Ritu Arya

Ritu Arya
Born
Guildford, England
Education
Occupation
  • Actress
Years active2012–present

Ritu Arya is an English actress. She first became known for her role as Megan Sharma in the soap opera Doctors (2017), for which she was nominated for a British Soap Award. She gained further recognition for her roles as Flash in the sci-fi series Humans (2016–2018) and Lila Pitts in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy (2020–2024). She also starred in the film Polite Society (2023) as Lena Khan.

Early life and education

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Ritu Arya's mother and father both work in real estate.[1] She is of Indian descent and has two brothers, Romi and Rahul, the latter of whom is also an actor. Arya began acting as a teenager.[2]

Arya obtained a BSc in astrophysics from the University of Southampton,[3] where she performed as part of the Southampton University Theatre Group and Comedy Society, including several shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She subsequently trained at the Oxford School of Drama.[4]

Career

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Acting

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Arya first had acting roles in a series of roles in short films, and had a guest appearance in the series Sherlock in 2014.[5]

She played the recurring role of Dr. Megan Sharma in the British soap opera Doctors, for which she was nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer in 2017.[5][6] She also had a recurring role as the android Flash in the series Humans from 2016 to 2018.[7][8]

In 2019, Arya appeared as Jenna in the film Last Christmas, which was a commercial success.[9][10] The following year, she had a recurring role as Lava in the Netflix series Feel Good and guest starred in the series Doctor Who.[11][12]

In 2020, Arya starred as Lila Pitts in the second season of the Netflix original series The Umbrella Academy, which earned her praise.[13][14] She reprised the character in the series' third season, which was released in 2022.[15] Bustle magazine described her performance in the series as "scene-stealing" and Uproxx called Arya the "wild-card" of the show.[16][5] The series ended in 2024.[17]

In 2021, Arya co-starred in the Netflix film Red Notice,[18][19][20] and in 2023 appeared in Greta Gerwig's Barbie.[21]

In 2024 she plays a lead role in the action series Paris Has Fallen as MI6 operative Zara Taylor, opposite French actor Tewfik Jallab.[22]

Music

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Arya was a drummer and part of the band KIN, who released their debut single "Sharing Light" in April 2020.[23] Their follow-up single "L.O.V.E." premiered on 6 August 2020.[24][25] On 16 October 2022, KIN released a statement saying that Arya had left the band and her last live show with them was on 14 October 2022 in London.[26]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2015 My Beautiful White Skin Parita Short film
2017 Daphne Rachida
Jessamine Sonya Short film
The Super Recogniser Agent Williams Short film
2018 Lady Parts Saira Short film
2019 Last Christmas Jenna
2021 Red Notice Inspector Urvashi Das
2023 Polite Society Lena
Barbie Journalist Barbie

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2013 Doctors Sukhinder Nain Episode: "Embarrassing Bodies"
The Tunnel Bureau Girl Episode #1.6
2014 Sherlock Gail Episode: "The Sign of Three"
2016 We The Jury Kate Episode: "Pilot"
2016–2018 Humans Flash Recurring role (series 2–3)
2017 Crackanory Eleni / Beth 2 episodes
Doctors Dr. Megan Sharma Recurring role
2018–2019 The Good Karma Hospital Barsha Nambeesan Recurring role
2019 Sticks and Stones Becky Main role
2020 Doctor Who Gat Episode: "Fugitive of the Judoon"
The Stranger Michaela Episode #1.3
Feel Good Lava Recurring role
2020–2024 The Umbrella Academy Lila Pitts Main cast (seasons 2–4)
2024 Paris Has Fallen Zara Taylor Main role

Theatre

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Year Title Role Venue Ref
2013 Carpe Diem Aishah Royal National Theatre, London [27]
2014 The Fourth Wise Man Samira Unicorn Theatre, London [28]
2015 Mermaid Mermaid/Ensemble UK Tour [29]
We Know Where You Live Asma Finborough Theatre, London [30]
Beauty and the Beast Belle Polka Theatre, London [31]
2016 Noises Off Poppy Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham [32]
2017 Mother Christmas Grace Hampstead Theatre, London [33]
2018 Genesis Inc. Serena Hampstead Theatre, London [34]

References

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  1. ^ "Goldsmith Properties Limited". Endole. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  2. ^ Ritu Arya on real life heroes, British comedy and her songs for 2020. The Hindu.
  3. ^ Warner, Kara; Trivett, Ben (28 August 2020). "Umbrella Academy's Ritu Arya Has 'Fingers Crossed' for Season 3: More Surprises, Fight Sequences". People. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Ritu Arya". University of Southampton Drama. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Before 'Umbrella Academy,' Ritu Arya Briefly Stopped Acting To Pursue An Out Of This World Career". Bustle. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  6. ^ "The British Soap Awards 2017: Full Winners List: Spoiler Alert". HELLO!. 6 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  7. ^ Petski, Denise (10 September 2019). "'The Umbrella Academy': Ritu Arya, Yusuf Gatewood, Marin Ireland Join Season 2 Cast Of Netflix Series". Deadline. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Ritu Arya stars as Flash in Channel 4's Humans | News". Oxford School of Drama. 8 December 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Ritu Arya's 10 Best Movies & TV Shows, Ranked According To IMDb". ScreenRant. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  10. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (25 November 2019). "How Disney Turned 'Frozen 2' Into Biggest Global Toon Debut Of All-Time With $358M+, November Animated Pic U.S. Record $130M". Deadline. Archived from the original on 23 November 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  11. ^ Weston, Christopher (27 January 2020). "Meet actress Ritu Arya: Sticks and Stones star on Instagram and Doctor Who appearance explored!". HITC. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  12. ^ Carlin, Shannon (18 March 2020). "The Cast Of Netflix's "Feel Good" Will Give You All The Feels". Refinery29. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  13. ^ Romero, Ariana (1 August 2020). "You Love Lila. We Love Lila. Ritu Arya Explains Umbrella Academy's Best New Character". Refinery29. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  14. ^ "The Umbrella Academy's Lila Return Fixes A Season 2 Ending Problem". ScreenRant. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  15. ^ Ezaydi, Shahed (1 July 2022). "Ritu Arya: 'The Umbrella Academy' star on the show's third season". Rolling Stone UK. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  16. ^ Toomer, Jessica (19 August 2020). "How Ritu Arya Became The Wild Card Of 'Umbrella Academy' Season 2". UPROXX. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  17. ^ Petski, Denise (9 July 2024). "'The Umbrella Academy' Season 4 Trailer: One Last Mission To Save The World – Update". Deadline. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  18. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (10 February 2020). "'Red Notice': 'The Umbrella Academy's Ritu Arya, Chris Diamantopoulos Join Dwayne Johnson In Netflix Film". Deadline. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Red Notice's Ritu Arya didn't see that ending twist coming". Digital Spy. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  20. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (8 November 2018). "Dwayne Johnson Action-Thriller 'Red Notice' Heads To November 2020". Deadline. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  21. ^ Kroll, Justin (15 April 2022). "'Barbie': Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rhea Perlman, Emerald Fennell, Scott Evans, More Round Out Cast Of Warner Bros, Mattel And LuckyChap Pic". Deadline. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  22. ^ Morris, Anthony (26 September 2024). ""I wanted to create something new": Tewfik Jallab on 'Paris Has Fallen'". SBS What's On. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  23. ^ "Sharing Light, by KIN". KIN. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  24. ^ Romero, Ariana (6 August 2020). "Your Fave New Umbrella Academy Star's New Music Video Is Here & It's Got A Sneaky Easter Egg". Refinery29. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  25. ^ "KIN - L.O.V.E." Nicholas Alexander. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  26. ^ @KINbandofficial (16 October 2022). "A band statement" (Tweet) – via Twitter. [better source needed]
  27. ^ Ikonen, Charlotte (3 August 2013). "Competition triumph for playwright Dorothy Stringer pupil". The Argus. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  28. ^ Gardner, Lyn (21 December 2014). "The Fourth Wise Man review – aimless trek through sandstorm and blizzard". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  29. ^ Clapp, Susannah (22 March 2015). "Mermaid review – beautiful, ambitious and overladen". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  30. ^ Shore, Tom (4 August 2015). "REVIEW: WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, FINBOROUGH THEATRE". A Younger Theatre. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  31. ^ Coleman-Cooke, Danny (30 November 2015). "Beauty and the Beast". BritishTheatre.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  32. ^ Hickling, Alfred (18 April 2016). "Noises Off review – perfectly executed pratfalls". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  33. ^ "HAMPSTEAD DOWNSTAIRS/CELIA ATKIN PRESENT MOTHER CHRISTMAS". Hampstead Theatre. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  34. ^ Billington, Michael (29 June 2018). "Genesis Inc. review – scattergun satire on the IVF industry". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
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