Leila Effat Farzad ( fa, لیلا عفت فرزاد; born 1983) is an English actress. She plays Naomi Jones in the

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HBO ...

series ''

I Hate Suzie ''I Hate Suzie'' is a British dark comedy drama television series created by Lucy Prebble and Billie Piper. It was produced by Bad Wolf in association with Sky Studios, with Prebble serving as showrunner. All episodes were written by Prebble and ...

'', which earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 2021 BAFTA awards.

Early life and education

Farzad was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to Iranian parents. She was inspired to pursue acting by National Theatre productions her aunt took her to see, however, her parents requested she get a degree from

Oxbridge Oxbridge is a portmanteau of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most famous universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collectively, in contrast to other British universities, and more broadly to de ...

first. She reluctantly studied Modern Languages at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, graduating 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 French and Italian Literature. She then went on to train at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

, which she said "felt like home."

Career

Farzad's first major TV role was as Naomi Jones in ''I Hate Suzie'', which was released in 2020 to critical acclaim. The show was renewed for a second season in February 2021, with Farzad reprising her role.

Filmography

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farzad, Leila Living people 1982 births Actresses from London Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford British actresses of Asian descent English people of Iranian descent English television actresses English voice actresses People from the City of Westminster