Born 21 July 1996, Anya Chalotra is a 25-year-old British actress known for her roles as Jennifer Ashman in the British drama series “Wanderlust” and Yennefer in the Netflix fantasy drama “The Witcher”. Chalotra is also famous for portraying Lily Marbury in the thriller series “The ABC Murders”, based on Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name.
She started her acting career on stage, appearing in stage productions among which is “Much Ado About Nothing” at the Globe Theatre in 2017.
In the entertainment business, nothing tops international recognition and acclaim. More often than not, artists never feel particularly fulfilled until they have broken into the international scene and become known globally. This feeling is quite understandable as the aim of every human endeavour is reaching its pinnacle. Anya, although, already known in her country for her role as Jennifer in the drama series “Wanderlust”, didn’t get global recognition until being cast in the Netflix original “The Witcher”.
Her role as the likeable Yennefer in the series brought her not only global recognition, but a huge fanbase as well. It is interesting to note that film enthusiasts who had read the book from which the series was adapted were initially not pleased with the casting of someone as young and “inexperienced” as Anya for the role of Yennefer whom they expected should be a much older woman. None of it mattered in the long run anyway, because Anya brought her talent and presence to the role, and she was perfect.
Her success with the series got people interested in knowing who Anya Chalotra is and that is a question we hope to answer in this article. Find out more about the life of the young and brilliant actress. We start with these ten facts about her:
10 facts about Anya Chalotra
- Chalotra is a woman of many skills, and besides acting, she is also a dancer who is trained in ballet, tap dance, and other modern and contemporary dances.
- Anya is also a voice actor, and she is the voice behind the character of Robin Loxley in the 2019 animated series “Sherwood”.
- She is a stage actor too and has acted in many theatrical plays like “Much Ado About Nothing”, “Notoriously Abused”, “Great Expectations”, “Peter Gynt”, and so on.
- Chalotra is of mixed ethnicity as she’s Indian on her father’s side and English on her mother’s side, she has been termed half White half Indian.
- By virtue of her origin, Anya practices Hinduism.
- Anya discovered her flair for showmanship at an early age. As she said in an interview, as a child, her father pushed her in front of relatives, and asked her to sing an Indian song. In her own words, “And I knew, at that very moment, that I loved the attention.”
- Anya was once in a relationship with a Honduran writer and journalist named Juan F Sánchez, but the pair now seem to have parted ways.
- She loves reading, shopping, and travelling, and her favourite holiday destination is Miami.
- In 2020, Anya starred in a television short film special “No Masks”, which was based on the real-life testimonies of key frontlines workers in East London during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Anya net worth is currently an estimated total of $350,000.
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Anya Chalotra age
The public’s curiosity about the age of their favourite on-screen people should be a normal phenomenon by now. More so in the case of Anya, her casting as Yennefer in “The Witcher” was kicked against partly because she looked too young. This role may well have increased people’s interest in her age. As stated earlier, Yennefer was born on 21 July 1996, and this makes her 25 at the time of writing this.
Early life and education
Anya Chalotra was born to an Indian father and English mother in 1996, in Wolverhampton, England. She grew up alongside her two siblings, an elder sister Reeya, and a younger brother Arunin in Lower Penn, a village in South Staffordshire.
Chalotra completed her high school education at the St. Dominic’s Grammar School for Girls in Brewood and later completed the one-year foundation course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before training for three years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Career
Anya’s acting career is relatively new, but as the saying goes, it is not how far but how well. In a very short space of four years, she has made her mark both on stage and television. It is only a matter of time before she begins to land lucrative film roles too. Due to her passion for theatre arts, she started early in life and performed at the West End Theater where she acted in several plays such as “Much Ado About Nothing”, “The Village”, “Merchant of Venice”, “Great Expectations”, and “The Crucible”. She subsequently moved on to television.
Anya began her television career on the Netflix series “Wanderlust”, which was released in 2018. She played the role of Jennifer Ashman, one of the schoolmates of 16-year-old Tom Richards, the son of Joy and Alan Richards.
Following Wanderlust, she starred as Lily Marbury in the BBC mini-series “The ABC Murder”, alongside John Malkovich. In 2019, she landed another role as Robin Loxley in the Youtube series Sherwood, this time as a voice actor.
Yennefer hunchback
Anya was impressive in all of her early roles and proved herself ready for bigger challenges. It wasn’t long before the perfect opportunity came. In 2019, she starred in the Netflix original fantasy drama “The Witcher” as Yennefer of Vengerberg. Yennefer is a quarter-elf sorceress with a former hunchbacked appearance, which was fixed by Tissaia de Vries during her apprenticeship. The role remains her most prominent one so far. Initially, after getting cast as Yennefer, fans had reservations about her. As far as they were concerned, the role should have gone to an older and more experienced actress.
Many suggested actors like Liv Tyler, Megan Fox, Eva Green, or Evangeline Lily, who they believed were more suited to the role. In fact, there were online petitions that called for fans to vote for a recast for that role. Well, talent and hard work always speak for themselves. Within days of the series’ release, Yennefer had become the fan favourite. Her interpretation of the role was so good that all reservations became adoration.
How old is Yennefer?
For lovers of the Witcher literature series, the actual age of Yennefer is an important detail. First, it is worthy of note that the character has appeared in other short stories prior to the Witcher, however, the details and attributes are unchanged. According to Wikipedia, Yennefer was born on Belleteyn, in the year 1173. She is the youngest member of the Council of Sorcerers and later became a member of the Lodge of Sorceresses.
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The Witcher Netflix (and cast)
The Witcher is a Polish-American fantasy drama streaming television series based on the book series of the same name by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The series is set in a fictional, medieval-inspired landmass known as “the Continent”. It follows the legend of Geralt of Rivia and Princess Ciri, who are linked to each other by destiny. The first season was released on 20 December 2019, and the second season is set for a 21 December 2021 release date.
The series fields a mixture of known and relatively unknown cast members all of who justified their roles with great performances. Here are a few of the main cast and the roles they played.
- Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, a magically enhanced monster-hunter known as a “Witcher.” Cintran princess Ciri is his destiny. Cavill is arguably the most famous of the cast members. He got famous for his role as Superman in a number of DC comic superhero series.
- Freya Allan as Cirilla “Ciri”, the crown princess of Cintra, granddaughter of Queen Calanthe and daughter of Pavetta, who possesses magical powers. She is linked to Geralt by destiny before her birth.
- Eamon Farren as Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach, a Nilfgaardian army commander who leads the invasion of Cintra and the hunt for Cirilla.
- Joey Batey as Jaskier, a travelling bard who befriends Geralt and accompanies him on his path.
- MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries, mentor to Yennefer and the Rectoress of Aretuza, a training academy for female mages.
- Royce Pierreson as Istredd, an adept sorcerer and historian who befriends Yennefer at Aretuza.
- Mimi Ndiweni as Fringilla Vigo, a sorceress who trained alongside Yennefer. She eventually leads the Nilfgaardian invasion alongside Cahir.
Personal life
Despite having become famous on the back of her success on “The Witcher”, Anya Chalotra maintains a very private life. Not much is known about her personal life or relationships. Sometime between 2019 and 2020, she was in a relationship with a Honduran writer and journalist named Juan F Sánchez. Their relationship, however, seems to have ended as there are no longer signs of them together.
Net worth
Anya’s roles in the series Wanderlust and especially The Witcher were lucrative jobs that paid handsomely. As of the last update, she is believed to be worth $350,000. It is not farfetched too that she may already be making some money from brand endorsements. Acting, however, remains her main known source of income.
Conclusion
Anya has started so well. She has successfully laid a foundation for what should be a very prestigious career. Her major role as Yennefer in “The Witcher”, which will probably run for many years, guarantees her becoming a regular face. What’s more, she is versatile. Anya is experienced in stage acting and is skilled in other areas of performing arts. For her, possibilities are limitless. Just like us, we are sure her fans the world over are rooting for her and her budding career. Here is to life (happy 25th birthday), and an accomplished career ahead.
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