Natalia Tena

Early life

Natalia Gastiain Tena was born in London the daughter of Spanish parents María, a secretary, and Jesús, a carpenter. She is of Extremaduran descent on her mother's side and Basque descent on her father's side. She is fluent in Spanish and Basque. She studied at the boarding school, Bedales.

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

Career

Natalia 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.

In 2007, Natalia appeared in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix playing the character Nymphadora Tonks. Natalia 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.

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.

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

In 2015, Natalia starred as the lead, Jennifer Preston, in the British mini-series Residue. In 2017, Natalia was cast as Sara Morten in CBS' upcoming drama Wisdom Of The Crowd which is set to premiere on October 1, 2017.

Personal life

She is close friends with Oona Chaplin.