Who Is Tala Durith in Obi-Wan Kenobi: Meet Indira Varma’s New Character!

Obi-Wan Kenobi is slowly becoming a vital addition to the lore of George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise. Now, while most of the story simply fills in the holes between Episodes III and IV, the story has also introduced us to some new characters and new concepts. Among the former, a seemingly evil, yet surprisingly helpful character was introduced in Episode 3 of the series. Her name is Tala Durith and she was played by actress Indira Varma. In this article, we are going to tell you everything we know about Tala Durith.
Tala Durith was a human female Imperial officer stationed on Mapuzo. Although she initially joined the Galactic Empire to try to make a difference and do good, she soon became disillusioned and eventually saw the tyranny she was part of. She then secretly became a member of an underground movement that helped smuggle surviving Jedi to safety. She attempted to help Obi-Wan Kenobi return Leia Organa to her home planet of Alderaan.
The rest of this article is going to focus on both Indira Varma, as we are going to tell you about her career, and her role in Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re going to find out all the details about her role, as well as the character’s story in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries. Be careful, though, as we are going to reveal a lot of spoilers in the upcoming paragraphs.
Who is Tala Durith in Obi-Wan Kenobi?
When Tala joined the Empire, she believed in the ideals of the New Order, but when she realized what the Empire really stood for, it was too late. Tala continued to serve as an Officer, but joined The Path, a network that aided enemies of the Empire, including fugitive Jedi. One of the Jedi Tala met was Quinlan Vos. In 9 BBY, she rescued Obi-Wan Kenobi and Leia Organa after being held at gunpoint by stormtroopers at a checkpoint.
Tala was late for the appointment but luckily had followed them. In town, she led Obi-Wan and Leia to the hallways of The Path, but when the Inquisitors and Darth Vader landed, Obi-Wan Vader tried to hold them. Leia and Tala hurried to a ship that flew to Jabiim. But Tala was worried and Leia went on alone. For example, Tala was able to help Obi-Wan after his duel against Vader. However, the Third Sister had arrived at the ship earlier and was waiting for Leia.
Tala Durith is a new character that has appeared in the third episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi. She will certainly appear in more episodes of the series and we are going to find out more details about her character. The last we saw her, she helped Obi-Wan escape Darth Vader.
Who is Indira Varma?
Indira Varma is a British-Swiss actress, born September 27, 1973, in Bath (England). She became known internationally when Kama Sutra: A Love Story was released in 1997, in which she played Maya, alongside Sarita Choudhury and Naveen Andrews. Indira Varma has alternated appearances in films like Bride and Prejudice and Basic Instinct. She appeared in several television series such as Rome, Human Target, Luther, and Game of Thrones.
Indira Anne Varma was born on September 27, 1973 in Bath, South West England. She is the daughter of an Indian father and a French-speaking Swiss mother, of Italian origin (more precisely Genoese). She was a member of the Musical Youth Theater Company and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London in 1995.
In 1997, she made her film debut with Kama Sutra: A Love Story by Mira Nair, which made her known to the general public. She went on very quickly with many roles like in Bride and Prejudice (2004) by Gurinder Chadha, adapted from the novel by Jane Austen, but especially on British television, in series and TV movies.
Indira Varma currently lives in Hornsey, a district of London, with her husband Colin Tierney and their daughter Evelyn. Her acting credits include:
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1996 | Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love | Maya | |
1997 | Clancy’s Kitchen | Kitty | |
1997 | Sixth Happiness | Amy | |
1998 | Jinnah | Rattanbai “Ruttie” Jinnah | |
2002 | Mad Dogs | Narendra | |
2004 | Rover’s Return | Zeta | Short film |
2004 | Bride and Prejudice | Kiran Balraj | |
2006 | Basic Instinct 2 | Denise Glass | |
2007 | Sex and Death 101 | Devon Sever | Uncredited |
2013 | Mindscape | Judith Morrow | |
2014 | Exodus: Gods and Kings | High Priestess | |
2015 | Silent Hours | Dr. Catherine Benson | |
2016 | Una | Sonia | |
2018 | Close | Rima | |
2019 | Official Secrets | Shami Chakrabarti | |
2020 | The One and Only Ivan | Dr. Maya Wilson | |
2021 | Crisis | Madira Brower | |
2023 | Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One | Post-production |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1996 | Crucial Tales | Manreet | Episode: “Phoenix” |
1999 | Psychos | Martine Nichol | Miniseries; 6 episodes |
2000 | Other People’s Children | Amy | Unknown episodes |
2000–2001 | Attachments | Sasha | 4 episodes |
2001 | In a Land of Plenty | Sonali Ganatra | 4 episodes |
2001 | The Whistle-Blower | Diane Crossman | TV film |
2002–2010 | Arena | Various characters | 2 episodes |
2003 | Rockface | Alison | Episode: “2.5” |
2003 | The Canterbury Tales | Meena | Episode: “The Sea Captain’s Tale” |
2003 | Reversals | Kathy Irwin | TV film |
2004 | Donovan | Cara Mathis | Unknown episodes |
2005 | The Quatermass Experiment | Judith Carroon | TV film |
2005 | Love Soup | Suzanne Daley | Episode: “They Do Not Move” |
2005 | A Waste of Shame | Lucie, the Dark Lady | TV film |
2005 | Broken News | Melanie Bellamy | 6 episodes |
2005 | Little Britain | Various characters | 3 episodes |
2005–2007 | Rome | Niobe Vorena | 15 episodes |
2006 | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Melissa Booth | Episode: “In the Blink of an Eye” |
2006 | Torchwood | Suzie Costello | 2 episodes |
2006 | 3 lbs | Adrianne Holland | 6 episodes |
2007 | The Whistleblowers | Alisha Cole | 6 episodes |
2008 | Comanche Moon | Therese Wanz | Episode: “1.2” |
2008 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Bela Khan | Episode: “Assassin” |
2008 | Bones | Inspector Cate Pritchard | Episode: “The Yanks in the U.K.: Parts 1 & 2” |
2009 | Inside the Box | Catherine Powell | TV film |
2009 | Moses Jones | Dolly | 3 episodes |
2010 | Hustle | D.C.I. Lucy Britford | 2 episodes |
2010 | Luther | Zoe Luther | 7 episodes |
2010–2011 | Human Target | Ilsa Pucci | 13 episodes |
2012 | Silk | George Duggan | 6 episodes |
2012 | Hunted | Natalie Thorpe | 5 episodes |
2012 | World Without End | Mattie Wise | 2 episodes |
2013 | What Remains | Elaine Markham | 4 episodes |
2014–2017 | Game of Thrones | Ellaria Sand | 13 episodes Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2016) |
2016 | New Blood | Lisa Douglas | 2 episodes |
2016 | Paranoid | Nina Suresh | 8 episodes |
2017 | Unspeakable | Jo | TV Film |
2018 | Patrick Melrose | Anne Moore | Miniseries; 3 episodes |
2018–present | Reported Missing | Narrator | Documentary series; 2 series, 8 episodes |
2019–present | Carnival Row | Piety Breakspear | Series regular; 8 episodes |
2019 | This Way Up | Charlotte | Series regular; 5 episodes |
2020–2021 | For Life | Safiya Masry | Series regular |
2020–present | Spitting Image | Priti Patel | Series regular |
2022–present | The Legend of Vox Machina | Lady Allura Vysoren (voice) | |
2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Tala | Disney+ limited series |
TBA | Extrapolations | Gita Mishra | Upcoming series |