Gana Bayarsaikhan

Gana Bayarsaikhan is a Mongolian actress and model known for her role as "the girl" in the 2019 film Waiting for the Barbarians and as Tuva Olsen in the 2020 Sky TV series Intelligence.

Early life and career

Bayarsaikhan was born and raised in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She started her career as a model, and has appeared in Schön magazine. After finishing drama training, she took a coaching programme to help her accept her own speech and accent for auditions.

Bayarsaikhan made her screen acting debut as the android Jade in the 2015 film Ex Machina alongside Domhnall Gleeson. and secured small roles as Khutu in Ben-Hur (2016) and in Wonder Woman (2017).

Bayarsaikhan became the first Mongolian actress ever to play a lead role in a Hollywood movie when she was cast as "the girl" in the 2019 film Waiting for the Barbarians, and premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on 6 September 2019, to which Bayarsaikhan attended. Director Ciro Guerra described how Bayarsaikhan and the other 14 Mongolian actors

Bayarsaikhan plays Tuva Olsen, a main character in the 2020 Sky TV series Intelligence, alongside David Schwimmer and Nick Mohammed. Series 2 of Intelligence was released in 2021.

Filmography

Film

Television YearTitleRoleNotes2019 Peaky Blinders Li 1 episode ("The Loop")2020-2021 Intelligence Tuva Olsen Main role - 12 episodes 2021 Queens of Mystery Yetao 2 episodes - Modern Art of Murder 1 & 22022 Documentary Now Masho 2 episodes - Soldier of Illusion, Parts 1 & 2