Kiran Sonia Sawar is a Scottish actress best known for her role in the one-off drama ''

Murdered by My Father ''Murdered by My Father'' is a British drama television film written by Vinay Patel, directed by Bruce Goodison and produced by Toby Welch, and starring Adeel Akhtar and Kiran Sonia Sawar, that first aired on BBC One in March 2016. The drama te ...

''. In 2017, Sawar appeared in "

Crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

", an episode of the fourth season of anthology series ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...

''.

Early life

Sawar is of Pakistani descent and grew up in

Pollokshields Pollokshields ( gd, Buthan Phollaig, Scots: ''Powkshiels'') is an area in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. Its modern boundaries are largely man-made, being formed by the M77 motorway to the west and northwest with the open land of Pollok C ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. She attended the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

where she received a degree in Marine and Environmental Biology. After graduating, she trained in acting at the

Oxford School of Drama The Oxford School of Drama is a drama school in the United Kingdom. It is based at Wootton, ten miles north of Oxford. The school is an independent, vocational drama school which runs a three-year acting course and a one-year acting course, bot ...

, where she left in 2012.

Career

Sawar made her acting debut in theatre before landing her first television role in 2015. After a series of minor roles in various television series, she garnered critical acclaim for her role as the protagonist in the BBC television drama ''

'', which highlighted the issue of

honour killings An honor killing (American English), honour killing (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect wha ...

. She portrayed Cordelia in the 2016 stage adaptation of

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

's novel ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* Living people 21st-century British actresses Actresses from Glasgow Alumni of the University of St Andrews British actresses of South Asian descent Scottish people of Pakistani descent Scottish television actresses Year of birth missing (living people) Pollokshields {{UK-actor-stub