From ‘Polite Society’ to ‘Barbie,’ Ritu Arya Is Showing Her Range
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For Ritu Arya, 2023 has proven to be a bit of a whirlwind. In January, she was in Park City, Utah, for her first Sundance premiere, and spring brought her back to her “second home” of Toronto to film the final season of “Umbrella Academy.” This summer, Arya will appear in Greta Gerwig’s hotly anticipated film “Barbie” — and recently jumped on the Instagram meme bandwagon with a tribute to her “Umbrella” character Lila: “This Barbie is a time traveler who kills people.”
Earlier this month, Arya was taking a weekend trip to New York to attend the premiere of “Polite Society,” which debuted at Sundance and is being released theatrically by Focus Features. The slick action-comedy was directed by Nida Manzoor, who Arya previously worked with on projects including short film “Lady Parts,” which was later turned into a sitcom, and an episode of “Doctor Who.”
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“Anything she’s doing, I’m so excited to be on board,” says Arya of the emerging director.
“Polite Society” costars Priya Kansara as a British-Pakistani teenage aspiring stuntwoman who idolizes her older sister (portrayed by Arya), an art school dropout who gets engaged to a charismatic doctor. Worried that her sister is in danger of giving up her dream of being an artist, the young martial artist decides to save her older sister from her impending marriage.
“The script was really funny and exciting, full of action and its own unique tone,” says Arya, adding that she hadn’t seen many other martial art-centric films led by South Asian women. “There was so much female empowerment — and also the story is a love story of sisters. It ticked so many boxes for me.”
Arya grew up acting in school plays and watching Bollywood films, cultivating an “obsession” with Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan. Although she knew that she wanted to be an actor from a young age, it wasn’t until the end of her university experience that she decided to pursue a career in the arts. “I didn’t know anyone in the arts, no one in my family, so I didn’t have a clear line of sight for it,” she adds.
While earning an astrophysics degree from University of Southampton in the U.K., she joined her college’s comedy society and attended the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. After graduation, she went on to study at the Oxford School of Drama, and eventually landed a role on the British soap opera “Doctors.”
She’ll next appear in Gerwig’s “Barbie” film, out in July. “It has been such a dream to work with Greta; she’s one of my favorite directors. If she wanted me to come and open the door, I’d be like, ‘I’m on board,’” says Arya. “It was an amazing atmosphere on set. I had a lovely time. I thought Margot [Robbie] was so wonderful to work with, too. I’m just really excited for everyone to see the movie.”
In the meantime, she’s processing the bittersweet end of “Umbrella Academy.” She has a little over a month of filming left for the final season of the popular sci-fi Netflix series.
“I don’t want ‘Umbrella’ to end. I actually had a bit of a cry this morning in a coffee shop thinking it’s gonna end, and I’m not ready to let go,” she says. “But all good things come to an end, and I’m sure the next thing will be amazing. But I don’t know what that is yet.”
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