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Meet The Witcher’s breakout star Anya Chalotra: the British-Indian actress is drawing comparisons to Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke thanks to her role in Netflix’s smash fantasy series

As Netflix’s The Witcher achieves new heights of popularity, a plethora of opportunities are popping up for the show’s breakout star Anya Chalotra. Photo: @dayaruci/Instagram
As Netflix’s The Witcher achieves new heights of popularity, a plethora of opportunities are popping up for the show’s breakout star Anya Chalotra. Photo: @dayaruci/Instagram
The Witcher

  • Chalotra attended the esteemed Guildhall School where notable alumni include the latest James Bond actor Daniel Craig, Ewan McGregor from Star Wars and more
  • After working with Superman Henry Cavill, Chalotra will soon star alongside another former superhero, Joe Manganiello, a.k.a. Flash from Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man

In general, the fantasy genre has proved a tricky beast to tame. After the phenomenal success of Game of Thrones (GoT), many smart Hollywood producers have been keen to deliver the next big fantasy series. The Witcher – based on the bestselling novel by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski – was released right after GoT ended in 2019 and has since achieved new heights of popularity. The show worked so well that Netflix reported it garnered over 76 million views in its first month alone.
Anya Chalotra as Yennefer in The Witcher. Photos: @anyachalotra/Instagram
Anya Chalotra as Yennefer in The Witcher. Photos: @anyachalotra/Instagram

After a two-year pandemic-related delay, the highly anticipated second season arrived this month to more gushing reviews. While most fans might have tuned in to watch British hunk Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, many were left impressed with Yennefer of Vengerberg: the lady mage who is played by British-Indian actress Anya Chalotra. Fans were also quick to draw a parallel between Yennefer and Game of Thrones’ fan-favourite Daenerys Targaryen as the two characters represent unapologetic, ambitious, yet slightly misunderstood female characters.

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While Chalotra is only in the beginning of her career, she seems predestined to follow in Emilia Clarke’s footsteps to global stardom thanks to The Witcher, which has been renewed for a third season. Here’s everything you need to know about the 25-year-old starlet.

1. She went to a fancy school

Anya Chalotra grew up in England with her Indian dad, British mum and two siblings. Photos: @stratfordeast/Twitter
Anya Chalotra grew up in England with her Indian dad, British mum and two siblings. Photos: @stratfordeast/Twitter

Born to an Indian father and a British mum, Chalotra enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) at 18, before joining the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where its notable alumni include Daniel Craig, Michelle Dockery, Lily James and Ewan McGregor. As she juggled through school and studies, she also appeared on stage in Matthew Dunster’s Much Ado About Nothing and then landed a lead role as Jyoti in The Village at the inaugural production at Theatre Royal Stratford East (also in 2018), for which she received a rave review from The Guardian calling her work “compelling”.

2. She is a self-confessed people watcher

Anya Chalotra on the set of Wanderlust. Photos: @anyachalotra/Instagram
Anya Chalotra on the set of Wanderlust. Photos: @anyachalotra/Instagram

In an interview with Vogue India, Chalotra confessed that she always knew she wanted to become an actress: “I think I was eight? We were having a family get-together and my father told me to sing an Indian song. And I knew, at that very moment, that I loved the attention.”

Her love for attention may have made her want to be an actress, but it’s likely her self-confessed status as an enthusiastic people watcher that made her a great one. “I’m obsessed with analysing people,” she told The Guardian recently, adding, “I don’t mind going to the pub on my own, or eating on my own – I just sit in the corner and watch people.”