Biography
Who is Natalia Tena?
Early life and education
Natalia Gastiain Tena was born in the London district of Camden. Her parents were María Tena, a secretary, and Jesús Andrew Gastiain, a carpenter. With family roots tracing back to the Extremadura and Basque regions of Spain, she grew up in the United Kingdom. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.
For her formal education, she attended the Bedales School located in Hampshire. Her interest in music began early. Her mother taught her to play the piano when she was five years old, and she was heavily influenced by the music of Chuck Berry. Later, at eighteen, she returned to the city of London and spent time busking on the London Underground to earn money.
Acting career beginnings
Natalia Tena started her professional acting career by appearing as the character Ellie in the 2002 film About a Boy. She transitioned into full-time acting work in 2003. During this period, she also focused on stage performances. She played leading roles in theater adaptations of Gone to Earth in 2004 and Nights at the Circus in 2006. While working with a theater group called KneeHigh, she learned to play the accordion, an instrument that would later become central to her musical career.
Breakout roles and film work
In 2007, she landed the role of Nymphadora Tonks in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She continued to play this character in the subsequent sequels, including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 2009, and both parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2010 and 2011. Beyond acting, she produced and directed a behind-the-scenes featurette titled Trailing Tonks for the home media releases, where she also performed an original blues song.
She also took on the role of the wildling Osha in the HBO television series Game of Thrones, appearing in the show between 2011 and 2013, and returning in 2016. In 2011, she starred in the Scottish film You Instead. Her television credits also include the Black Mirror episode White Christmas in 2014, the mini-series Residue in 2015, the CBS drama Wisdom of the Crowd in 2017, and the YouTube science fiction series Origin in 2018.
Musical pursuits
Beyond her screen work, Natalia Tena is the lead singer and accordionist for the band Molotov Jukebox. The group released their debut album, Carnival Flower, in the spring of 2014, which included their single Neon Lights. They followed this with a second studio album titled Tropical Gypsy, released on April 15, 2016. This second project featured the lead single Pineapple Girl and was promoted during a tour across April and May 2016.
Birthday and age
Natalia Tena was born on November 1, 1984, which makes Natalia 42 years old today. That birthday falls under the Scorpio sign. Natalia shares the date with 66 other famous people.
Explore more
