Elena was born in Rome, Italy to an Italian mother and American father. She lived her entire life between northern Virginia and Italy. She speaks English and Italian fluently. From a young age Elena expressed an interest in acting, and took part in many summer camps at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC. While in college, she worked at a talent agency in DC, which inspired her to move to New York City to pursue acting professionally herself. After a few years working and studying Meisner and Michael Chekov techniques, she decided she wanted to classically train, and was accepted to the Giles Foreman Center for Acting in London. Less than a year after her graduation in 2018, she was cast in the Emmy winning series, The Alienist, as the character Helen Sumner. Elena resides in London.