The Untold Truth Of Charlie Chaplin's Granddaughter, Oona

Since making her screen debut in 2007, Oona Chaplin has gone on to have a successful acting career. Her list of credits is impressive, including a James Bond film, HBO mega-hit "Game of Thrones," and James Cameron's blockbuster "Avatar: Fire and Ash."

Beyond her achievements as an actor, Oona is the granddaughter of silent-film legend Charlie Chaplin. The marriage of her namesake grandmother, Oona O'Neill, to the comedy legend stirred up scandal due to their massive age gap. In fact, when looking back at celebrity couples with the biggest age differences, it's tough to top the generational contrast between Charlie and his fourth wife, who met when they were 53 and 18, respectively. Despite that age difference, their marriage remained a happy one for 34 years, until Charlie's death in 1977. During their marriage, the couple welcomed eight children together — including daughter Geraldine Chaplin, Oona's mother, and a successful actor in her own right. But with her daughter's "Avatar" role garnering praise, interest in Oona Chaplin's career and lineage as a talented Hollywood scion has never been greater. 

Born Oona Castilla Chaplin in Madrid, Spain, her childhood was far from typical. Her mother had decided to settle down in the Spanish capital after filming "Doctor Zhivago" there, yet the youngster also spent each year during her childhood in Switzerland, in order to attain naturalized Swiss citizenship.

Thanks to the careers of her parents — British actor Geraldine Chaplin, and Chilean cinematographer Patricio Castilla — they tended to move from place to place, following the movies upon which they worked. For a young Oona, that meant a transient and somewhat rootless existence that saw her and her parents living in various countries, including Spain, Switzerland, Cuba, Scotland, Chile, and England (she holds Spanish, British, and Swiss passports).

"I traveled a lot," Oona told the Independent. "They would ask my mother to come to Thailand for three months and say, 'Here's a couple of tickets, you can invite your family.' I don't think they do that anymore, do they? ... I was also spending a lot of time in Switzerland and in Cuba. My half-brother and sister are Cuban." Looking back on her upbringing, she feels privileged. "I'm the child of the future," she said. "I think that's the way it should be — being from millions of different places and traveling — it's the best education. I don't buy things now, I buy plane tickets."

Growing up in such a multinational environment and living in various countries shaped Oona Chaplin in various ways, including linguistically. She first learned to speak Spanish, and then French, with English being her third language. "I have this hybrid, international-school accent," she told the Independent. "I used to have a very American accent, but then being here seven years and going to RADA and having RP [received pronunciation] drilled into me, it bastardized my accent."

Being multilingual has allowed her a deeper cultural understanding when traveling, which in turn has influenced her personal philosophy. "I think it's made me a lot more compassionate as a person," she explained in an interview with Grumpy Magazine. "I have a really big appreciation for [the fact] that life is very different for people, but that we're also all the same."

The ability to express herself in different languages has made Chaplin something of a chameleon — arguably a big benefit for an actor. "For example, in Spanish it's like I have a different persona because the importance of language is that expresses the sounds of a location," she explained in an interview for the Golden Globes. Comparing Spanish to English, she pointed out that "Spanish is broader than in English, but the capacity to intellectualize something is bigger in English. Every language has its strong points, and each provides a different experience."

Given that her famous grandfather, Charlie Chaplin, had been acting since childhood, and her mother, Geraldine Chaplin, has more than 160 acting credits under her belt, it's not surprising that Oona Chaplin would gravitate toward acting, too. That interest emerged when she attended Gordonstoun, a private Scottish boarding school where some members of the British royal family received education. The school had a first-rate drama department, and Oona appeared in various productions, including Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" — in which she was costumed as her grandfather's iconic Little Tramp character. 

Despite having grown up amidst actors, she was somewhat ambivalent about becoming one herself. When she applied to university, her plans was to study economics at one of the several universities she applied to — in addition to applying to London's famed Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, aka RADA. "I caught the acting bug when I was 15, but when I was accepted into RADA, I just said, well fate has spoken, because I only applied to one drama school, and five universities," she told Wonderland.

Once she began attending RADA, that ambivalence transformed into passion. Ironically, she'd found acting to be somewhat effortless when she didn't really consider herself as an actor; once she decided to pursue it seriously, she found it more challenging upon realizing how much she wanted to excel at it. She graduated in 2007, and hit the ground running when she booked her first professional acting role that same year.

Right out of the gate, recent RADA graduate Oona Chaplin set her sights on a high-profile role by auditioning to play Strawberry Fields in "Quantum of Solace." While Daniel Craig went on to make James Bond history, vying to become a Bond Girl in Craig's second outing as 007 pitted Chaplin against numerous competitors — "me and 1,500 others," she jokingly recalled to the Independent.

The Bond Girl role ultimately went to Gemma Arterton, who'd become Chaplin's friend while they attended RADA together. While the role propelled Arterton to stardom, Chaplin did win a consolation prize, a small role as a receptionist at a desert hotel that Bond blows to smithereens. Looking back, Chaplin admitted that role was essentially a "gloried extra. My minute and a half of glory ... I brought in a beer and then I got sort of half raped and then I ran away. It was a fun five days." 

Now that she's got a few more decades of experience, playing a Bond Girl no longer held the appeal that it did at the start of her career. "It doesn't appeal to me as a concept," she told the Independent years later, but admitted appearing in a Bond film could be worth consideration. "I don't know if I would say no to it, as well," she said.

There were actors who turned down roles on "Game of Thrones" but Oona Chaplin was not among them. In fact, being cast in the crucial role of Talisa Stark, wife of Robb Stark, King in the North (played by Richard Madden), was a game-changing experience. Of course, fans who quickly grew to love her character were forced to say goodbye in Season 3, during her wedding. As it turned out, the nuptials — known as the infamous Red Wedding — had been a trap, with Talisa, Robb, his mother, and many of their soldiers massacred in a stunning act of betrayal.

Joining such a massive show, "Game of Thrones" was the biggest production Oona had experienced since "Quantum of Solace." "It felt just as big, and just as efficient," she told Winter is Coming. "Bearing in mind I'm a talking extra in 'Quantum,' and I didn't taste the full enchilada of life on set, I can say the care and love that the 'GoT' team have for every detail was equal to what I saw on 007, and probably not as well paid."

As Chaplin recalled when interviewed for the Golden Globes, she knew from the get-go that her character was destined to die, but wasn't told precisely how it would happen. "So I would spend days praying for a spectacular death. And so it happened," she said.

Growing up in Madrid, Oona Chaplin gravitated toward dance at an early age, training in ballet, flamenco, and salsa. "I've been salsa dancing since I was a toddler," she told The Telegraph, revealing that her "perfect weekend" would consist of salsa dancing until the wee hours of the morning. 

As an accomplished flamenco dancer, the cultural heritage she experienced from her childhood in Spain continued to resonate. "I was born in Spain, I make the Castilian 'th' sound [for the 's' sound], I like flamenco and chorizo, but I'm not Spanish," she told Spain's El País of her multinational upbringing. "Nor am I Chilean or Romani ... I'm all those pieces that have scattered around the world."

During the interview, she expressed her desire for an acting project that would allow her to spend time in Spain. "It's very important to me that my daughter lives in Spain and speaks Spanish. Doing a project there would be a way for her to experience that culture," she said, "but ultimately I go where I'm wanted and where the stories flow with the current of my life."

During her two seasons on "Game of Thrones," Oona Chaplin met co-star Natalia Tena, who portrayed wildling warrior Osha. Tena appeared in several "Harry Potter" movies, and is also considered among the "Mandalorian" actors who are stunning offscreen. The two women clicked, and became fast friends whose bond continued after the show ended. 

"Oona's my wife in real life," Tena quipped when interviewed for IndieWire. "We met on 'Game of Thrones.' She's been one of my best friends since the moment I met her. I was like, 'This woman is my team.'" Chaplin confirmed the tightness of their friendship, referring to Tena as "one of my best, best friends."

In 2017, the two friends teamed up for the indie film "Anchor and Hope," in which they played a same-sex couple. That certainly put a new spin on their existing friendship, particularly when the script called for them to engage in a sex scene. "Having to do a sex scene with one of your closest friends — regardless of their gender — is always going to be like, 'Mmm, I'm not sure about this!'" Tena observed when interviewed by Curve. However, when the two finally did get down to business, any awkwardness was quickly eclipsed by the silliness of two good friends clowning around. "But actually, on the day, we f***ing laughed so much," Tena added.

In addition to bestie Natalia Tena, another familiar face alongside Oona Chaplin when filming "Anchor and Hope" was her mother, Geraldine Chaplin. After making her screen debut in "Limelight" — the 1952 film written, directed, and starring her father, Charlie Chaplin — Geraldine Chaplin went on to appear in such films as "Doctor Zhivago," the 1967 James Bond comedy "Casino Royale," "The Three Musketeers," "Nashville," and many others. Geraldine also portrayed the scandalous Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Simpson, in "The Crown" on Netflix.

Of course, "Anchor and Hope" wasn't the only time Oona Chaplin and her mother have been co-stars. They also appeared in the 2008 drama "Inconceivable," the 2009 horror "Imago Mortis," and the 2011 Spanish comedy "¿Para qué sirve un oso?"

For Oona, being able to act alongside her accomplished mother has brought their relationship full circle, given that she grew up on her mom's film sets. In addition to learning from her mother's example as an actor, Oona has also taken cues from how she conducts herself professionally. "She has the biggest ever sense of humor," she told Radio Times. "Also, she is able to laugh at herself while at the same time taking whatever she's involved in very seriously indeed. From what she has told me about my grandfather, I think he was very similar in that respect."

The legacy of her iconic grandfather continues to loom large in Oona Chaplin's life, yet Charlie Chaplin remains more of a mythic figure to her than a familial one. That's understandable, given that by the time she was born, her grandfather had been dead for nearly a decade, having died in 1977 at the age of 88. 

"When people say 'Charlie Chaplin' I still think now of the guy in the mustache and bowler hat and funny walk — I don't think of an old man who was my grandfather," she told the Independent. "I never met him, which probably adds to the confusion. There are moments, even now, when I sort of go 'Whoa ... my blood has some of that in it?' It's amazing, but it kind of freaks me out sometimes."

Speaking with Radio Times, Chaplin conceded that her lineage "is what it is," and she's come to appreciate her grandfather's immense contribution to cinema. "I am, and have always been, a great fan of his," she declared. Despite having never met her grandfather, she believes that he would be impressed by her own accomplishments as an actor. "I hope he would have been proud," she said, adding, "I think he would have been."

Among the nepo babies who have been open about their struggles, Oona Chaplin has been candid about carrying the weight of her family name. That weight is not inconsiderable given her mother Geraldine Chaplin is an award-winning actor, her grandfather Charlie Chaplin was a silent-film icon, and her great-grandfather Eugene O'Neill wrote such classic plays as "The Iceman Cometh" and "Long Day's Journey Into Night."

"It's a name that I sort of strive to carry with pride, and honor," Chaplin told Wonderland. "I'm very proud of my family; it's an incredible reminder of what one can do with one life, the ability to [make] films beyond entertainment and touching so many people. It's a great inspiration to have, so yeah I mean I really enjoy it, and sometimes I wake up and I can't quite believe it!"

However, there was a time at the start of Oona's acting career when she gave serious consideration to changing her name, in order to place some distance between herself and her famous lineage. "It's been a journey to feel deserving, because I know that doors have opened for me that potentially wouldn't have opened if I wasn't associated with this brilliant man," she told The Times, adding that she'd transformed her attitude "from guilt to gratitude by working really hard and knowing that whatever I do is never going to compare to what my grandfather did." 

While Oona Chaplin's connection to her famous forebears have been widely publicized, there's another aspect that's less known yet no less fascinating. Her paternal grandmother, Hilda Valderrama, was something of a legendary figure in her native Chile, an Indigenous woman who became a lawyer during an era when Chilean women were still fighting for basic human rights, let alone equality. "My grandmother was of Mapuche heritage, but didn't practice the Mapuche culture because, like many indigenous people at the time, she and her family had to make the decision to hide and distance themselves from their traditions to survive the cultural genocide that was very real," Chaplin told Remezcla. 

As she dug into her family history in Chile, on her father's side, Chaplin was amazed at what she learned about her grandmother, who'd co-founded the Human Rights Commission during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. "She was a woman of integrity and complexity, I'm so proud of having that lineage," Chaplin declared. 

To understand her heritage even more, Chaplin did some extensive traveling throughout Chile, especially through the Biobío Region in southern Chile, homeland of the Mapuche people. "For me it has been a beautiful journey to reconnect with my Mapuche side," she added. "I've been investigating about the culture, especially the music, which is a world treasure."

"Game of Thrones" may arguably have been the biggest production in which Oona Chaplin had ever been involved, until she was cast in "Avatar: Fire and Ash." In the third film in James Cameron's massively successful film franchise, Chaplin portrayed Varang, a Na'vi leader of the warlike Mangkwan clan. The first digital character she had ever played, it's safe to say that Varang was unlike any other role Oona had ever taken on. 

After starring in the 2022 miniseries "Treason," Chaplin had stepped away from acting to focus on motherhood. "I've been really dedicated to being a mom for the past two-and-a-half years, and I didn't want to work," she told The Hollywood Reporter. However, the opportunity to work with Cameron was too tempting to pass up. "It was one of the most surreal moments of my life," the actor said of auditioning for the famed director. "He's one of my heroes ... I was very starstruck."

In a technical sense, Chaplin herself doesn't appear in the film — rather, it's her avatar that's seen onscreen, the result of the actor's movements captured and translated to a digital image. "The experience is completely different because your body is being filmed from every angle," she told El País. "None of the usual filmmaking worries — the lighting, the hair, the shot — matter. There's only the actor, their imagination, and the truth of the moment. I hadn't felt that freedom since working in theater."