Oona Chaplin | |
|---|---|
 Chaplin in 2025 | |
| Born | Oona Castilla Chaplin (1986-06-04)4 June 1986 (age 39) Madrid, Spain |
| Citizenship |
|
| Education | Gordonstoun School |
| Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Mother | Geraldine Chaplin |
| Family | Chaplin |
Oona Castilla Chaplin (Spanish:[ˈunakasˈtiʎaˈtʃaplin]; born 4 June 1986) is an actress. Her roles includeTalisa Maegyr in theHBO TV seriesGame of Thrones, Kitty Trevelyan in the BBC dramaThe Crimson Field, Zilpha Geary in the seriesTaboo, and Varang in theAvatar film series.
Chaplin was born in Madrid to English-American actressGeraldine Chaplin and Chilean cinematographer Patricio Castilla.[2][3] She has a half-brother named Shane from her mother's previous relationship with film directorCarlos Saura.[3] Her paternal grandmother, Hilda Valderrama, was aMapuche human rights lawyer.[4] A member of theChaplin family, she is a granddaughter of English filmmaker and actorCharlie Chaplin, and great-granddaughter of Irish-American playwrightEugene O'Neill.[5] She was named after her maternal grandmotherOona O'Neill, Charlie Chaplin's fourth and final wife.[6]
Growing up, Chaplin spent time in Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Cuba. She travelled often because of her mother's film career.[7][8] She started dancing ballet,salsa andflamenco at an early age.[8][9]
When Chaplin was 15, she began studying atGordonstoun School in Scotland on a drama scholarship.[10] She appeared in several school plays; toured the United Kingdom in an adaptation ofRomeo and Juliet; and impersonated her grandfather in the role of Bottom in an adaptation ofA Midsummer Night's Dream at theEdinburgh Festival Fringe.[8][11] After leaving Gordonstoun, she was accepted into theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, where she graduated in 2007.[8]
After graduating from RADA, Chaplin acted in mainly British and Spanish short and feature films. She has played alongside her mother in the feature filmsInconceivable,¿Para qué sirve un oso?,Imago Mortis andAnchor and Hope. She has had supporting roles in British and American television. She appeared as a Brazilian cage dancer inITV'sMarried Single Other (2010); as Marnie Madden, the wife of main character Hector Madden, in theBBC period dramaThe Hour (2011–2012); as John Watson's girlfriend in "A Scandal in Belgravia", an episode ofBBC'sSherlock (2012); and asTalisa Maegyr inHBO'sGame of Thrones (2012–2013). She played Kitty Trevelyan, a lead character, in the BBC dramaThe Crimson Field (2014), and Ira Levinson's wife Ruth Levinson inThe Longest Ride (2015).
She starred as Zilpha Geary in the eight-parthistorical fiction seriesTaboo (2017) onBBC One andFX.[12] In 2024, she presented the BBC radio documentaryHollywood Exiles, which covered her grandfather'sblacklisting by theHouse Un-American Activities Committee.[13]
In 2025, Chaplin co-starred inAvatar: Fire and Ash, directed byJames Cameron, as the villainous Varang.[14][15] On casting the relatively unknown Chaplin, Cameron explained: "There was something [Chaplin] just locked into. There’s a sexuality; there’s a dominating psychology, and there’s a lot of fury. There are a lot of layers to what she’s doing there and the forces that are driving her. Oona was able to move fluidly back and forth between those in a way that I wasn’t seeing with the others."[16]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Inconceivable | Laura Chappel | |
| First, Love? | Laura – Flower Girl | Short film | |
| Quantum of Solace | Perla de las Dunas receptionist | ||
| 2009 | Imago Mortis | Arianna | |
| Pelican Blood | Linda | ||
| 2010 | High and Dry | Sandra | Short film |
| Vampyre compendium | Short film | ||
| 2011 | ¿Para qué sirve un oso? | Rosa | |
| The Devil's Double | Beauty | ||
| Salar | Sandra | Short film | |
| 2012 | The Sorrows[17] | Sarah | |
| 2013 | Powder Room | Jess | |
| What if... | Julianne | ||
| 2014 | Purgatorio | Marta | [18] |
| Aloft | Alice | ||
| 2015 | The Longest Ride | Ruth Levinson | |
| Dancing for my Havana | Rosa | ||
| 2016 | Realive | Naomi | |
| 2017 | Anchor and Hope | Eva | |
| 2020 | Epicentro | Herself | Documentary |
| 2022 | Lullaby | Rachel Brown | |
| 2025 | Avatar: Fire and Ash | Varang |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Spooks | Kate | Episode: "The Virus (Part 2)" |
| 2008 | Spooks: Code 9 | Episode 2 | |
| 2009 | Married Single Other | Fabiana | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | El Gordo: Una historia verdadera | Silvia | 2 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | The Hour | Marnie Madden | 12 episodes |
| 2012 | Sherlock | Jeanette | Episode: "A Scandal in Belgravia" |
| 2012–2013 | Game of Thrones | Talisa Maegyr | 11 episodes |
| 2013 | Dates | Mia | 5 episodes |
| 2014 | Inside No. 9 | Sabrina | Episode: "A Quiet Night In" |
| The Crimson Field | Kitty Trevelyan | Main role, 6 episodes | |
| Black Mirror | Greta | Feature-length special: "White Christmas"[19] | |
| 2016 | El padre de Caín | Mercedes | [20] |
| 2017 | Taboo | Zilpha Geary | Main cast, 8 episodes |
| 2018 | My Dinner with Hervé | Katie | Television film |
| 2020 | The Comey Rule | Lisa Page | Miniseries |
| 2022 | Made for Love | Alice | Episode: "Alice? Are You Listening?" |
| Treason | Maddy De Costa | Main cast, 5 episodes[21] |
[She] was named after her maternal grandmother and Chaplin's fourth wife, the daughter of the playwright Eugene O'Neill.
