Indira Varma

Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973.)[1] is a British actress and narrator. Her film debut and first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She has gone on to appear in the television series The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, Human Target,[2][3] and Game of Thrones (playing Ellaria Sand). In September 2016, she began starring in the ITV/Netflix series Paranoid, as DS Nina Suresh. She also stars in the new Amazon Prime series, Carnival Row.

Indira Varma
Varma at the Game of Thrones season 8 World Premiere in 2019
Born (1973-09-27) September 27, 1973[1]
NationalityBritish
Alma materRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
OccupationActress and narrator
Years active1996–present
Spouse(s)Colin Tierney
Children1

Early life

Varma was raised in Bath, Somerset, the only child of an Indian father and a Swiss mother who was of part Genoese Italian descent.[4] She was a member of Musical Youth Theatre Company and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, in 1995.[4]

Career

Varma, a method actress,[5] has had a number of television and film roles, including Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love in 1996, Jinnah in 1998, and Bride and Prejudice in 2004, and the young Roman wife Niobe during the first season of BBC/HBO's historical drama series Rome. Her character appeared briefly in the second season of the award-winning series when it aired on 14 January 2007.[6]

In 2006, she played Suzie Costello in the first and eighth episodes, "Everything Changes" and "They Keep Killing Suzie", of BBC Three's science-fiction drama series Torchwood.[7] She appeared as Dr Adrienne Holland in the CBS medical drama 3 lbs[8] which premiered on 14 November 2006[9] and was cancelled on 30 November 2006 due to poor ratings.[10] Varma guest starred in the fourth-season premiere of hit US detective drama Bones as Scotland Yard Inspector Cate Pritchard. She also played the role of Zoe Luther in the first series of the BBC drama Luther.

Varma played the role of Ilsa Pucci in the second season of the Fox series Human Target until the show was cancelled on 10 May 2011.[11]

In 2014, Varma was cast as Ellaria Sand, the paramour of Oberyn Martell in season four of the HBO show Game of Thrones.[12] She played the role through season seven.[13]

She lent her voice to the Circle mage Vivienne, in the 2014 role-playing video game Dragon Age: Inquisition. Later on, she also gave her voice to Katherine Proudmoore in Battle for Azeroth, one of the most recent expansion in the MMO role-playing game World of Warcraft.

In 2016, she played the lead role of DC Nina Suresh in the eight-episode British television drama Paranoid, streamed worldwide on Netflix.

She portrays a reform-minded corrections official in the 2020 ABC legal drama For Life.

Theatre

In 1997, Varma played Bianca in Shakespeare's Othello at the National Theatre, London. In 2000 to 2001, she appeared in Harold Pinter and Di Trevis's NT stage adaptation of Pinter's The Proust Screenplay, Remembrance of Things Past, based on À la recherche du temps perdu, by Marcel Proust. In the summer of 2001, she played Gila in One for the Road, by Harold Pinter, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.

In 2002, she played Sasha Lebedieff in Ivanov by Anton Chekhov at the National Theatre and Bunty Mainwaring in The Vortex by Noël Coward at the Donmar Theatre, London. In 2004, she played Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder at the Young Vic Theatre Theatre, London. In 2008, she played Nadia Baliye in The Vertical Hour by David Hare at the Royal Court Theatre London. In 2009, she played Olivia in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with Donmar West End at Wyndham's Theatre, London. In 2012, she played Jessica in Terry Johnson's Hysteria at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 2013 she played Miss Cutts in The Hothouse by Harold Pinter in the Trafalgar Transformed season at Trafalgar Studios.[14]

In 2014, Varma played Tamora, Queen of the Goths, in Lucy Bailey's "gore-fest" production of Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare's Globe.[15] In 2015, she appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman at the National Theatre.[16] Her 2019 performance in Present Laughter at The Old Vic theatre earned Varma an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[17]

Personal life

Varma and her husband Colin Tierney live with their daughter Evelyn in Hornsey, North London.[18][19]

In March 2020, Varma revealed that she had tested positive for COVID-19.[20]

Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love Maya
1997 Clancy's Kitchen Kitty
1997 Sixth Happiness Amy
1998 Jinnah Rattanbai "Ruttie" Jinnah
2002 Mad Dogs Narendra
2004 Rover's Return Zeta Short film
2004 Bride and Prejudice Kiran Balraj
2006 Basic Instinct 2 Denise Glass
2007 Sex and Death 101 Devon Sever Uncredited
2013 Mindscape Judith Morrow
2014 Exodus: Gods and Kings High Priestess
2015 Silent Hours Dr. Catherine Benson
2016 Una Sonia
2018 Close Rima
2019 Official Secrets Shami Chakrabarti
2020 The One and Only Ivan Dr. Maya Wilson
2021 Crisis Madeira Brower Post-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Crucial Tales Manreet Episode: "Phoenix"
1999 Psychos Martine Nichol Miniseries; 6 episodes
2000 Other People's Children Amy Unknown episodes
2000–2001 Attachments Sasha 4 episodes
2001 In a Land of Plenty Sonali Ganatra 4 episodes
2001 The Whistle-Blower Diane Crossman TV film
2002–2010 Arena Various characters 2 episodes
2003 Rockface Alison Episode: "2.5"
2003 The Canterbury Tales Meena Episode: "The Sea Captain's Tale"
2003 Reversals Kathy Irwin TV film
2004 Donovan Cara Mathis Unknown episodes
2005 The Quatermass Experiment Judith Carroon TV film
2005 Love Soup Suzanne Daley Episode: "They Do Not Move"
2005 A Waste of Shame Lucie, the Dark Lady TV film
2005 Broken News Melanie Bellamy 6 episodes
2005 Little Britain Various characters 3 episodes
2005–2007 Rome Niobe of the Voreni 15 episodes
2006 The Inspector Lynley Mysteries Melissa Booth Episode: "In the Blink of an Eye"
2006 Torchwood Suzie Costello 2 episodes
2006 3 lbs Adrianne Holland 6 episodes
2007 The Whistleblowers Alisha Cole 6 episodes
2008 Comanche Moon Therese Wanz Episode: "1.2"
2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Bela Khan Episode: "Assassin"
2008 Bones Inspector Cate Pritchard Episode: "The Yanks in the U.K.: Parts 1 & 2"
2009 Inside the Box Catherine Powell TV film
2009 Moses Jones Dolly 3 episodes
2010 Hustle D.C.I. Lucy Britford 2 episodes
2010 Luther Zoe Luther 7 episodes
2010–2011 Human Target Ilsa Pucci 13 episodes
2012 Silk George Duggan 6 episodes
2012 Hunted Natalie Thorpe 5 episodes
2012 World Without End Mattie Wise 2 episodes
2013 What Remains Elaine Markham 4 episodes
2014–2017 Game of Thrones Ellaria Sand 13 episodes
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2016)
2016 New Blood Lisa Douglas 2 episodes
2016 Paranoid Nina Suresh 8 episodes
2017 Unspeakable Jo TV Film
2018 Patrick Melrose Anne Moore Miniseries; 3 episodes
2018-present Reported Missing Narrator Documentary series; 2 series, 8 episodes
2019–present Carnival Row Piety Breakspear Series regular;[21] 8 episodes
2019 This Way Up Charlotte Series regular;[22] 5 episodes
2020–present For Life Safiya Masry Series regular
Spitting Image Priti Patel
Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2014 Dragon Age: Inquisition Vivienne
2017 Mass Effect: Andromeda Moshea Sjefa, Sloane Kelly
2018 World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Katherine Proudmoore

References
  1. Varma, Indira [@indyv9] (14 May 2017). "Thank you but it's actually 27 September?! Google has it wrong!" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 May 2017 – via Twitter.
  2. Hinckley, David (17 November 2010). "Human Target wisely adds actresses Indira Varma and Janet Montgomery into formerly boys' club cast". Daily News. New York. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  3. Logan, Michael (15 October 2010). "Double Exposure for Indira Varma". TV Guide. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  4. Rees, Jasper (19 January 2008). "Indira Varma: From the naked to the dead". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  5. Varma, Indira. "Personal Quotes". IMDB. IMDB. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  6. "Vorenus Hearts Varma", Nirali Magazine Blog
  7. Hickman, Clayton; Tom Spilsbury (13 September 2006). "Torchwood Update...". Doctor Who Magazine. Panini Comics (373): 4.
  8. "3 lbs". Citytv.com. Archived from the original on 2 November 2006. Retrieved 8 November 2006.
  9. "3 lbs Premieres Tuesday, November 14th on Citytv". CHUM Television. Archived from the original on 21 October 2006. Retrieved 8 November 2006.
  10. Mahan, Colin (30 November 2006). "CBS sheds 3 lbs". tv.com. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  11. Ausiello, Michael (23 July 2010). "Scoop: Human Target takes aim at Rome beauty Indira Varma". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  12. "Game of Thrones casts Rome actress for season 4 – Exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  13. "Game of Thrones Season 6 First Look". Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  14. Billington, Michael (9 May 2013). "The Hothouse – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  15. Spencer, Charles (2 May 2014). "Titus Andronicus, review: 'a dramatic power that makes the stomach churn and the hands sweat'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  16. Billington, Michael (26 February 2015). "Man and Superman review – Ralph Fiennes masters Shaw's contrary male". The Guardian.
  17. "Olivier Awards 2020". www.whatsonstage.com.
  18. "Indira Varma Interview HUMAN TARGET" Collider.com, 25 October 2010 Archived 27 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  19. "20 questions with Indira Varma". What's on Stage. 28 January 2008. Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. "Game Of Thrones’ Indira Varma ‘confirms’ coronavirus amid production with Emilia Clarke" Metro.co.uk, 19 March 20
  21. Petski, Denise (22 September 2017). "'Carnival Row': David Gyasi, Karla Crome, Indira Varma & Tamzin Merchant Join Amazon's Fantasy Drama Series". Deadline. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  22. This Way Up, retrieved 8 August 2019
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