a war refugee, and now lives in New York with his family. His work spans stage and screen, with a focus on classical text, contemporary drama, and ensemble-driven theatre. Shpend has performed in regional theatre, independent film, and television.
He holds an MFA in Classical Acting and approaches performance through rigorous text analysis, physical precision, and collaboration.
He is a member of the New York theatre community and continues to develop new work.
Select credits: Shakespeare’s King John at Folger Theatre, Antony and Cleopatra at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Coriolanus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare Theatre/ACA, in the Olney Theatre’s production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information at Forum Theatre. Shpend also performed in the following world premieres; Beginning Days of True Jubilation, The Strangers Came Today with SOCIETY Theatre Company, The Vagrant Trilogy at Mosaic Theater Company.
On screen, Shpend has appeared in FBI: Most Wanted (CBS), The Blacklist (NBC), New Amsterdam (NBC), the international feature Hana (2025), and others.
Training: MFA in Classical Acting from Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy for Classical Acting & George Washington University, BFA in Acting from Millikin University.