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Varada Sethu

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Varada Sethu
Born
Varada Sethumadhavan

(1992-05-12) 12 May 1992 (age 32)
Kerala, India
NationalityBritish
EducationDame Allan's Schools, Newcastle upon Tyne
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
OccupationActor
Years active2010–present

Varada Sethu (born Varada Sethumadhavan, 12 May 1992) is a British-Indian actor; she won the Miss Newcastle beauty pageant competition in 2010. Her credits include Sket (2010), English: An Autumn in London (2012), Doctors (2015), New Blood (2016), Doctor Foster (2017), Hanna (2019), Strike Back: Vendetta (2020), Jurassic World Dominion (2022), and Annika (2023).

She is notable for playing Detective Sergeant Mishal Ali in Hard Sun (2018), and Cinta Kaz in the Disney+ Star Wars series Andor (2022–present), and as Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who (2025–present).

Early life

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Sethu and her twin sister, Abhaya, were born in Kerala, India,[1] and are of Malayali ancestry.[2][1] Sethu's parents are both doctors. Having moved to the North East of England at a young age, she grew up in Benton, Tyne and Wear,[3] near Newcastle upon Tyne. Sethu attended Dame Allan’s Schools and was a member of the National Youth Theatre.[3] During her final year of sixth form, Sethu won the 2010 Miss Newcastle competition.[1]

She went on to study veterinary medicine at University of Bristol, later switching to physiology.[1] Sethu has been performing both Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam from a young age.[1] Sethu continued her acting education at the Identity School of Acting in London.[4][5]

Career

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In 2010, Sethu made her debut appearance on screen in the short film Impressions as Samena.[6] In 2011, Sethu landed the role of Kiran in the feature film Sket,[3] then as Meghana Scariah in English: An Autumn in London in 2012.[7] In 2015 she made an appearance as PC Kylie Green in the 2000 TV series Doctors.[7]

Her career continued in 2016 appearing as Peaseblossom in a 2016 TV movie version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.[4] Also in 2016, Sethu acted alongside Michael Caine and Daniel Radcliffe in Now You See Me 2 and as an Indian nurse in New Blood.[7]

In 2017, Sethu starred as Aisha in 2 episodes of Doctor Foster.[7] In 2018, Sethu starred as DS Mishal Ali for six episodes in the BBC apocalyptic TV crime Series Hard Sun.[8]

In 2019, Sethu performed as a series regular in season seven of Strike Back: Revolution as Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri of the British Army.[9][10] In 2022, She played rebel Cinta Kaz in the first season of Andor.[2]

In 2025, Sethu is set to portray the companion Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who alongside Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday in Series 15 in 2025.[11][12] Prior to this, she played Mundy Flynn in the Series 14 episode "Boom".[13]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role
2010 Impressions (short film) [6] Sameena
2011 Sket[3] Kiran
2012 English: An Autumn in London Meghana Scariah
2016 A Midsummer Night's Dream[14] Peaseblossom
Now You See Me 2[14] Tressler Assistant
2018 Special Delivery (short film) Parminder
2020 Bad News (short film) Mindi
2022 Jurassic World Dominion Shira
I Came By Naserine 'Naz' Raheem

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2015 Doctors PC Kylie Green 1 episode
2016 New Blood Indian Nurse 3 episodes[14]
2017 Doctor Foster Aisha 2 episodes[8][14]
2018 Hard Sun DS Mishal Ali 6 episodes[8]
2019 Strike Back: Revolution Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri, British Army 10 episodes[10]
Hanna CIA Analyst McArthur 2 episodes
2020 Strike Back: Vendetta Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri, British Army 9 episodes
2023–present Annika DS Harper Weston 4 episodes
2022–present Andor Cinta Kaz 8 episodes; starring role
2024 Doctor Who Mundy Flynn Series 14: "Boom" (guest cast)
2025–present Belinda Chandra[12] Series 15 (main cast)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Balagopal (2010). "Latest News". ukmalayalee.com. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b Speicher, Jeffrey (30 October 2022). "Vel and Cinta's Relationship Shows Nothing Comes Before the Rebellion". Collider. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Geordie actress Aimee Kelly in line for film award". chroniclelive.co.uk. 2013. Archived from the original on 16 October 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Portfolio: Varada Sethu". identityschoolofacting.com. 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021.
  5. ^ N, Aswin V. (22 November 2022). "Kerala-born British actor Varada Sethu on playing a rebel in 'Star Wars' show 'Andor'". The Hindu.
  6. ^ a b "Impressions (Short Film)". dailymotion.com. 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d "Verada Sethu Credits". tvguide.com. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  8. ^ a b c "Meet the cast of BBC1s hard Sun". radiotimes.com. 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Strike Back's Varada Sethu: 'It Really Is A Season Unlike Any Other'". nerdophiles.com. 28 February 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Strike Back: 10 Best Characters Killed Off Prematurely In The Show". Screen Rant. 24 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Doctor Who - First Look at Ncuti Gatwa with Varada Sethu and Millie Gibson ahead of season two". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  12. ^ a b James Hibbs (27 July 2024). "Doctor Who reveals who Varada Sethu will be playing". Radio Times. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  13. ^ Stephen Kelly (15 May 2024). "Steven Moffat has written another Doctor Who classic". inew.co.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d "From Miss Newcastle to TV star and the other North East female stars making it big". chroniclelive.co.uk. 2018.
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