Indira Varma | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Varma in 2022 | |
| Born | Indira Anne Varma (1973-09-27)27 September 1973 (age 52) United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse | Colin Tierney |
| Children | 1 |
Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973) is a British actress. Her film debut and first major role was inKama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996). She is known for her television roles, such as playing Niobe in theBBC andHBO seriesRome (2005–07), Suzie Costello in theBBC seriesTorchwood (2006), Zoe Luther in theBBC seriesLuther (2010), Ilsa Pucci inHuman Target (2010–11),Ellaria Sand in theHBO seriesGame of Thrones (2014–2017), andThe Bride in theDCU/Max adult animated seriesCreature Commandos (2024–present).
In September 2016 she began starring in theITV/Netflix seriesParanoid as DS Nina Suresh. She has also worked extensively in the theatre, winning aLaurence Olivier Award for her performance inPresent Laughter (2019) and receiving an additional nomination for her performance inOedipus (2025).
Indira Anne Varma was born on 27 September 1973,[1] the only child of an Indian father and a Swiss mother who was of partGenoese Italian descent. She was raised inBath, Somerset.[2][3] Her mother was a graphic designer and her father was an illustrator.[3]
She was a member ofMusical Youth Theatre Company and graduated from theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, in 1995.[2]
Varma's first role after graduating from RADA was as a courtesan inKama Sutra: A Tale of Love in 1996.[4] She then went on to act inJinnah in 1998, andBride and Prejudice in 2004.[citation needed]
Her first television appearance was in 1996 inCrucial Tales.[citation needed] In 2005 she played the young Roman wifeNiobe in the first series ofBBC/HBO's award-winning historical dramaRome. Her character appeared briefly in the second series when it was shown on 14 January 2007.[5]
In 2006 she playedSuzie Costello in the first and eighth episodes, "Everything Changes" and "They Keep Killing Suzie", ofBBC Three's science-fiction drama seriesTorchwood.[6] She appeared as Dr Adrienne Holland in theCBS medical drama3 lbs[7] which premiered on 14 November 2006[8] and was cancelled on 30 November 2006 due to poor ratings.[9] Varma guest starred in the fourth-season premiere of hit US detective dramaBones asScotland Yard Inspector Cate Pritchard.[citation needed] She also played the role of Zoe Luther in the first series of the BBC dramaLuther.[citation needed]
She played Ilsa Pucci inHuman Target in 2010.[10][11]
From 2010, Varma played the role of Ilsa Pucci in the second season of theFox seriesHuman Target until the show was cancelled on 10 May 2011.[12]
In 2014, Varma was cast asEllaria Sand, theparamour ofOberyn Martell inseason 4 of theHBO seriesGame of Thrones.[13] She played the role throughseason 7.[14]
She lent her voice to the Circle mageVivienne, in the 2014 role-playing video gameDragon Age: Inquisition.[citation needed] Later on, she also gave her voice to Katherine Proudmoore inBattle for Azeroth, one of the most recent expansions in the MMO role-playing gameWorld of Warcraft.[citation needed]
In 2016, she played the lead role of DC Nina Suresh in the eight-episode British television dramaParanoid, streamed worldwide onNetflix.[15]
Varma portrays a reform-minded corrections official in the 2020ABClegal dramaFor Life, and appears as the double agent Tala Durith in theObi-Wan Kenobi series forDisney+, as well as playing the head of an American intelligence agency inMission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.[citation needed]
In 2022, Varma began narrating theWitches series of audio books by Terry Pratchett.[16][17]
In May 2023, it was announced that Varma would portray The Duchess in thefourteenth season ofDoctor Who in the episode Rogue.[18]
In 1997, Varma appeared in twoShakespeare plays: she portrayed Audrey inAs You Like It at theNottingham Playhouse, and later that year played Bianca inOthello at theNational Theatre,London. In 2000 to 2001, she appeared inHarold Pinter andDi Trevis's NT stage adaptation of Pinter'sThe Proust Screenplay,Remembrance of Things Past, based onÀ la recherche du temps perdu, byMarcel Proust. In the summer of 2001, she played Gila inOne for the Road, byHarold Pinter, atLincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
In 2002, she played Sasha Lebedieff inIvanov byAnton Chekhov at the National Theatre and Bunty Mainwaring inThe Vortex byNoël Coward at theDonmar Theatre, London. In 2004, she played Sabina inThe Skin of Our Teeth byThornton Wilder at theYoung Vic Theatre Theatre, London. In 2008, she played Nadia Baliye inThe Vertical Hour byDavid Hare at theRoyal Court Theatre London. In 2009, she played Olivia in Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night with Donmar West End atWyndham's Theatre, London. In 2012, she played Jessica in Terry Johnson'sHysteria at theTheatre Royal, Bath. In 2013 she played Miss Cutts inThe Hothouse byHarold Pinter in the Trafalgar Transformed season at Trafalgar Studios.[19]
In 2014, Varma played Tamora, Queen of the Goths, inLucy Bailey's "gore-fest" production ofTitus Andronicus atShakespeare's Globe.[20] In 2015, she appeared alongsideRalph Fiennes inGeorge Bernard Shaw'sMan and Superman at the National Theatre.[21] In 2020, pre-lockdown, she starred in Chekhov'sThe Seagull as Irina alongsideGame of Thrones co-star Emilia Clarke at the Playhouse Theatre. Her 2019 performance inPresent Laughter atThe Old Vic theatre earned Varma aLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[4][22][23][24]
In 2023-2024 she playedLady Macbeth oppositeRalph Fiennes inMacbeth at a number ofUK theatres and at theShakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C.[25][26] She was awarded aHelen Hayes Award for her performance.[27] She returned to The Old Vic in 2025 inOedipus oppositeRami Malek and received her second Olivier nomination.
Varma met actor Colin Tierney in 1997 while they were performing together inOthello at the National Theatre.[4] They later married, and they have a daughter.[28][29]
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love | Maya | ||
| 1997 | Clancy's Kitchen | Kitty | ||
| Sixth Happiness | Amy | |||
| 1998 | Jinnah | Rattanbai "Ruttie" Jinnah | ||
| 2002 | Mad Dogs | Narendra | ||
| 2004 | Rover's Return | Zeta | Short film | |
| 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 | Madira Brower | ||
| 2023 | Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | DIA | ||
| The Trouble with Jessica | Jessica | |||
| 2024 | The Assessment | Ambika | ||
| 2026 | Frank & Louis | Completed |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | DNA | Cara Mathis | 2 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 Vorena | 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 | Carnival Row | Piety Breakspear | Series regular;[30] 8 episodes | |
| This Way Up | Charlotte | Series regular;[31] 5 episodes | ||
| 2020–2021 | For Life | Safiya Masry | Series regular | |
| Spitting Image | Priti Patel | |||
| 2022–present | The Legend of Vox Machina | Lady Allura Vysoren (voice) | Recurring role | |
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Tala Durith | Miniseries, 3 episodes | |
| 2022-26 | The Capture | Khadija Khan | Main role (series 2 and 3) | |
| 2023 | Extrapolations | Gita Mishra | Series regular | |
| Obsession | Ingrid | Miniseries | ||
| 2024 | Doctor Who | The Duchess | Episode: "Rogue" | |
| Disclaimer | — | Narrator | ||
| 2024–present | Creature Commandos | Bride of Frankenstein (voice) | Main role | |
| 2025 | Coldwater | Fiona | ||
| 2026 | The Night Manager | Mayra Cavendish | Series regular | |
| TBA | The Other Bennet Sister | Mrs. Gardiner | Filming |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Listener | Mia | |||
| 2016 | Torchwood Monthly Range | Moving Target | Suzie Costello | ||
| Torchwood Special Releases | The Torchwood Archive | ||||
| 2019 | Torchwood Monthly Range | Sync | |||
| 2023 | The Last Love Song of Suzie Costello | ||||
| 2024 | Bad Connection | ||||
| 2025 | Child Free | Due for release in July[32] | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Dragon Age: Inquisition | Vivienne | ||
| 2017 | Mass Effect: Andromeda | Moshae Sjefa, Sloane Kelly | ||
| 2018 | World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth | Katherine Proudmoore |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | SAG Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Game of Thrones | Nominated | |
| 2020 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Present Laughter | Won | |
| 2025 | Best Actress | Oedipus | Nominated | ||
| Helen Hayes Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play | Macbeth | Won |
