Parminder Nagra
Biography
Parminder Nagra is a British actress who began performing with a Leicester theater company, stepping into the lead of the 1994 musical Nimai only a week into rehearsals. Born in Leicester, she moved to London and made her first stage appearance there in the pantomime Sleeping Beauty, then worked with Indian theater companies such as Tara Arts and Tamasha before moving into radio and television. Her breakthrough came as the teenage footballer Jess Bhamra in Gurinder Chadha's Bend It Like Beckham (2002), a role that brought her several awards, among them the FIFA Presidential Award. She played Areida in Ella Enchanted (2004), voiced Cassandra in Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) and later took the lead as Dr. Neela Rasgotra in the medical drama ER and as CIA agent Meera Malik in The Blacklist. From 2022 she starred in the ITV series DI Ray.
51years old
Turns 52 on October 5in 357 days
- Born Leicester
- Star sign: LibraThe sign runs September 23 to October 22
- Also credited as Parminder Kaur Nagra
Movie Career
- Films
- 7
- Career span
- 17 years2002 to 2019
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Behind the award
Nagra was nominated for and won several awards, among them the FIFA Presidential Award in 2002, and she became the first woman to receive that honor.
Getting ready for a role
Nagra took a ten-week Futebol de Salao course coached by Simon Clifford, with nine-hour-a-day workouts, and learned to curve the ball in flight for a scene in the film.
Big break
Gurinder Chadha, who wrote and directed Bend It Like Beckham, said she set up a meeting for Nagra. Chadha had recommended her to her friend Wells for the part of a new Indian character on ER.
A first
Nagra became ER's longest-serving cast member and lead actor in October 2008, once Goran Visnjic, Maura Tierney and Mekhi Phifer had left. She stayed until the penultimate episode, just before the series concluded.
Parminder Nagra movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
- Bend It Like Beckham2002 Comedy, Drama, Romanceas Jesminder 'Jess' Kaur Bhamra
IMDb rating 6.7124K votes
Worked with
Parminder Nagra shares two films with Brian George, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Brian George's page
Kevin Michael Richardson's page
John Malkovich's page
Jim Broadbent's page
Rob Paulsen's page
Vivica A. Fox's page
Susanne BierDirector, 1 film, 2018
All films by Susanne Bier
Gurinder ChadhaDirector, 1 film, 2002
All films by Gurinder Chadha
All films by Justin Baldoni
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.