Childhood & Early Life
Natalia Gastiain Tena was born on November 1, 1984, in London. Her father, Jesus Andrew Gastiain, is a carpenter. Her mother, Maria Gastiain, was an ‘Extremaduran’ secretary. Her family is of Spanish descent. Tena can speak fluent Spanish.
Tena attended the ‘Bedales School.’ Her family was musically inclined. Since the age of 5, Tena started taking piano lessons from her mother. She was greatly influenced by American singer Chuck Berry.
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Career
In the early days of her career, Tena worked with the theater group ‘KneeHigh.’ While working there, she learned to play the accordion. Later, she performed at the ‘London Underground.’
In 2002, Tena made her debut in movies. She was cast as ‘Ellie’ in the comedy–drama movie ‘About a Boy.’ Tena attended the audition on the insistence of her teacher. Her character, ‘Ellie,’ was the girlfriend of one of the protagonists. It marked the beginning of her acting career.
The following year, Tena took up acting as her full-time profession. In 2004, she performed as ‘Hazel’ in the play ‘Gone to Earth.’ In 2005, she performed as ‘Cathy’ in the play ‘Bronte.’ In 2005, she performed small characters in movies such as ‘The Fine Art of Love’ and ‘Mrs. Henderson Presents.’ In 2006, Tena performed as ‘Fevvers’ in the play ‘Nights at the Circus.’
In 2007, Tena bagged one of the most prominent characters in her acting career. She was chosen to portray ‘Nymphadora Tonks’ in the movie ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.’ The movie was based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. This was the fifth of ‘Harry Potter’ series of movies. ‘Nymphadora’ was depicted as a character that was clumsy in handling her spells. She worked as a spy for the ‘Order in the Ministry.’ Tena performed brilliantly and was seen in the sequels of the movie, too.
The year 2009 saw Tena performing as ‘Nymphadora Tonks’ in the movie ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.’ In the subsequent years, she was seen in both part 1 and part 2 of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.’ In 2010, Tena was cast in the movie ‘Ways to Live Forever.’ She portrayed ‘Annie,’ a nurse who called herself “Dracula.”
In 2011, Tena starred in the lead role in the British movie ‘You Instead.’ It was a romantic comedy directed by David Mackenzie. The movie featured Tena as ‘Morello,’ the lead singer of an all-girl music band. The story revolved around the altercations between ‘Morello’ and another singer, ‘Adam,’ and showed them ultimately fall in love with each other.
From 2011 to 2016, Tena appeared in several episodes of the TV series ‘Game of Thrones.’ It was one of the most popular shows on ‘HBO.’ The series featured Tena as ‘Osha.’
In 2014, Tena performed in the lead role of the Spanish romantic movie ‘10,000 km.’ Tena portrayed ‘Alexandra,’ who struggled to balance her career and a long-distance relationship with her husband. Her remarkable performance in the movie won Tena the ‘Biznaga de Plata’ award at the ‘Malaga Film Festival.’ She was also nominated for the ‘Goya Award for Best New Actress.’ At the 2014 ‘SXSW Film Festival,’ Tena and her co-star David Verdaguer received the ‘Special Jury Recognition for Best Acting Duo.’
In 2015, Tena performed as the lead character, ‘Emma Oliver,’ in the series ‘The Refugees.’ In 2017, Tena performed as the protagonist, ‘Sara Morton,’ in the series ‘Wisdom of the Crowd.’ The series was canceled due to weak ratings. In 2018, Tena was seen in the series ‘Origin,’ which was aired on ‘YouTube Premium.’
Tena is the lead singer and accordionist for the music band ‘Molotov Jukebox.’ In 2014, the band released their debut album, ‘Carnival Flower.’ In 2016, they released their second album, ‘Tropical Gypsy.’
