Vivian Oparah

Vivian Nneka O. Oparah (born 30 December 1996) is a British actress and musician. For her performance in the film Rye Lane, she won a British Independent Film Award and received a British Academy Film Award nomination. On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC Three Doctor Who spin-off Class (2016) and the Amazon Prime series Dead Hot (2024).

Early life Oparah was born in Camden and grew up in Tottenham, London. She attended The Latymer School, where she took A Levels in media, English literature, product design and biology. During her media coursework in 2014, she formed a band called NTLS along with other students. Their debut single and video Heart Skipped a Beat was uploaded by someone to YouTube. Her older brother also works in music. Oparah joined the National Youth Theatre, where she did a two-week summer course.

Career While deferring her acceptance to UCL, Oparah was cast in the BBC Three Doctor Who spin-off Class as Tanya Adeola, marking her television debut. Oparah later said that Class was her first audition. When she auditioned she only knew that the series was linked to the Doctor Who universe, but she did not imagine that it was such a big production until she got the job and started filming. During the production of the series Oparah lived in Cardiff, in the same building as actress Sophie Hopkins.

Oparah named an Emerging Talent at the 2017 Screen Nation Film and Television Awards. That same year, she starred as Minnie in the play An Octoroon at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond. She was nominated for the 2017 Offie for Best Supporting Female in a Play (An Octoroon). In 2018, Oparah reprised her role as Tanya in six audio plays by Big Finish and made her feature film debut in Teen Spirit.

In 2020, Oparah appeared in an episode of the BBC One miniseries I May Destroy You as well as the second series of the BBC Three comedy-drama Enterprice. She starred opposite David Jonsson in the romantic comedy Rye Lane, which opened at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. Also in 2023, she had a main role in the Sky Max drama Then You Run. She has an upcoming lead role opposite Bilal Hasna in the Amazon Prime comedy thriller series Dead Hot.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2018 Teen Spirit Kelli 2019 Pagans Viv Short film Signs Ade Short film 2023 Rye Lane Yas

Television Year Title Role Notes 2016 Class Tanya Adeola Main role (8 episodes) 2017 The Rebel Amaya Series regular (5 episodes) 2020 I May Destroy You Bisola Episode: "Happy Animals" Enterprice Isha 3 Episodes 2021 Intelligence Honey 1 episode 2023 Then You Run Stink 2024 Dead Hot Jess

Audio

Stage Year Title Role Notes 2017 An Octoroon Minnie Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond 2018 Fanny & Alexander Mej Old Vic, London An Octoroon Minnie Royal National Theatre (Dorfman), London

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref. 2023 British Independent Film Awards Best Joint Lead Performance (shared with David Jonsson) Rye Lane Breakthrough Performance 2024 British Academy Film Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role