Vivian Oparah

Vivian Nneka O. Oparah (born 30 December 1996) is a British actress and musician. She is known for her work in theatre, earning an Off West End Award nomination, and her roles in the BBC Three Doctor Who spin-off Class (2016) and the film Rye Lane (2023). 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. For her performance, she was nominated for Best Supporting Female in a Play at Off West End Theatre Awards. In 2018, Oparah reprised her role as Tanya in six audio plays by Big Finish and made her feature film debut in Teen Spirit.