Varada Sethu

Varada Sethu
Born
Varada Sethumadhavan

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

Varada Sethu (born Varada Sethumadhavan,[1] 12 May 1992) is an Indian born British actress. 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 portrayed Detective Sergeant Mishal Ali in Hard Sun (2018), Cinta Kaz in the Disney+ Star Wars series Andor (2022–2025), and Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who (2025).

Early life

Varada Sethumadhavan was born on 12 May 1992 in Kerala, India.[2][3][4] She and her twin sister Abhaya are of Malayali ancestry.[4][5] Sethu's parents are doctors.[1] She moved to the North East of England at a young age and she grew up in Benton, Tyne and Wear,[6] near Newcastle upon Tyne. Sethu attended Dame Allan's Schools and was a member of the National Youth Theatre.[6] During her final year of sixth form, Sethu won the 2010 Miss Newcastle competition.[1][7] She went on to study at University of Bristol.[1][7]

Sethu has been performing the Indian classical dance traditions of both Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam from a young age.[7][4] Sethu continued her acting education at the Identity School of Acting in London.[8][9]

Career

In 2010, Sethu made her debut appearance on screen in the short film Impressions as Samena.[10] In 2011, Sethu landed the role of Kiran in the feature film Sket,[6] then as Meghana Scariah in English: An Autumn in London in 2012.[11] In 2015 she made an appearance as PC Kylie Green in the 2000 TV series Doctors.[11]

Her career continued in 2016 appearing as Peaseblossom in a 2016 TV movie version of A Midsummer Night's Dream.,[8] Now You See Me 2 and New Blood.[11]

In 2017, Sethu appeared as Aisha in two episodes of Doctor Foster.[11] In 2018, Sethu starred as DS Mishal Ali for six episodes in the BBC apocalyptic TV crime series Hard Sun.[12]

In 2019, Sethu performed as a series regular in season seven of Strike Back: Revolution as Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri of the British Army.[13][14] In 2022, She played rebel Cinta Kaz in both seasons of Andor.[5]

In 2025, Sethu portrayed the companion Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who alongside Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor in series 15.[15][16] Prior to this, she played Mundy Flynn in the series 14 episode "Boom".[17]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Impressions Sameena Short film[10]
2011 Sket Kiran [6]
2013 English: An Autumn in London Meghana Scariah Indian film
2016 A Midsummer Night's Dream Peaseblossom [18]
Now You See Me 2 Tressler Assistant [18]
2018 Special Delivery Parminder Short film
2020 Bad News Mindi Short film
2022 Jurassic World Dominion Shira
I Came By Naserine 'Naz' Raheem
2025 100 Nights of Hero Esa

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Doctors PC Kylie Green 1 episode
2016 New Blood Indian Nurse 3 episodes[18]
2017 Doctor Foster Aisha 2 episodes[12][18]
2018 Hard Sun DS Mishal Ali 6 episodes[12]
2019 Strike Back: Revolution Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri, British Army 10 episodes[14]
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
2022–2025 Andor Cinta Kaz 10 episodes
2024 Doctor Who Mundy Flynn Series 14: "Boom" (guest role)
2025 Belinda Chandra Series 15 (main cast)
TBA The Other Bennet Sister Ann Baxter Filming

References

  1. ^ a b c d Colin George (19 August 2010). "Miss Newcastle winners secure top A-levels". chroniclelive.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  2. ^ Sethu, Varada [@varadasethu]; (12 May 2025). "Happy birthday to @abby_sethu, the other half of my heart". Archived from the original on 22 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025 – via Instagram.
  3. ^ Sandhu, Amber; Swash, Rebecca (1 April 2025). "New Doctor Who star: 'I don't want to be a cautionary tale'". BBC. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Between Shifts with the Nurse". Doctor Who Magazine. No. 618. July 2025. pp. 16–20.
  5. ^ a b Speicher, Jeffrey (30 October 2022). "Vel and Cinta's Relationship Shows Nothing Comes Before the Rebellion". Collider. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b c "Malayalee Newcastle beauty queen secure top A-Levels". ukmalayalee.com. 20 August 2010. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Portfolio: Varada Sethu". identityschoolofacting.com. 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021.
  9. ^ N, Aswin V. (22 November 2022). "Kerala-born British actor Varada Sethu on playing a rebel in 'Star Wars' show 'Andor'". The Hindu.
  10. ^ a b "Impressions (Short Film)". dailymotion.com. 2010.
  11. ^ a b c d "Verada Sethu Credits". tvguide.com. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  12. ^ a b c "Meet the cast of BBC1's Hard Sun". radiotimes.com. 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  13. ^ "Strike Back's Varada Sethu: 'It Really Is A Season Unlike Any Other'". nerdophiles.com. 28 February 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Strike Back: 10 Best Characters Killed Off Prematurely In The Show". Screen Rant. 24 April 2020.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ James Hibbs (27 July 2024). "Doctor Who reveals who Varada Sethu will be playing". Radio Times. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  17. ^ Stephen Kelly (15 May 2024). "Steven Moffat has written another Doctor Who classic". inew.co.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  18. ^ 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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