Natalia Tena

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Gastiain and the second or maternal family name is Tena.

Natalia Tena
Tena at the Florida Supercon in 2016
Born	Natalia Gastiain Tena (1984-11-01) 1 November 1984 (age 40) London, England
Occupation(s)	Actress, musician
Years active	2001–present
Known for	Nymphadora Tonks in Harry Potter franchise Osha in Game of Thrones

Natalia Gastiain Tena^[1] (born 1 November 1984) is a British actress and musician. She is best known for playing role as Nymphadora Tonks in the Harry Potter film series (2007–2011), and the wildling Osha in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2013; 2016).

Tena is the lead singer and accordionist of Molotov Jukebox. The band released their debut album Carnival Flower (2014), in Spring 2014, featuring their single "Neon Lights". Their second studio album, Tropical Gypsy (2016), was released on 15 April 2016 and was preceded by its lead single, "Pineapple Girl". It was promoted on the band's Tropical Gypsy Tour in April and May 2016.

Early life

Natalia Gastiain Tena was born in London, the daughter of Spanish parents, María Tena, a secretary, and Jesús Andrew Gastiain, a carpenter.^[2] Her family is of Extremaduran and Basque origin, and she was raised in the United Kingdom.^[3] Tena is fluent in English and Spanish. She attended Bedales School in Hampshire.^[1][4][5]

Tena was taught the piano by her mother at five years old, influenced by Chuck Berry's music.^[6] Afterwards, at 18, Tena moved back to London and busked on the London Underground.^[6] While working with a theatre group called KneeHigh, where they were allowed to pick an instrument to play, Tena decided to learn the accordion.^[6]

Career

Tena performing in 2013

Tena made her professional debut as Ellie in About a Boy (2002), and began acting full-time in 2003. She has played lead roles in stage adaptations of Gone to Earth in 2004, and Nights at the Circus in 2006.^[7]

In 2007, Tena appeared in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix playing the character Nymphadora Tonks. Tena reprised this role in its sequels Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, in 2009, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 in 2010 and Part 2 in 2011.^[8]

She hosted a behind-the-scenes featurette entitled "Trailing Tonks" for the subsequent DVD and Blu-ray release, and is credited as producer and director of the featurette, in which she also performs an original Christmas-themed blues song on guitar, which she composed while working as a busker on the London Underground.^[9]

In 2011, she played a lead role in the Scottish Film You Instead. She also appeared as Osha in HBO's Game of Thrones.^[10][11] In March 2013, she starred in the official music video for Lapalux's single "Without You (ft. Kerry Leatham)".^[12]

In 2014, Tena co-starred as a mentally ill woman in the Black Mirror Christmas episode "White Christmas".^[13]

In 2015, she starred as the lead, Jennifer Preston, in the British mini-series Residue. In 2017, Tena was cast as Sara Morten in the CBS drama Wisdom of the Crowd.^[14][15]

In April 2018, it was announced that Tena was cast in the series regular role of Lana Pierce on the YouTube science fiction series Origin.^[16]

Personal life

Tena is close friends with fellow Game of Thrones actress Oona Chaplin.^[17]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	About a Boy	Ellie	Credited as Nat Gastiain Tena
2005	The Fine Art of Love	Vera
	Mrs Henderson Presents	Peggy
2007	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Nymphadora Tonks
2008	Lecture 21	Thomson
2009	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Nymphadora Tonks
2010	Womb	Rose
	Ways to Live Forever	Annie
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1	Nymphadora Tonks
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
	You Instead	Morello
2012	Bel Ami	Rachel
2014	10,000 km	Alex
2015	SuperBob	Dorris
2017	Amar	Madre de Laura
	Anchor and Hope	Kat
2020	I Love You, Stupid	Raquel
	Baby	Albinoa	[18]
2023	John Wick: Chapter 4	Katia Javanavič
	Borderline	Joan
2024	The Platform 2
TBA	El mal		Filming[19]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Doctors	Amy Emerson	Episode: "Boundaries"
2006	Afterlife	Gemma Taylor	Episode 205: "Mirrorball"
2011–2013; 2016	Game of Thrones	Osha	Recurring role (season 1–3, 6)
2012	Shameless	Aparecida	Episode: "The Brazilian Effect"
	Falcón	Christine Ferrera	2 episodes
2013	Ambassadors	Tanya	Main role
	Black Mirror	Jennifer	Episode: "White Christmas"
2015	Residue	Jennifer Preston	Main role
	The Refugees	Emma Oliver
2017–2018	Wisdom of the Crowd	Sara Morten
2018	Origin	Lana Pierce
2019	The Mandalorian	Xi'an	Episode: "Chapter 6: The Prisoner"
2021–present	Wolfe	Val Kinteh	Main role
2022	Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama	Rebekah Vardy

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Gone to Earth	Hazel	Shared Experience / UK tour
2005	Bronte	Cathy / Bertha Mason
2006	Nights at the Circus	Fevvers	Kneehigh Theatre / UK tour
2008	The Clean House	Matilde	UK tour
2009	Othello	Desdemona	Royal Shakespeare Company / UK tour
2019	Europe	Katia	Donmar Warehouse

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2014	17th Málaga Film Festival	Silver Biznaga for Best Actress	10,000 km	Won	[20]
2015	20th Forqué Awards	Best Actress		Nominated	[21][22]
	7th Gaudí Awards	Best Actress		Won	[23]
	29th Goya Awards	Best New Actress		Nominated	[24]
2018	10th Gaudí Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Anchor and Hope	Nominated	[25][26]

References

1. "The bedales Association and Old Bealian Newsletter 2014" (PDF). Bedales.org.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
2. "NATALIA TENA EL EMBRUJO DEL FÉNIX". Nuevo Herald (in Spanish). Miami Herald. 13 July 2007. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
3. natalia tena audio interview (YouTube). 5 October 2009. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
4. Dominic Cavendish (14 May 2004). "A story as old as the hills". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
5. Peet, William Gadsby (1 December 2016). "Natalia Tena talks Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and Molotov Jukebox". Essentialsurrey.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
6. Connelly, Brendon (24 December 2010). "Harry Potter And A Game Of Thrones' Natalia Tena Video Interview". Bleeding Cool. Disqus. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
7. Billington, Michael (27 January 2006). "Nights at the Circus". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
8. Bevil, Dewayne (14 December 2017). "Universal: Harry Potter event adds Natalia Tena". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
9. "Trailing Tonks" (2007), a featurette on the DVD release of Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
10. "Actors, Actors Everywhere". LiveJournal. 17 July 2010. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
11. Belluschi, Fabrizio (19 July 2016). "Molotov Jukebox' Natalia Tena Talks Game Of Thrones And Getting Dumped For The First Time". Fame. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
12. Lapalux (6 March 2013). Lapalux - Without You (ft. Kerry Leatham) (Official Video) (YouTube). Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
13. Handlen, Zack (25 December 2014). "Black Mirror: "White Christmas"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
14. Pedersen, Erik (14 March 2017). "Wisdom Of The Crowd': Natalia Tena & Jake Matthews Join CBS Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
15. "Natalia Tena". CBS.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
16. Andreeva, Nellie (26 April 2018). "'Origin' YouTube Sci-Fi Series Sets Natalia Tena & Tom Felton As Leads, Paul W.S. Anderson As Director". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
17. "Natalia Tena Interview Fashion, Feminism, Music & Game of Thrones". YouTube. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
18. Ide, Wendy (28 November 2020). "Reviews: 'Baby': Tallinn Review". ScreenDaily. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
19. "El mal". Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. 10 September 2024.
20. "LISTA: Palmarés completo del Festival de cine de Málaga 2014". Antena 3. 29 March 2014.
21. "RTVE recibe este lunes en los Premios Forqué la Medalla de Oro de Egeda, por su apoyo histórico al cine español". rtve.es. 10 January 2015.
22. Morales Hernández, Clara (13 January 2015). "Los Premios Forqué coronan a 'La isla mínima'". El País.
23. ""10.000 KM", gran triomfadora d'uns Gaudí que premien "Rastres de sàndal" com a millor pel·lícula". 3/24. 1 February 2015 – via Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals.
24. "Los ganadores de los Goya 2015". La Vanguardia. 7 February 2015.
25. "Totes les nominacions als Gaudí 2018". 3/24. 28 February 2017 – via Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals.
26. "Todo el palmarés de los Premis Gaudí". El Periódico de Catalunya. Prensa Ibérica. 29 January 2018.

External links

• Natalia Tena at IMDb