Stage actress Talia Palamathanan picked up the Best Newcomer honour at the 2025 Asian Media Awards.
Journalists and broadcasters joined actors and presenters at the 12th ceremony, which celebrates achievements in a range of categories in TV, radio, stage, online and creative media.
The ceremony is supported by the University of Salford and took place at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Friday October 25.
Talia is already making strides for South Asian talent in Musical Theatre at just 22 years of age.
Raised in Bromley, Talia attended local dance classes at the Laura Bruce Dance Academy which helped her first hit the West End stage at the age of 11, in Matilda the Musical. This life changing experience cemented her love for performing and she went on to train full time at The Brit School.
Talia is an ambassador for the Movement Tired project, an organisation dedicated to improving race equality within the Arts and she is particularly vocal about the lack of South Asian representation in Musical Theatre, as well as using her platform to advocate for social issues affecting the Asian community.
Talia is currently starring as Jennifer Parker in West End’s ‘Back to the Future’. Most recently, Talia portrayed the role of Pritti Pasha and the Dance Captain in the hit musical ‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie’ in the 2023/2024 UK Tour, after being promoted from the ensemble in the previous tour.
Reviews described her as ‘empowering and moving” with ‘depth, understanding and considerable sly humour’, and ‘the performance of the night’.
Talia has appeared in a number of other productions including, Pump Up The Volume, Cages: The Musical, Soho Dreams and Donmar Warehouse’s Teenage Dick.
Along with appearing in the film version of ‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie’ and has TV credits including, Big Night of the Musicals, The Late Late Show with James Corden, CBBC’s Hank Zipzer and Children in Need
Talia future aspirations are to continue to champion Asian representation in the industry, both on stage and behind the scenes, and hopes to see new South Asian musicals hit the stage.
