Ritu Arya (born 17 September 1988) is an Indian orgin English actress. She first became known for her role as Megan Sharma in the soap opera Doctors (2017), for which she was nominated for a British Soap Award. She gained further recognition for her roles as Flash in the sci-fi series Humans (2016–2018) and Lila Pitts in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy (2019–present). Her films include Polite Society (2023).

Early life

Ritu Arya's mother and father both work in real estate. She is of Indian descent and has two brothers, Romi and Rahul, the latter of whom is also an actor. Arya began acting as a teenager. Arya obtained a BSc in astrophysics from the University of Southampton, where she performed as part of the Southampton University Theatre Group and Comedy Society including multiple shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She subsequently trained at the Oxford School of Drama.

Career

Following a series of roles in short films, Arya played the recurring role of Dr. Megan Sharma in the British soap opera ''Doctors'', for which she was nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer in 2017. She had a guest appearance in the series ''Sherlock'' in 2014, and later had a recurring role as the android Flash in the series ''Humans'' from 2016 to 2018. In 2019, Arya appeared as Jenna in the film ''Last Christmas'', which was a commercial success. The following year, she had a recurring role as Lava in the Netflix series ''Feel Good'' and guest starred in the series ''Doctor Who''.In 2020, Arya starred as Lila Pitts in the second series of Netflix original series ''The Umbrella Academy'', which earned her praise; she reprised the character in the series' third season, which was released in 2022. ''Bustle'' magazine described her performance in the series as "scene-stealing" and ''Uproxx'' called Arya the "wild-card" of the show. In 2021, Arya co-starred in the Netflix film ''Red Notice''. She also appeared in Greta Gerwig's ''Barbie'', which released in 2023.Arya was a drummer and part of the band KIN, who released their debut single "Sharing Light" in April 2020. Their follow-up single "L.O.V.E." premiered on 6 August 2020. On 16 October 2022, KIN released a statement saying that Arya had left the band and her last live show with them was on 14 October 2022 in London.