Anjana Vasan

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Anjana Vasan
Vasan in 2017
Born (1987-01-31) 31 January 1987 (age 37)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
EducationNational University of Singapore (BA)
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (MA)
OccupationActress
Years active2010–present

Anjana Vasan (born 31 January 1987)[1] is a Singaporean actress.[2] Born into a Tamil family in India, she is based in the United Kingdom. For her stage work, Vasan has won a Laurence Olivier Award.[3] She also played the lead in the Channel 4 sitcom We Are Lady Parts, for which she was nominated for a British Academy Television Award.

Early life and education[edit]

Vasan was born in Chennai, India to a Tamil Hindu family and moved to Singapore when she was four years old.[4][5][6] She took theatre studies at the National University of Singapore before relocating to the United Kingdom, where she graduated in 2012 with a Master of Arts in Acting from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.[7][8]

Career[edit]

In 2011, Vasan made her television debut as Lauren in two episodes of the Channel 4 comedy-drama Fresh Meat. After completing drama school the following year, she had small roles in the National Theatre Wales production of The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Much Ado About Nothing, as well as Golgotha at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London.

Vasan played a witch in Kenneth Branagh's Macbeth at the Manchester International Festival and for its New York run at the Park Avenue Armory.[9] In 2015, she made her feature film debut with a small role in the live-action version of Cinderella.

In 2018, Vasan played Zahra Alsaadi in the Channel 4 sitcom Hang Ups and had a role in the anthology film London Unplugged. She played Rosa in Summer and Smoke at the Almeida Theatre and Duke of York's Theatre, marking her West End debut. This was followed by roles Rutherford and Son at the National Theatre and A Doll's House at the Lyric Hammersmith, the latter of which earned her an Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination.

Vasan starred in the 2020 Riz Ahmed-written and starring drama film Mogul Mowgli. She then reprised her role from the 2018 short Lady Parts as lead guitar player Amina in We Are Lady Parts on Channel 4 in 2021.[10] For her performance, Vasan received nominations at the British Academy Television Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and Gotham Awards. She also appeared in Joe Wright's Cyrano.

Vasan joined the main cast of the BBC spy thriller Killing Eve for its fourth and final series as Pam. She returned to the stage as Stella Kowalski in the London revival of A Streetcar Named Desire opposite Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran. The production opened at the Almeida Theatre in 2022 and moved to the West End's Phoenix Theatre in 2023.

Her performance as Stella won Vasan the 2023 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[11]

In 2023, Vasan starred in the Black Mirror episode "Demon 79" as Nida Huq, a woman in 1970s Britain who discovers a talisman. She had previously made a brief appearance in a previous Black Mirror episode, "Nosedive".[12]

She has a role in the comedy film Wicked Little Letters as PC Gladys Moss.[13]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Macbeth Third Sister National Theatre Live
2015 Cinderella Maid
Behind the Beautiful Forevers Manju Waghekar National Theatre Live
2016 A Midsummer Night's Dream Hermia Recording
2017 Double Act Manager Short film
The Children Act Kate
King Lear Cordelia Recording
2019 Spider-Man: Far From Home Reporter
2020 Mogul Mowgli Vaseem
Dara Hira Bai National Theatre Live
2021 Cyrano Sister Claire
2023 Wicked Little Letters PC Gladys Moss

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Fresh Meat Lauren 2 episodes
2016 Call the Midwife Tripti Valluk Series 5, episode 8
2017 Ill Behaviour Shazia Miniseries
2018 Lady Parts Amina Comedy short
Hang Ups Zahra Alsaadi 5 episodes
2019 Brexit: The Uncivil War Interviewer Television film
Pls Like Lorna Episode: "Kids"
Sex Education Abortion clinic protester Series 1, episode 3
Temple Katie 2 episodes
2021 We Are Lady Parts Amina Main role
2022 Killing Eve Pam 7 episodes
2023 Black Mirror Nida Huq Episode: "Demon 79"

Stage[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2012 The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning National Theatre Wales, Cardiff
Much Ado About Nothing Servant Royal Shakespeare Company
Golgotha Loretta Tristan Bates Theatre, London
2013–2014 Macbeth Third Sister Manchester International Festival / Park Avenue Armory, New York
2014 The Taming of the Shrew Tranio RSC tour
Behind the Beautiful Forevers Manju Waghekar National Theatre, London
2015 Dara Hira Bai
Image of An Unknown Young Woman Leyla Gate Theatre, London
2016 A Midsummer Night's Dream Hermia Globe Theatre, London
2017 Life of Galileo Virginia Young Vic, London
King Lear Cordelia Globe Theatre, London
2018 An Adventure Jyoti Bush Theatre, London
2018–2019 Summer and Smoke Rosa/Nellie/Rosemary Almeida Theatre and Duke of York's Theatre, London
2019 Rutherford and Son Mary National Theatre, London
A Doll's House Niru Lyric Hammersmith, London
2022–2023 A Streetcar Named Desire Stella Kowalski Almeida Theatre and Phoenix Theatre, London

Audio[edit]

  • Goblin Market (BBC)
  • The Man Who Wore Sanitary Pads (BBC)

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2019 Evening Standard Theatre Award Best Actress A Doll's House Nominated [14]
2021 Gotham Award Outstanding Performance in New Series We Are Lady Parts Nominated [15]
2022 British Academy Television Award Best Female Comedy Performance Nominated
Independent Spirit Award Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series Nominated
2023 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actress in a Supporting Role A Streetcar Named Desire Won [16]
Evening Standard Theatre Award Best Actress Won
2024 WhatsOnStage Awards Best Supporting Performer in a Play Nominated [17]

Discography[edit]

Albums, EPs[edit]

  • Too Dark For Country (released 7 October 2017 - EP)[18]
  • Strange Country Jukebox (released 26 July 2021)[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Roberts, Charlotte; Harry, Aaliyah (19 June 2023). "Black Mirror's Anjana Vasan: 'I Would Love To Explore Demon 79 Again – But In A Different Universe'". Grazia. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  2. ^ Gyamfi, Akua (17 May 2017). "#TBB10 with Anjana Vasan starring in Young Vic production of Life of Galileo". The British Blacklist. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  3. ^ Hood, Alun (21 November 2018). "Review: Summer and Smoke (Duke of York's Theatre)". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  4. ^ Patel, Vibhuti (14 July 2014). "Witching Hour". Outlook. Retrieved 20 June 2021.(subscription required)
  5. ^ "The Cast of 'Mogul Mowgli' on Representation and Breaking Barriers". Brown Girl Magazine. 24 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  6. ^ ""Chennai. Singapore. London. I'm made up of three places and cultures. I often feel like I'm split in three."". Mogul Mowgli. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Anjana on Singapore, Shakespeare and Sir Ken". RWCMD. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  8. ^ Mountford, Fiona (10 September 2019). "Anjana Vasan on A Doll's House: 'I didn't know if someone who was foreign and brown would have a career here'". INews. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Anjana Vasan". BBA Shakespeare. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  10. ^ Seth, Radhika (14 May 2021). "'We Are Lady Parts', A Comedy Series About An All-Female Muslim Punk Band, Is About To Bring The House Down". British Vogue. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  11. ^ The Guardian (2 April 2023). "Olivier awards 2023: full list of winners". TheGuardian.com.
  12. ^ Saville, Alice (14 June 2023). "Anjana Vasan on Black Mirror, Paul Mescal and bad reviews". i. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  13. ^ Jones, Ellen E (24 February 2024). "Wicked Little Letters review – a deliciously sweary poison-pen mystery". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  14. ^ Paskett, Zoe (25 November 2019). "The 2019 Evening Standard Theatre Awards winners in full". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  15. ^ Lewis, Hilary (21 October 2021). "Gotham Awards: 'The Lost Daughter,' 'Passing' Lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Singaporean actress Anjana Vasan wins best supporting actress in a play at Britain's Olivier awards". CNA. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  17. ^ Millward, Tom (7 December 2023). "Nominations in full: the 24th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Too Dark For Country, by Anjana Vasan". Anjana Vasan. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  19. ^ "Strange Country Jukebox, by Anjana Vasan". Anjana Vasan. Retrieved 24 February 2022.

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