Few actors have a breakout as instantaneous as Charithra Chandran. Raised across the UK and Tamil Nadu, the British actress began starring in student productions as a creative outlet while at Oxford University and joined the National Youth Theatre. After graduating with a BA in Philosophy, politics and economics in 2019, she postponed a lucrative job offer at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to explore a career in acting. Chandran landed her first television role in the second season British spy thriller series Alex Rider and, before the season even aired, learned that she had been cast as Edwina Sharma in Netflix and Shondaland’s regency romance Bridgerton.
For a young actress, the opportunity to join a beloved series with an ardent fanbase was groundbreaking for her career. But Chandran’s early success only made her more ambitious. “I’ve potentially had the biggest success, in my professional life, in the second thing I’ve ever done,” she told The Guardian, calling it “bizzare”.
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Following Bridgerton, it did not take long for Chandran to land her first top billing projects, which include the Amazon Prime rom-com film How To Date Billy Walsh and the one-man production Instructions for a Teenage Armageddon, the latter of which also marked her West-end debut. The actress is also earning her first associate producer credit in the upcoming series Song of the Sun God, an emotional thriller spanning three generations of a Sri Lankan family, which she will also lead.
Over the last four years, Chandran honed her craft across these projects and, perhaps more importantly, discovered more of the actress she wants to be. “It’s not the stable upwards trajectory that I thought it would be… But actually, the journey is far more interesting and valuable when it’s not like that,” she shared in The Italian Reve.
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This year, the actress found another watershed moment in her career with Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the popular manga and anime series One Piece. In its second and latest season, which premiered in March, she starred as Miss Wednesday, a mysterious and guarded new addition to the series’ main crew. Chandran revealed that she did not know much about the franchise when she landed the role, but has since become a fan of the manga. This, she shared, allowed her the freedom to colour in the character in her portrayal.
Throughout the press tour for One Piece, Chandran shared that establishing Miss Wednesday’s emotional struggle to trust, and the inspiration she gained from the main crew, were central to her portrayal. The actress was instrumental in figuring out what a live-action Miss Wednesday would look like, and even went on to choreograph an iconic dance moment for the character from the anime. Following the season premiere, Chandran has confirmed her return for season three.
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Off-screen, she has also gained a steady 1.5million strong audience on TikTok, with her down-to-earth personality and candid sense of humour. Between posting goofy behind-the-scenes moments and pop culture hot takes, fans have also praised the actress for being unapologetically outspoken about her political opinions as well as her experience as a South Asian woman navigating the entertainment industry.
As for what’s next? In addition to Song of the Sun God, Chandran is also set to star in the upcoming series Arzu as its titular character. Based on the novel of the same name by Mumbai-based author Riva Razdan, it follows a young heiress who moves to New York City to escape scandal back home, and finds herself torn between adventure and Manhattan high society.