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Oona Chaplin
Chaplin in 2016
Born	Oona Castilla Chaplin (1986-06-04) 4 June 1986 (age 38) Madrid, Spain
Citizenship	British Spanish Swiss
Education	Gordonstoun School
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2007–present
Mother	Geraldine Chaplin
Family	Chaplin

Oona Castilla Chaplin (Spanish: [ˈuna kasˈtiʎa ˈtʃaplin]; born 4 June 1986) is a Spanish-Swiss-British actress. Her roles include Talisa Maegyr in the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, Kitty Trevelyan in the BBC drama The Crimson Field, and Zilpha Geary in the series Taboo.

Early life

Chaplin was born in Madrid to English-American actress Geraldine Chaplin and Chilean cinematographer Patricio Castilla. She has a half-brother named Shane from her mother's previous relationship with film director Carlos Saura. Her paternal grandmother, Hilda Valderrama, was a Mapuche human rights lawyer. A member of the Chaplin family, she is a granddaughter of English filmmaker and actor Charlie Chaplin, and great-granddaughter of Irish-American playwright Eugene O'Neill. She was named after her maternal grandmother Oona O'Neill, Charlie Chaplin's fourth and final wife.

Chaplin spent her childhood mostly in Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Cuba, but travelled often because of her mother's film career. She started dancing ballet, salsa and flamenco at an early age.

When Chaplin was 15, she began studying at Gordonstoun School in Scotland on a drama scholarship. She appeared in several school plays; toured the United Kingdom in an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet; and impersonated her grandfather in the role of Bottom in an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. After leaving Gordonstoun, she was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she graduated in 2007.

Career

Since graduating from RADA, Chaplin has acted in mainly British and Spanish short and feature films. She has played alongside her mother in the feature films Inconceivable, ¿Para qué sirve un oso?, Imago Mortis and Anchor and Hope. She has also had supporting roles in British and American television. She appeared as a Brazilian cage dancer in ITV's Married Single Other (2010); as Marnie Madden, the wife of main character Hector Madden, in the BBC period drama The Hour (2011–2012); as John Watson's girlfriend in an episode of BBC's Sherlock (2012); and as Talisa Maegyr in HBO's Game of Thrones (2012–2013).

She plays Kitty Trevelyan, a lead character, in the BBC drama The Crimson Field (2014), and Ira Levinson's wife Ruth Levinson in The Longest Ride (2015).

She stars as Zilpha Geary in the eight-part historical fiction series Taboo (2017) on BBC One and FX.

Chaplin joined the cast of James Cameron's Avatar film series in June 2017. Her character, Varang, is described as "a strong and vibrant central character". In 2024, she presented the BBC radio documentary Hollywood Exiles, which covered her grandfather's blacklisting by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Activism

Chaplin is a trustee of The Boa Foundation, an international organization that works with indigenous communities to regenerate degraded ecosystems and protect biodiversity.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. Tyzack, Holly (16 July 2011). "Funny girl: The not-so silent star Oona Chaplin". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.
2. "Oona Chaplin from Game Of Thrones with Sarah Jane Crawford". BBC Radio 1Xtra YouTube. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
3. ^ Slater, Lydia (12 February 2010). "Oona Chaplin: The Chaplin Kid". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
4. Aguilar, Carlos. "How Charlie Chaplin's Granddaughter Oona Chaplin Is Reconnecting With Her Mapuche Roots". Remezcla. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
5. "Chaplin's granddaughter acts up". BBC News. 23 July 2003. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
6. Gilbert, Gerard (16 July 2011). "Funny Girl: The not-so-silent star Oona Chaplin". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
7. ^ "Oona Chaplin". Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
8. Tyzack, Anna (11 August 2011). "My Perfect Weekend: Oona Chaplin". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
9. Ross, David (28 April 2009). "Students step back in time to celebrate 75 years: Pupils and staff make it a special 1930s anniversary for Gordonstoun school". The Herald. p. 3.
10. Thynne, Jane (30 July 2003). "Parents: Just like mum: Choosing the same career as a parent is very common – but not necessarily a good idea". The Guardian. p. 14.
11. Swift, Andy (23 November 2015). "Tom Hardy's FX/BBC One Drama Taboo Adds 13, Begins Production". tvline.com. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
12. Dave McNary (20 June 2017). "'Games of Thrones' Star Oona Chaplin Joins James Cameron's 'Avatar' Sequels". Variety. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
13. Rebecca Ford (20 June 2017). "'Avatar' Sequels Add 'Game of Thrones' Actress Oona Chaplin". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
14. "Hollywood Exiles". BBC. 15 January 2024.
15. "About Us". The Boa Foundation. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
16. "DigiSPAA Announces 2012 Finalists" (PDF). 17 October 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
17. Holland, Jonathan (10 April 2014). "Purgatory (Purgatorio): Malaga Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
18. "'Mad Men' Star Jon Hamm Joins 'Black Mirror'". Variety.com. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
19. "'El padre de Caín' – estreno 6 de diciembre en Telecinco". Audiovisual451. 2 December 2016.
20. "Meet the cast of Treason on Netflix". RadioTimes. 25 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.

External links

• Oona Chaplin at IMDb
• Oona Chaplin at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts

• 1986 births
• Living people
• Actresses from Madrid
• Spanish people of English descent
• Spanish people of Bermudian descent
• Spanish people of Chilean descent
• Spanish people of American descent
• Spanish people of Irish descent
• People of Mapuche descent
• Spanish people of Romanian descent
• Spanish television actresses
• Spanish film actresses
• Chaplin family
• 21st-century Spanish actresses
• People educated at Gordonstoun
• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• 21st-century British ballet dancers
• Salsa dancers
• Spanish flamenco dancers