Charithra Surya Chandran (; born 17 January 1997) is a British actress. She is known for her roles in the Amazon

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

thriller series ''

Alex Rider ''Alex Rider'' is a series of spy novels written by British author Anthony Horowitz. The novels revolve around a teenage spy named Alex Rider and is primarily aimed towards young adults. The series currently comprises thirteen novels, as well ...

'' (2021) and the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

period drama ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American historical- romance streaming television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted show for Netflix. It revolves around the epony ...

'' (2022).

Early life and education

Chandran was born in

Perth, Scotland Perth (Scottish English, locally: ; gd, Peairt ) is a city in central Scotland, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population o ...

, the daughter of medical professionals. She was born into a Tamil Indian family. Her parents separated when she was two, and she left for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

with her father where she stayed with her grandparents in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India. Upon returning to the UK when she was four, she went to school in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. She then boarded at

Moreton Hall Preparatory School Moreton Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Bury St Edmunds, a market town in the county of Suffolk, England. It was designed by the Scottish architect Robert Adam and built in 1773 as a country house for John Symonds (1729–1807), a clergym ...

in Suffolk from six to eleven before settling down with her mother in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

for her teenage years whilst her father lived in Wales. Chandran completed sixth form at Oxford High School. She then went on to graduate with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Philosophy, politics and economics from

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...

in 2019. She participated in a number of productions during university and joined the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...

. She worked part-time for the

New Policy Institute The New Policy Institute, often shortened to just NPI, is a British think tank based in London. It was established in 1996, and focusses on social and economic issues from a progressive perspective. History The New Policy Institute was founded i ...

after taking a gap year, during which she did drama as a hobby before deciding to make it her career, turning down a job offer from BCG.

Career

In 2021, Chandran joined the main cast of the

thriller series ''

'' as Sabina Pleasance for its second series on

IMDb TV Amazon Freevee is an American ad-supported video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service owned by Amazon, with original and licensed programming. History Amazon Freevee launched as a free, ad-supported video channel by the Amazon-owned online data ...

. Having auditioned before the first series aired, Chandran starred as Edwina in the second series, based on the novel

The Viscount Who Loved Me ''The Viscount Who Loved Me'' is a 2000 historical romance novel written by Julia Quinn, first published by Avon. It is the second novel of Quinn's Bridgerton series set in Regency England and tells the story of Anthony, Viscount Bridgerton wh ...

'','' of the

Shondaland Shondaland (stylized as ShondaLand from 2005 to 2016 and shondaland thereafter) is an American television production company founded by television writer/producer Shonda Rhimes. She founded it to be one of the production companies of her first s ...

-produced Netflix period drama ''

'' alongside

Jonathan Bailey Jonathan Stuart Bailey (born 25 April 1988) is an English actor. Known for his comedic, dramatic, and musical roles on stage and screen, he is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award and a nomination for a Evening Standard Theatre Award. Bai ...

and

Simone Ashley Simone Ashwini Pillai (born 30 March 1995), known professionally as Simone Ashley, is a British actress. She is known for her breakout role in the Netflix period drama ''Bridgerton'' (2022–present) and ''Sex Education'' (2019–2021). Early ...

in 2022. In June 2022, Chandran voiced the courtesan Camille for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

in an audio adaptation of

Pam Gems Pam Gems (1 August 1925 – 13 May 2011) was an English playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play '' Piaf''. Personal ...

' stage play, ''Camille'', based on the novel ''

La Dame aux Camélias LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' by

Alexandre Dumas fils Alexandre Dumas (; 27 July 1824 – 27 November 1895) was a French author and playwright, best known for the romantic novel ''La Dame aux Camélias'' (''The Lady of the Camellias''), published in 1848, which was adapted into Giuseppe Verdi's ...

. This production was shortlisted for the 2023 BBC Audio Drama Awards, Best Adaptation. Chandran has an upcoming role in the young adult romantic comedy ''How to Date Billy Walsh'' for

Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service prim ...

. It was announced that Chandran will lead and associate produce ''Song of the Sun God'', a six-part drama series based on the novel of the same name by Shankari Chandran. In September 2022, Chandran voiced the lead, Mia, in

Meet Cute In film and television, a meet cute is a scene in which the two people who will form a future romantic couple meet for the first time, typically under unusual, humorous, or cute circumstances. This type of scene is a staple of romantic comedies, ...

's series, ''A Mid-Semester Night's Dream''. The series is a playful retelling of Shakespeare's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

.'' In this series, a group of graduate students discover a magical print of the play which makes them fall in love with whoever reads from it.

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chandran, Charithra Living people 1997 births Alumni of New College, Oxford Scottish people of Indian descent British actresses of Indian descent British people of Indian Tamil descent National Youth Theatre members People educated at Oxford High School, England People from Perth, Scotland