# Tiya Sircar
**Tiya Sircar** (born 1982) is an American actress of Indian descent known for voicing [Sabine Wren](https://www.edgepedia.org/sabine-wren) in the animated series *Star Wars Rebels* (2014–2018), playing Vicky and the "Real Eleanor" on NBC's *The Good Place*, and starring as Rooni Schuman in the ABC comedy *Alex, Inc.* (2018).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) She was born in [Tarrant County, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/tarrant-county-texas), and raised in [Arlington](https://www.edgepedia.org/arlington).[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tiya_sircar) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1982, Tarrant County, Texas; raised in Arlington[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tiya_sircar) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) |
| Signature voice role | Sabine Wren, the Mandalorian weapons expert on *Star Wars Rebels*, 54 episodes, 2014–2018[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar) |
| *The Good Place* | Vicky / the Real Eleanor / Denise, 19 episodes, 2016–2020; Entertainment Weekly called her the series' "Scene Stealer"[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) |
| Lead TV roles | Rooni Schuman on *Alex, Inc.* (2018, 10 episodes); Pritti Patel on *The Fugitive* (2020, 9 episodes); Fiona on *Guilty Party* (2021, 7 episodes)[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar) |
| Film | Neha in *The Internship* (2013); Samantha in *17 Again* (2009); Lily Prasad in *Miss India America* (2015)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tiya_sircar) |
| Education | Two bachelor's degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, in Business/Marketing and Theater & Dance[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) |
| Family | Parents Arpana Majumdar and Sumit Sircar, both college professors originally from Kolkata, India; she speaks Bengali[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) |
## Early life and training
Sircar grew up in [Arlington, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/arlington-texas), in a family of academics. Her parents, originally from Calcutta (Kolkata), India, are both college professors who encouraged her interest in the arts from an early age.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) She began dancing at age three, starting with Indian classical and folk dance and adding ballet, jazz, lyrical, and modern styles.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) She took her first acting class at age seven and later described acting as her calling from that point.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/)
At the [University of Texas at Austin](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-texas-at-austin) she earned two bachelor's degrees, one in Business/[Marketing](https://www.edgepedia.org/marketing) and one in Theater & Dance, then moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting professionally.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/)
## Television career
**Early guest roles.** Sircar's screen career began with the short film *Heavenly Beauties* (2005), in which she played an Indian dancer, followed by the direct-to-DVD vampire film *The Insatiable* (2006).[4](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/tiya-sircar-48610.php) Through the late 2000s she accumulated single-episode and recurring appearances across network television, including *NCIS*, *House*, *Hannah Montana*, *The Suite Life on Deck*, *Moonlight*, *Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles*, *Numb3rs*, *Privileged*, *Greek*, and *The Vampire Diaries*.[4](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/tiya-sircar-48610.php) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/person/tiya-sircar/)
**The Good Place and Alex, Inc.** On NBC's *The Good Place* (2016–2020), Sircar appeared in 19 episodes in multiple shifting roles opposite [Kristen Bell](https://www.edgepedia.org/kristen-bell) and [Ted Danson](https://www.edgepedia.org/ted-danson), playing characters ranging from an altruistic human rights lawyer to a power-hungry demon; [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly) dubbed her the series' "Scene Stealer."[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) • [3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar) In 2018 she starred as Rooni Schuman in ABC's *Alex, Inc.*, playing the wife of Zach Braff's character in a series based on the podcast *StartUp*; the role ran 10 episodes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) • [3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar) In interviews about the show she highlighted the portrayal of a multicultural family on primetime network television as part of a broader shift toward minority representation in Hollywood.[6](https://www.tvgrapevine.com/actress-tiya-sircar-talks-to-tvgrapevine/)
**Streaming-era leads.** Sircar starred as Pritti Patel in the 2020 remake of *The Fugitive* (9 episodes) and as Fiona in the [Paramount+](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount) series *Guilty Party* (2021, 7 episodes) opposite [Kate Beckinsale](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-beckinsale), with a guest role as Siya Chaudhary in *Station Eleven* (2021) and as Jennifer #1 in *The Afterparty* (2022).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) • [3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar) She also appeared as Fiona Byrne in two episodes of *Supergirl* in 2018.[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar)
## Voice acting and Star Wars Rebels
Sircar's most prominent voice role is Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian warrior and graffiti artist, on the [Disney XD](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-xd) animated series *Star Wars Rebels* (2014–2018), in which she voiced the character across 54 episodes.[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar) • [7](https://www.starwars.com/news/tiya-sircar-on-sabines-star-wars-rebels-journey) She also voiced Sabine in the short-form series *Star Wars: Forces of Destiny* and the television film *Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion* (2014).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tiya_sircar)
In a 2017 StarWars.com interview, Sircar described the season three episode "Trials of the Darksaber" as a gift from executive producer [Dave Filoni](https://www.edgepedia.org/dave-filoni), an emotional depth she said voice actors rarely get to explore; for that episode she and [Freddie Prinze Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/freddie-prinze-jr) recorded separately from the full cast to work through the material.[7](https://www.starwars.com/news/tiya-sircar-on-sabines-star-wars-rebels-journey) When the character moved to live action in the Disney+ series *Ahsoka*, the role was played by [Natasha Liu Bordizzo](https://www.edgepedia.org/natasha-liu-bordizzo) rather than Sircar.[8](https://www.cinemablend.com/star-wars/star-wars-rebels-writer-explains-making-sabine-wren-jedi-ahsoka-weak-retread)
Her other voice credits include *The Simpsons*, *American Dad!*, *Robot Chicken*, *Phineas and Ferb*, *Young Justice*, and the Netflix/DreamWorks series *Spirit Riding Free*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/person/tiya-sircar/) She has described voice acting as requiring a different skill set from on-camera work, since all of a character's nuance must be conveyed through the voice alone.[6](https://www.tvgrapevine.com/actress-tiya-sircar-talks-to-tvgrapevine/)
## Film work
Sircar's film roles include Samantha in the Zac Efron comedy *17 Again* (2009), a part in *Friends with Benefits* (2011), Neha Patel in the 20th Century Fox comedy *The Internship* (2013) opposite Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, a voice role as Juniper in the animated *Walking with Dinosaurs 3D* (2013), and the lead as Lily Prasad in the independent comedy *Miss India America* (2015).[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tiya_sircar) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/) For *Miss India America*, in which she played a driven Indian American woman with her life charted in a detailed plan, she said the role was a change from the "ethnically ambiguous" parts she usually received, because it let her explore South Asian family dynamics on screen.[9](https://kamlashow.com/2015/04/16/video-hollywood-actor-tiya-sircar/)
## Representation and typecasting
Sircar has spoken repeatedly about the casting barriers she faced as an Indian American actress. In a 2013 interview with The Aerogram around the release of *The Internship*, she explained that decision makers often considered her "too Americanized" to play characters from India, while she was also rarely cast in explicitly Indian roles; she said she frequently played "ethnically ambiguous" characters, which she noted had the advantage of more frequent work even as Hollywood's South Asian presence remained limited.[10](https://theaerogram.com/qa-with-the-internships-tiya-sircar-hollywood-has-a-long-way-to-go/) In a 2018 Hindustan Times interview, she recalled being rejected for not being "Indian enough" and said that her casting as Rooni in *Alex, Inc.* changed the character's ethnicity while keeping the rest of the role intact, a shift she connected to a broader industry move toward writing characters around the actor rather than around an ethnic mold.[11](https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/drop-that-accent-now-you-re-a-real-indian/story-W4EpVbfLphe39YXcsmBh6L.html) She credited the emergence of Mindy Kaling and Aziz Ansari with beginning the change in how Indian characters were written for American television.[12](https://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/how-to-be-south-asian-in-america/story-uT4ibjGdI2Khujh2i28wfJ.html)
## Recognition
Sircar received a 2015 Special Jury Prize for Best Actress in a Narrative Feature for *Miss India America*, and was nominated for Behind the Voice Actors awards in 2015 and 2018 for her ensemble and lead voice work on *Star Wars Rebels*, as well as a 2018 Gold Derby TV Award nomination for Ensemble of the Year.[13](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tiya-sircar/bio/3000313061/)
## References
1. [Tiya Sircar Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1587188/bio/)
2. [Tiya Sircar Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tiya_sircar)
3. [Tiya Sircar, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/6872/tiya-sircar)
4. [Tiya Sircar Biography, The Famous People](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/tiya-sircar-48610.php)
5. [Tiya Sircar, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/tiya-sircar/)
6. [Actress Tiya Sircar Talks to TVGrapevine](https://www.tvgrapevine.com/actress-tiya-sircar-talks-to-tvgrapevine/)
7. [Tiya Sircar on Sabine's Star Wars Rebels Journey, StarWars.com](https://www.starwars.com/news/tiya-sircar-on-sabines-star-wars-rebels-journey)
8. [Star Wars Rebels Writer on Sabine as a Jedi in Ahsoka, CinemaBlend](https://www.cinemablend.com/star-wars/star-wars-rebels-writer-explains-making-sabine-wren-jedi-ahsoka-weak-retread)
9. [Video: Hollywood Actor Tiya Sircar, The Kamla Show](https://kamlashow.com/2015/04/16/video-hollywood-actor-tiya-sircar/)
10. [Q&A With 'The Internship's' Tiya Sircar, The Aerogram](https://theaerogram.com/qa-with-the-internships-tiya-sircar-hollywood-has-a-long-way-to-go/)
11. [Drop that accent! now you're a real Indian, Hindustan Times](https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/drop-that-accent-now-you-re-a-real-indian/story-W4EpVbfLphe39YXcsmBh6L.html)
12. [How to be South Asian in America, Hindustan Times](https://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/how-to-be-south-asian-in-america/story-uT4ibjGdI2Khujh2i28wfJ.html)
13. [Tiya Sircar Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tiya-sircar/bio/3000313061/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Sh to So*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license