Priya Uday Kansara (born 1995/1996) is a British actress. After making her debut with appearances 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 ...

series '' Bridgerton'' and ''

The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself ''The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself'' is a British fantasy drama television series created by Joe Barton, based on the novel ''Half Bad'' by Sally Green. The series tells the story of Nathan Byrne, a young man discovering his true identity as ...

'' (both 2022), she starred in the

Nida Manzoor Nida Manzoor is a British television writer and director. She is best known for directing two episodes of ''Doctor Who'' and creating the Peacock/Channel 4 comedy show ''We Are Lady Parts'', for which she won the 2021 Rose d'Or Emerging Talent ...

film '' Polite Society'' (2023).

Early life

Kansara was born in the North London Borough of Enfield and is of Indian descent. She has a younger brother. Kansara attended Palmers Green High School in London and

Dame Alice Owen's School Dame Alice Owen's School (also known as Dame Alice Owen's or Owen's; referred to by the acronym DAOS) is an 11–18 mixed, partially selective secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England. It i ...

Potter's Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

. She graduated from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

(UCL) in 2017 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Molecular Biology. She did acting as a hobby in the meantime. She subsequently worked in healthcare communications for BCW Global, but had ambitions to act. She continued her day job while taking night classes at the Identity School of Acting for three years until March 2021.

Career

Kansara's first audition after leaving her job led her to appear in season two of the period drama '' Bridgerton'' for

as Miss Eaton. Shortly afterward she appeared in another Netflix series, ''

''. In the summer of 2022, Kansara was named a ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' Star of Tomorrow. Kansara next played the lead role of Ria Khan in the British action comedy film '' Polite Society'' from

. Following the premiere of ''Polite Society'' at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

Peter Dubrage, writing in '' Variety'', said that she was “a natural who, believe it or not, has never had a lead role till now” who in the role of the culturally straight-jacketed wannabe stunt woman “plays with deliciously exaggerated indignance”. Praise also came from Adrian Horton writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' who described her as a “delightful newcomer”, and Chase Hutchinson for Collider who says Kansara “already in her relatively short career, has all the makings of a star. She can fully dive into the moments of silly slapstick just as she does the more nuanced emotional beats about trying to find your way in the world.” Manzoor jokingly referred to Kansara as “the next

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

... She did so many of her own stunts.” When asked about this comparison Kansara told ''

'' “I feel very lucky knowing her, working with her; for her to call me hatis pretty cool. Tom Cruise, step aside!” For her role in the film, Kansara was nominated in the Breakthrough Performance category at the 2023 British Independent Film Awards.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kansara, Priya Living people 21st-century English actresses Alumni of University College London British actresses of Asian descent English film actresses English people of Indian descent English television actresses People educated at Dame Alice Owen's School Actors from the London Borough of Enfield 1990s births Actresses from London