# Ellora Torchia

Rashmika Ellora Torchia (born April 1992) is a British actress. For her role in the film In the Earth (2021), she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award. Her other films include Les Cowboys (2015), Midsommar (2019), and Ali & Ava (2021).
She was named a 2021 Screen International Star of Tomorrow and a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit.

## Early life

Torchia was born in Hammersmith, West London to South African-Indian mother Veena and Italian father Maurelio, who met in Switzerland. She has three sisters. The family lived in Sri Lanka, India, Turkey, Tunisia and Japan, before returning to London when Torchia was 13.
Torchia graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting.

## Career

Torchia made her television debut in a 2010 episode of the BBC One spy drama Spooks (also known as MI-5). She appeared in a 2014 installment of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher as well as two 2015 episodes of DCI Banks, both on ITV.
In her final year at RADA, Torchia was cast as Sita in the first series of the Channel 4 drama Indian Summers, which premiered in 2015. She signed with an agent in Paris, through which she was cast in the French film Les Cowboys, marking her feature film debut. The following year, she played Vishka in the ITV fantasy series Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands. She made her professional stage debut in Boys Will Be Boys at the Bush Theatre. This was followed by a role in The Treatment at the Almeida Theatre in 2017.
After guest starring in a series 3 episode of Broadchurch on ITV, Torchia had a recurring role as Maggie Lavelle in the first two series of the BBC One legal drama The Split. She also spent a year working at Shakespeare's Globe, appearing in All That Ends Well and The Two Noble Kinsmen. In 2019, she played Connie in Ari Aster's A24 folk horror film Midsommar.
Torchia starred in the 2021 science fiction horror film In the Earth, for which she was nominated for the British Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performance. She also had roles in the films Ali & Ava and Crisis.
In 2022, Torchia starred as Reva in the Canal+ series Infiniti. In 2023, she played Sienna Rose in the BBC One miniseries The Gold. In May 2023, it was rumoured Torchia had joined the cast of the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon for its second season in an undisclosed role.

## Personal life

Torchia speaks English and French. She was raised vegan, and helps her parents run a business called the Arty Vegan.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2015 | Les Cowboys | Shazhana |
| 2018 | Our Happy Holiday | Tania |
| 2019 | Midsommar | Connie |
| 2021 | In the Earth | Alma |
| 2021 | Crisis | Reeva |
| 2021 | Ali & Ava | Runa |
| 2024 | A Real Pain | Priya Kaplan |
| TBA | Cold Storage | Abigail |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Spooks | Aala Hall | 1 episode |
| 2014 | The Suspicions of Mr Whicher | Miss Khan / Zeenat Jabour | Episode: "Beyond the Pale" |
| 2015 | DCI Banks | Nafeesah Kamel | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Indian Summers | Sita | 9 episodes (series 1) |
| 2016 | Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands | Vishka | 12 episodes |
| 2017 | Broadchurch | Nira | 1 episode |
| 2018–2020 | The Split | Maggie Lavelle | 12 episodes (series 1–2) |
| 2019 | Dark Money | Dr Emily Watkins | Episode: "The Valiant One" |
| 2021 | The Nevers | Knitter | Episode: "True" |
| 2021 | On the Edge | Maia | Episode: "Cradled" |
| 2022 | Infiniti | Reva | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Grantchester | Maya | 3 episodes (series 7) |
| 2023 | The Gold | Sienna Rose | 5 episodes |
| 2024 | House of the Dragon | Kat |
| 2025 | Silent Witness | Claire Steadman | 1 episode, 2 parts (series 28) |

## Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2016 | Boys Will Be Boys | Priya Sengupta | Bush Theatre, London |
| 2017 | The Treatment | The Maid | Almeida Theatre, London |
| 2018 | All's Well That Ends Well | Helena | Shakespeare's Globe, London |
| 2018 | The Two Noble Kinsmen | Emilia | Shakespeare's Globe, London |
| 2018 | Votes for Women | Jean Dunbarton | National Theatre, London |
| 2024 | Look Back in Anger | Alison Porter | Almeida Theatre, London |
| 2024 | Roots | Pearl Bryant | Almeida Theatre, London |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
| 2019 | Ian Charleson Awards | Ian Charleson Awards | The Two Noble Kinsmen | Nominated | |
| 2021 | British Independent Film Awards | Breakthrough Performance | In the Earth | Nominated | |