Indira Varma
Biography
Indira Anne Varma, born 27 September 1973 in Bath, Somerset, England, is an English stage and screen actress. She began her training as a member of the Musical Youth Theatre Company and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in 1995. Varma made her film debut and first major role in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She has since built a television career that includes appearances in The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, Human Target and Game of Thrones, in which she portrayed Ellaria Sand. The TMDB database lists her gender as female, records 93 credited roles, and notes an alternate spelling of her name as Indria Varma.
Career overview
Indira Anne Varma is an English stage and screen actress born on 27 September 1973 in Bath, Somerset, England. Early in her career she was a member of the Musical Youth Theatre Company, and she completed formal training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, graduating in 1995. Her first major screen appearance came with the film Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, marking her debut in feature‑length cinema.
Following her film debut, Varma built a substantial television résumé that includes roles in The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, Human Target, and the fantasy series Game of Thrones, in which she portrayed Ellaria Sand. Across her career she has accumulated a total of ninety‑three credited performances, spanning both stage productions and screen work. Varma is also credited under alternate spellings of her name, including Indria Varma and variations in other scripts. Her body of work reflects a steady presence in British and international television drama since the mid‑1990s.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- The Other Bennet Sister (2026) as Mrs. Gardiner
- Frank & Louis (2026)
- The Assessment (2025) as Ambika
- Coldwater (2025) as Fiona
- Doctor Who (2024) as Duchess of Pemberton
- Dune: Prophecy (2024)
- Disclaimer (2024) as Narrator (voice)
- Creature Commandos (2024) as The Bride (voice)
- National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2024) as Lady Macbeth
- The Trouble with Jessica (2024) as Jessica
- Maya: Birth of a Superhero (2024) as Maya (Superhero)
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023) as DIA
- Extrapolations (2023) as Gita Mishra
- Obsession (2023) as Ingrid Farrow
- The Legend of Vox Machina (2022) as Lady Allura Vysoren (voice)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) as Tala Durith
- Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return (2022) as Self - Tala Durith
- National Theatre Live: The Seagull (2022) as Arkadina
- INVINCIBLE (2021) as Volcanikka (voice)
- Crisis (2021) as Madira Brower
- Silent Hours (2021) as Dr. Catherine Benson
- For Life (2020) as Safiya Masry
- The One and Only Ivan (2020) as Dr. Maya Wilson
- Rebuilding Notre-Dame (2020) as Narrator - (Voice)
- Faith Healer (2020) as Grace
- Lost Pyramids of the Aztecs (2020) as Narrator (Voice)
- The Capture (2019) as Khadija Khan
- Carnival Row (2019) as Piety Breakspear
- Close (2019) as Rima Hassine
- Official Secrets (2019) as Shami Chakrabarti
- This Way Up (2019) as Charlotte
- National Theatre Live: Present Laughter (2019) as Liz Essendine
- Secrets of Egypt's Valley of the Kings (2019) as Narrator (Voice)
- Patrick Melrose (2018) as Anne Moore
- Early Days (2018) Executive Producer
- Reported Missing (2017) as Self - Narrator (voice)
- Una (2017) as Sonia
- Unspeakable (2017) as Jo
- The Great British Skinny Dip (2017) as Host
- The Machine (2017) as Hannah
- The Night Manager (2016) as Mayra Cavendish
- Paranoid (2016) as Nina Suresh
- National Theatre Live: Man and Superman (2015) as Ann Whitefield/Ana
- Vintage Blood (2015) as Izzy
- Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) as High Priestess
- Titus Andronicus - Live at Shakespeare's Globe (2014) as Tamora
- Hampstead Theatre At Home: Tiger Country (2014) as Vashti
- Anna (2013) as Judith Morrow
- What Remains (2013) as Elaine
- World Without End (2012) as Mattie Wise
- Hunted (2012) as Natalie Thorpe
- Game of Thrones (2011) as Ellaria Sand
- Silk (2011) as George Duggan
- Human Target (2010) as Ilsa Pucci
- Luther (2010) as Zoe Luther
- Harold Pinter: A Celebration (2010) as Self
- Moses Jones (2009) as Dolly
- Inside the Box (2009) as Catherine Powell
- Comanche Moon (2008) as Therese Wanz
- Sex and Death 101 (2007) as Devon Sever
- The Whistleblowers (2007) as Alisha Cole
- Torchwood (2006) as Suzie Costello
- Basic Instinct 2 (2006) as Denise Glass
- 3 lbs (2006) as Adrianne Holland
- Bones (2005) as Inspector Cate Pritchard
- Rome (2005) as Niobe of the Voreni
- Love Soup (2005)
- Broken News (2005) as Melanie Bellamy
- The Quatermass Experiment (2005) as Judith Carroon
- A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets (2005) as Lucie "The dark lady"
- Bring Something Back: The Making of 'The Quatermass Experiment' (2005)
- Peppa Pig (2004) as Female Phone Voice (voice)
- Hustle (2004) as D.C.I. Lucy Britford
- Bride & Prejudice (2004) as Kiran
- Canterbury Tales (2003) as Meena
- Reversals (2003) as Kathy Irwin
- The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (2002) as Melissa Booth
- Rockface (2002) as Alison
- Mad Dogs (2002) as Narendra
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) as Bela Khan
- The Whistle-Blower (2001) as Diane Crossman
- One for the Road (2001) as Gila
- Attachments (2000) as Sasha
- Attachments (2000) as Sacha
- Zehn wahnsinnige Tage (2000) as Ra
- Other People's Children (2000) as Amy
- Psychos (1999) as Dr Martine Nichol
- Jinnah (1998) as Ruttie Jinnah
- Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1997) as Maya
- Sixth Happiness (1997) as Amy
- Clancy's Kitchen (1997) as Kitty
- Mother Daughter
- The Beacon