Indira Varma


Indira Anne Varma is a British actress. Her film debut and first major role was in . She has gone on to appear in the television series The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, Human Target, and Game of Thrones. 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.

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. She was a member of Musical Youth Theatre Company and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, in 1995.

Career

Varma, a method actress, has had a number of television and film roles, including ' in 1996 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.
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. She appeared as Dr Adrienne Holland in the CBS medical drama 3 lbs which premiered on 14 November 2006 and was cancelled on 30 November 2006 due to poor ratings. 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.
Varma played the role of Ellaria Sand, the paramour of Oberyn Martell in season 4 of the HBO show Game of Thrones, and reprised the role in seasons 5, 6 and 7.
She lent her voice to the Circle mage Vivienne, in the 2014 role-playing video game '. Later on, she also gave her voice to Katherine Proudmoore in , 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 In Search of Lost Time, 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.
In 2014, Varma played Tamora, Queen of the Goths, in Lucy Bailey's "gore-fest" production of Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare's Globe. In 2015, she appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman at the National Theatre. Her 2019 performance in Present Laughter at The Old Vic theatre earned Varma an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role nomination.

Personal life

Varma and her husband Colin Tierney live with their daughter Evelyn in Hornsey, North London.
On 19 March 2020, Varma revealed that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1996'Maya
1997Clancy's KitchenKitty
1997Sixth HappinessAmy
1998JinnahRuttie Jinnah
2002Mad DogsNarendra
2004Rover's ReturnZetaShort film
2004Bride and PrejudiceKiran Balraj
2006Basic Instinct 2Denise Glass
2007Sex and Death 101Devon SeverUncredited
2013MindscapeJudith Morrow
2014'High Priestess
2016UnaSonia
2018CloseRima
2019Official SecretsShami Chakrabarti
2020The One and Only IvanPost-production
2020DreamlandMadeira BrowerPost-production

YearTitleRoleNotes
1996Crucial TalesManreetEpisode: "Phoenix"
1999PsychosMartine NicholMiniseries; 6 episodes
2000Other People's ChildrenAmyUnknown episodes
2000–2001AttachmentsSasha4 episodes
2001In a Land of PlentySonali Ganatra4 episodes
2001'Diane CrossmanTV film
2002–2010ArenaVarious characters2 episodes
2003RockfaceAlisonEpisode: "2.5"
2003'MeenaEpisode: "The Sea Captain's Tale"
2003ReversalsKathy IrwinTV film
2004DonovanCara MathisUnknown episodes
2005'Judith CarroonTV film
2005Love SoupSuzanne DaleyEpisode: "They Do Not Move"
2005A Waste of ShameLucie, the Dark LadyTV film
2005Broken NewsMelanie Bellamy6 episodes
2005Little BritainVarious characters3 episodes
2005–2007RomeNiobe of the Voreni15 episodes
2006'Melissa BoothEpisode: "In the Blink of an Eye"
2006TorchwoodSuzie Costello2 episodes
20063 lbsAdrianne Holland6 episodes
2007The WhistleblowersAlisha Cole6 episodes
2008Comanche MoonTherese WanzEpisode: "1.2"
2008'Bela KhanEpisode: "Assassin"
2008BonesInspector Cate PritchardEpisode: "The Yanks in the U.K.: Parts 1 & 2"
2009Inside the BoxCatherine PowellTV film
2009Moses JonesDolly3 episodes
2010HustleD.C.I. Lucy Britford2 episodes
2010LutherZoe Luther7 episodes
2010–2011Human TargetIlsa Pucci13 episodes
2012SilkGeorge Duggan6 episodes
2012HuntedNatalie Thorpe5 episodes
2012World Without EndMattie Wise2 episodes
2013What RemainsElaine Markham4 episodes
2014–2017Game of ThronesEllaria Sand13 episodes
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2016New BloodLisa Douglas2 episodes
2016ParanoidNina Suresh8 episodes
2017UnspeakableJoTV Film
2018Patrick MelroseAnne MooreMiniseries; 3 episodes
2018Reported MissingNarratorDocumentary series; 4 episodes
2019–presentCarnival RowPiety BreakspearSeries regular; 8 episodes
2019This Way UpCharlotteSeries regular; 5 episodes
2020–presentFor LifeSafiya MasrySeries regular

YearTitleRoleNotes
2014'
2017'Moshea Sjefa, Sloane Kelly
2018'Katherine Proudmoore