Parminder Nagra
Encyclopedia
Parminder Kaur Nagra is an English
actress of India
n descent. She came to international prominence in 2002 after starring in Bend It Like Beckham
. She starred as Dr. Neela Rasgotra
in the Emmy Award
-winning American
medical drama
series ER
for six years until the series ended on 2 April 2009. She is married to photographer James Stenson, with whom she has a son, Kai David Singh Stenson, who was born on 19 May 2009.
, England
, the daughter of Punjabi
Jat Sikh
parents who immigrated to the UK from Punjab
, India
during the late 1960s. Her father, Sukha, was a factory worker who is believed to have separated from her mother, Nashuter, either when Nagra was a child shortly after or before her birth; he died in late December 2008. Nagra has two younger brothers and one younger sister. They were raised in a small terraced house in the Belgrave
district of Leicester by her mother and stepfather, who worked as a bookkeeper
at a cousin's transport company.
At the age of seven, Nagra suffered a burn
while preparing a meal on the gas stove when her trousers caught fire. She was taken into the bathroom by an uncle who immersed her in cold water. When the burned fabric was later removed, her skin attached to it was removed as well and left a resulting scar
on her right leg. The story was included into the film Bend It Like Beckham
; however, the details were changed such that her character was burned while making beans on toast and her sister was the one who removed the trousers.
, she played viola
in the youth orchestra and also appeared in her first theatrical productions. A few months after sitting her A-levels and leaving school, Nagra was approached by her former drama instructor, Jez Simons, about becoming part of the Leicester-based theatre company Hathi Productions, for which he served as the artistic director. She accepted and was cast as a chorus member in the 1994 musical Nimai presented at the Leicester Haymarket. Only a week into rehearsals, she was switched from the chorus to take the place of the lead actress, who had dropped out. Simons recalls that Nagra, while also a good singer and actress, had a quality that raised her above other actresses which led him to select her as the new lead. Nagra sometimes describes herself as having "fallen into" acting due to this unexpected turn of events.
, forgoing university to pursue a theatrical career and her childhood ambition of becoming an actress. Nagra's first London theatrical job came in 1994 when she was cast as the Princess in the pantomime Sleeping Beauty
, at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Although most critics seemed rather unimpressed with the show, Nagra's performance is notable in that she was a woman of colour portraying a traditionally white character. After Sleeping Beauty, Nagra worked with small Indian theatre companies such as Tara Arts and Tamasha. These roles eventually led to the radio and television appearances that also defined her career throughout most of the 1990s. She also appeared in "The 6th wonder of the World: the Kali Tutti Story", in 1994.
In 1996, Nagra took a small part in Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
and performed at Cottesloe, Royal National Theatre. It was there that she met Irish
actor Kieran Creggan, with whom she later moved into a flat in Kennington, south London. Their relationship continued for five years.
Although lacking formal theatrical training, Nagra signed with veteran London-based agent Joan Brown, after which she was cast in her first television roles — a bit part on the British medical drama Casualty, and a small role in the television movie King Girl, in which Nagra played an abusive member of a girls' gang. In 1997, Nagra appeared in the three-part drama Turning World, starring Roshan Seth
. The following year she appeared on Casualty for the second time. In 1999 she played the part of a convenience store clerk in the television movie Donovan Quick, starring Colin Firth
. Also of note are appearances on the British comedy show Goodness Gracious Me
. Nagra also starred in radio plays written including, amongst other, plays written by noted author and playwright Tanika Gupta
. In 1998, Nagra was part of Dancing Girls of Lahore, a radio play co-written by her future Bend It Like Beckham co-star, Shaheen Khan. In 2001, Nagra provided the voice of a Muslim
girl in Arena: The Veil, a docu-drama about women who choose to wear the Muslim head scarf. Her stage performances of this period are perhaps the most noteworthy. Not long after Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, Nagra was cast in 1997's Oh Sweet Sita, an adaptation of Indian mythology about Rama
and his wife Sita
. Starring in the title role of Sita, Nagra caught the attention of director Gurinder Chadha
.
Nagra's other notable stage roles during this period are many and include appearances in Skeleton (1997), with critical acclaim for her "bright-eyed vivacity" as the village girl; A Tainted Dawn (1997), playing a Hindu
boy accidentally left in Pakistan
and raised by a Muslim couple; Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings & A Funeral (1998), showing her skills as a romantic comedienne, also to critical acclaim; Krishna's Lila — A Play of the Asian World (1999), as part of a five-person cast in a controversially titled piece; The Square Circle (1999), tackling the demanding role of an illiterate peasant girl who becomes a rape victim; and in River on Fire (2000), as Kiran, in a retelling of Sophocles
' Antigone
.
was Nagra's breakthrough film. It was directed by British director
Gurinder Chadha and also starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher
, Shaheen Khan and Keira Knightley
, for whom this film was also a career breakthrough. In the film, Nagra plays Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra, a teenage Sikh football player who idolizes football superstar David Beckham
and defies her traditional parents to pursue her dreams of playing football.
The small-budget picture was a critical and financial success in the United Kingdom, eventually making the leap around the world and to Canada
and the U.S. where it earned over $30 million at the box office. The script, conceived by Chadha with her husband Paul Mayeda Berges and Guljit Bindra, was written with Nagra in mind. While initially indifferent to the game of football, Nagra found the football-centred story to be both funny and touching. She agreed to audition and eventually accepted the role. An intensive ten-week training course of the game Futsal
, led by noted coach Simon Clifford
, put Nagra through rigorous nine-hour-a-day workouts. Nagra learned to "bend" or curve the ball in flight, as she did in a scene in the film. In a nod to Nagra's actual life, director Chadha wrote and incorporated a scene about Nagra's scar into the film.
Nagra received critical and professional acclaim for her performance. She was nominated, and won, several awards, including the FIFA Presidential Award
(2002), the first woman to have done so.
title character, in Ella Enchanted
. In addition, Nagra took on two notable television roles for Channel 4
—as Viola/Cesario in a multicultural version of Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night, and as Heere Sharma in the two-part Anglo-Indian drama Second Generation, loosely based on the Shakespeare's King Lear
, directed by Jon Sen
and starring Om Puri
.
Although Second Generation was a ratings flop, it was a huge critical success, earning a place in The Observer
newspaper's top 10 British TV programmes of 2003. It garnered Nagra an Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy (EMMA) Award. For the role, Nagra had to muster up the courage to do some of the love scenes that she had vowed not to do as an actress. Filming the final scenes in Calcutta was Nagra's first visit to India.
for Bend It Like Beckham
, Nagra was informed by her agent that ER
producer John Wells
was interested in meeting with her. Director Gurinder Chadha claimed during a 2007 episode of BBC's Movie Connections that this meeting was her doing, because she had recommended Nagra for the role of the new Indian character in ER during a conversation with her friend Wells.
At their initial meeting, Wells made Nagra an offer to join the ensemble cast; she accepted immediately. In recalling the moment, she said, "I had to sit still and act professional, while all the time I just wanted to jump up and run around the room screaming". Not long after the meeting, Nagra signed a one-year contract that included an option for three additional years. Despite her new status, Nagra said, "I don't think Hollywood has changed me at all. The first thing I did when I arrived was buy chapati
flour and lentils".
Nagra made her first ER appearance as County General Hospital medical intern Neela Rasgotra
on 25 September 2003, in season 10's premiere episode entitled, Now What?. Wells adapted the character to suit Nagra, which was allowed to act with her own English accent in portraying the Yale
-educated Anglo-Indian Neela. Nagra would go on to appear in 21 of the season's 22 episodes, including NICU and The Student, episodes in which her character was a central player. Noah Wyle
, on announcing his departure from the series, described Nagra as "the future" of ER, and the media has concurred, anointing her as one of the show's "golden girls". From the fourth episode of ER
s 15th and final season, following the departures of Mekhi Phifer
, Maura Tierney
and Goran Visnjic
, Nagra was the longest serving cast member and star of ER
until the series concluded on 2 April 2009.
Nagra had the honour of being a torch bearer as the Olympic torch passed through London on its way to the 2004 Summer Olympics
in Athens. Nagra finished filming season 11 of ER later in 2005 and returned to her native Leicester to work on director Amit Gupta's Love in Little India in which she was cast as the female lead. She was nominated in 2006 for an Asian Excellence Award, in the category of Outstanding Female Television Performance, for her work in ER; she won the award the following year. Nagra was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctors of Letters by the University of Leicester
on 11 July 2007.
Nagra was cast as Cassandra in the DC
animated movie Batman: Gotham Knight
(2008).
performed at the reception along with John Stamos
on drums; former ER co-star and friend, Maura Tierney
officiated over the ceremony. Their son, named Kai David Singh Stenson, was born on 19 May 2009.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n descent. She came to international prominence in 2002 after starring in Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
. She starred as Dr. Neela Rasgotra
Neela Rasgotra
Dr. Neela Rasgotra is a fictional character portrayed by Parminder Nagra on the television show ER. Following the departure of Goran Visnjic, Maura Tierney, and Mekhi Phifer this left Nagra as the longest term cast member on ER and it also made her character the show's main character so, in terms...
in the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
series ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
for six years until the series ended on 2 April 2009. She is married to photographer James Stenson, with whom she has a son, Kai David Singh Stenson, who was born on 19 May 2009.
Early life
Nagra was born in LeicesterLeicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the daughter of Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
Jat Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
parents who immigrated to the UK from Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
during the late 1960s. Her father, Sukha, was a factory worker who is believed to have separated from her mother, Nashuter, either when Nagra was a child shortly after or before her birth; he died in late December 2008. Nagra has two younger brothers and one younger sister. They were raised in a small terraced house in the Belgrave
Belgrave, Leicestershire
Belgrave is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England, consisting of the Leicester suburb of Belgrave in its entirety....
district of Leicester by her mother and stepfather, who worked as a bookkeeper
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions. Transactions include sales, purchases, income, receipts and payments by an individual or organization. Bookkeeping is usually performed by a bookkeeper. Bookkeeping should not be confused with accounting. The accounting process is usually...
at a cousin's transport company.
At the age of seven, Nagra suffered a burn
Burn (injury)
A burn is a type of injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation or friction. Most burns affect only the skin . Rarely, deeper tissues, such as muscle, bone, and blood vessels can also be injured...
while preparing a meal on the gas stove when her trousers caught fire. She was taken into the bathroom by an uncle who immersed her in cold water. When the burned fabric was later removed, her skin attached to it was removed as well and left a resulting scar
Scar
Scars are areas of fibrous tissue that replace normal skin after injury. A scar results from the biological process of wound repair in the skin and other tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a natural part of the healing process. With the exception of very minor lesions, every wound results in...
on her right leg. The story was included into the film Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
; however, the details were changed such that her character was burned while making beans on toast and her sister was the one who removed the trousers.
Education and early career
Nagra attended the Northfield House Primary School in Leicester. At her comprehensive school, Soar Valley CollegeSoar Valley College
Soar Valley College is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school in Leicester, England. The school was designated a Maths and Computing specialist college in September 2004...
, she played viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
in the youth orchestra and also appeared in her first theatrical productions. A few months after sitting her A-levels and leaving school, Nagra was approached by her former drama instructor, Jez Simons, about becoming part of the Leicester-based theatre company Hathi Productions, for which he served as the artistic director. She accepted and was cast as a chorus member in the 1994 musical Nimai presented at the Leicester Haymarket. Only a week into rehearsals, she was switched from the chorus to take the place of the lead actress, who had dropped out. Simons recalls that Nagra, while also a good singer and actress, had a quality that raised her above other actresses which led him to select her as the new lead. Nagra sometimes describes herself as having "fallen into" acting due to this unexpected turn of events.
The London years
Nagra left Leicester for LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, forgoing university to pursue a theatrical career and her childhood ambition of becoming an actress. Nagra's first London theatrical job came in 1994 when she was cast as the Princess in the pantomime Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
, at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Although most critics seemed rather unimpressed with the show, Nagra's performance is notable in that she was a woman of colour portraying a traditionally white character. After Sleeping Beauty, Nagra worked with small Indian theatre companies such as Tara Arts and Tamasha. These roles eventually led to the radio and television appearances that also defined her career throughout most of the 1990s. She also appeared in "The 6th wonder of the World: the Kali Tutti Story", in 1994.
In 1996, Nagra took a small part in Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Chikamatsu Monzaemon
Chikamatsu Monzaemon was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki...
and performed at Cottesloe, Royal National Theatre. It was there that she met Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
actor Kieran Creggan, with whom she later moved into a flat in Kennington, south London. Their relationship continued for five years.
Although lacking formal theatrical training, Nagra signed with veteran London-based agent Joan Brown, after which she was cast in her first television roles — a bit part on the British medical drama Casualty, and a small role in the television movie King Girl, in which Nagra played an abusive member of a girls' gang. In 1997, Nagra appeared in the three-part drama Turning World, starring Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth is an Indian-born British actor, who appears mainly in British and American films. He is known for his critically acclaimed performances in the films Gandhi, Mississippi Masala, Not Without My Daughter, My Beautiful Laundrette, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Such a Long...
. The following year she appeared on Casualty for the second time. In 1999 she played the part of a convenience store clerk in the television movie Donovan Quick, starring Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
. Also of note are appearances on the British comedy show Goodness Gracious Me
Goodness Gracious Me (TV & radio)
Goodness Gracious Me is a BBC English language sketch comedy show originally on BBC Radio 4 and later televised on BBC Two based on four British Indian actors: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia...
. Nagra also starred in radio plays written including, amongst other, plays written by noted author and playwright Tanika Gupta
Tanika Gupta
Tanika Gupta, MBE is a British playwright of Bengali origin. Apart from her work for the theatre, she has also written scripts for television.-Background and education:...
. In 1998, Nagra was part of Dancing Girls of Lahore, a radio play co-written by her future Bend It Like Beckham co-star, Shaheen Khan. In 2001, Nagra provided the voice of a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
girl in Arena: The Veil, a docu-drama about women who choose to wear the Muslim head scarf. Her stage performances of this period are perhaps the most noteworthy. Not long after Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, Nagra was cast in 1997's Oh Sweet Sita, an adaptation of Indian mythology about Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and his wife Sita
SITA
SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...
. Starring in the title role of Sita, Nagra caught the attention of director Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha , OBE, is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the United Kingdom. She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach , Bend It Like Beckham , Bride and Prejudice and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging...
.
Nagra's other notable stage roles during this period are many and include appearances in Skeleton (1997), with critical acclaim for her "bright-eyed vivacity" as the village girl; A Tainted Dawn (1997), playing a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
boy accidentally left in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and raised by a Muslim couple; Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings & A Funeral (1998), showing her skills as a romantic comedienne, also to critical acclaim; Krishna's Lila — A Play of the Asian World (1999), as part of a five-person cast in a controversially titled piece; The Square Circle (1999), tackling the demanding role of an illiterate peasant girl who becomes a rape victim; and in River on Fire (2000), as Kiran, in a retelling of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Antigone
Antigone (Sophocles)
Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first...
.
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like BeckhamBend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
was Nagra's breakthrough film. It was directed by British director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Gurinder Chadha and also starred Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher is an Indian actor who has appeared in nearly 400 films and 100 plays. Though mainly appearing in Bollywood films, he has had roles in some films from other nations as well...
, Shaheen Khan and Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...
, for whom this film was also a career breakthrough. In the film, Nagra plays Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra, a teenage Sikh football player who idolizes football superstar David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
and defies her traditional parents to pursue her dreams of playing football.
The small-budget picture was a critical and financial success in the United Kingdom, eventually making the leap around the world and to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the U.S. where it earned over $30 million at the box office. The script, conceived by Chadha with her husband Paul Mayeda Berges and Guljit Bindra, was written with Nagra in mind. While initially indifferent to the game of football, Nagra found the football-centred story to be both funny and touching. She agreed to audition and eventually accepted the role. An intensive ten-week training course of the game Futsal
Futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...
, led by noted coach Simon Clifford
Simon Clifford
Simon Darcy Clifford is an English football coach, and a businessman known for introducing Brazilian training techniques into the UK with his Brazilian Soccer Schools....
, put Nagra through rigorous nine-hour-a-day workouts. Nagra learned to "bend" or curve the ball in flight, as she did in a scene in the film. In a nod to Nagra's actual life, director Chadha wrote and incorporated a scene about Nagra's scar into the film.
Nagra received critical and professional acclaim for her performance. She was nominated, and won, several awards, including the FIFA Presidential Award
FIFA Presidential Award
The FIFA Presidential Award is an Association football award given annually at the FIFA World Player Gala. It was first awarded by the incumbent President of FIFA Sepp Blatter in 2001, and has been awarded each year since....
(2002), the first woman to have done so.
Later roles
Nagra appeared in another film not long after filming ended on Bend It Like Beckham, Nagra portrayed Areida, a friend of Anne Hathaway'sAnne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
title character, in Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted (film)
Ella Enchanted is a 2004 British-American romantic-comedy film loosely based on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 novel of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway as Ella and Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont. It plays with the usual fairy-tale genre...
. In addition, Nagra took on two notable television roles for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
—as Viola/Cesario in a multicultural version of Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
Twelfth Night, and as Heere Sharma in the two-part Anglo-Indian drama Second Generation, loosely based on the Shakespeare's King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, directed by Jon Sen
Jon Sen
Jon Sen is a British television and film director and writer born in Bradford in 1974.Sen attended Bradford Grammar School between the 1984 and 1992. He read Political Philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge and graduated in 1995...
and starring Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
.
Although Second Generation was a ratings flop, it was a huge critical success, earning a place in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper's top 10 British TV programmes of 2003. It garnered Nagra an Ethnic Multicultural Media Academy (EMMA) Award. For the role, Nagra had to muster up the courage to do some of the love scenes that she had vowed not to do as an actress. Filming the final scenes in Calcutta was Nagra's first visit to India.
Hollywood
While on a promotional junket in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
, Nagra was informed by her agent that ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
producer John Wells
John Wells (TV producer)
John Marcum Wells is an American theater and television producer, writer and director. He is best known for his role as executive producer and show runner of the television series ER, Third Watch, and The West Wing. His company, John Wells Productions, is currently based at Warner Bros. studios in...
was interested in meeting with her. Director Gurinder Chadha claimed during a 2007 episode of BBC's Movie Connections that this meeting was her doing, because she had recommended Nagra for the role of the new Indian character in ER during a conversation with her friend Wells.
At their initial meeting, Wells made Nagra an offer to join the ensemble cast; she accepted immediately. In recalling the moment, she said, "I had to sit still and act professional, while all the time I just wanted to jump up and run around the room screaming". Not long after the meeting, Nagra signed a one-year contract that included an option for three additional years. Despite her new status, Nagra said, "I don't think Hollywood has changed me at all. The first thing I did when I arrived was buy chapati
Chapati
Chapati or Chapatti or Chapathi is an unleavened flatbread from the Indian subcontinent. Versions of it are found in Turkmenistan and in East African countries Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania...
flour and lentils".
Nagra made her first ER appearance as County General Hospital medical intern Neela Rasgotra
Neela Rasgotra
Dr. Neela Rasgotra is a fictional character portrayed by Parminder Nagra on the television show ER. Following the departure of Goran Visnjic, Maura Tierney, and Mekhi Phifer this left Nagra as the longest term cast member on ER and it also made her character the show's main character so, in terms...
on 25 September 2003, in season 10's premiere episode entitled, Now What?. Wells adapted the character to suit Nagra, which was allowed to act with her own English accent in portraying the Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
-educated Anglo-Indian Neela. Nagra would go on to appear in 21 of the season's 22 episodes, including NICU and The Student, episodes in which her character was a central player. Noah Wyle
Noah Wyle
Noah Strausser Speer Wyle is an American film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. John Truman Carter III in the Medical drama ER. He has also played Steve Jobs in the 1999 docudrama Pirates of Silicon Valley and Flynn Carsen in The Librarian franchise...
, on announcing his departure from the series, described Nagra as "the future" of ER, and the media has concurred, anointing her as one of the show's "golden girls". From the fourth episode of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
s 15th and final season, following the departures of Mekhi Phifer
Mekhi Phifer
Mekhi Thira Phifer is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile...
, Maura Tierney
Maura Tierney
Maura Therese Tierney is an American film and television actress, who is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on NewsRadio and Abby Lockhart on the television medical drama ER.-Early life:...
and Goran Visnjic
Goran Višnjic
Goran Višnjić is a Croatian actor who has appeared in American and British films and television productions. He is best known for his role as Dr. Luka Kovač in the hit television series ER...
, Nagra was the longest serving cast member and star of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
until the series concluded on 2 April 2009.
Nagra had the honour of being a torch bearer as the Olympic torch passed through London on its way to the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
in Athens. Nagra finished filming season 11 of ER later in 2005 and returned to her native Leicester to work on director Amit Gupta's Love in Little India in which she was cast as the female lead. She was nominated in 2006 for an Asian Excellence Award, in the category of Outstanding Female Television Performance, for her work in ER; she won the award the following year. Nagra was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctors of Letters by the University of Leicester
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
on 11 July 2007.
Nagra was cast as Cassandra in the DC
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
animated movie Batman: Gotham Knight
Batman: Gotham Knight
is a 2008 direct-to-DVD animated superhero anthology film of six animated short films set in-between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It depicts Batman battling against the mob of Gotham City, as well as other villains...
(2008).
Personal life
On 17 January 2009 Nagra married her boyfriend of seven years; photographer James Stenson. The couple had two ceremonies: a civil one and a Sikh one. ER co-stars Scott GrimesScott Grimes
Scott Richard Grimes is an American actor, voice artist and singer. Some of his most prominent roles are his appearances in ER as Dr. Archie Morris, Party of Five as Will McCorkle, Band of Brothers as Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey, and the popular animated sitcom American Dad!, voicing Steve...
performed at the reception along with John Stamos
John Stamos
John Phillip Stamos is an American actor, singer and musician best known for his work in television, especially in his starring role as Jesse Katsopolis on the ABC sitcom Full House. Since the cancellation of that show in 1995, Stamos has appeared in numerous television films and series. From 2006...
on drums; former ER co-star and friend, Maura Tierney
Maura Tierney
Maura Therese Tierney is an American film and television actress, who is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on NewsRadio and Abby Lockhart on the television medical drama ER.-Early life:...
officiated over the ceremony. Their son, named Kai David Singh Stenson, was born on 19 May 2009.
Filmography
- AlcatrazAlcatraz (TV series)Alcatraz is an upcoming American television series filmed in Vancouver, BC, starring Sarah Jones and Jorge Garcia. Bad Robot Productions produced the pilot episode, which is based on a screenplay by Elizabeth Sarnoff, Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. The series was officially picked up by Fox on...
(2011) TV Series as Lucy Banerjee - Horrid Henry: The MovieHorrid Henry the MovieHorrid Henry: The Movie is a 3D family comedy film based on the fictional character Horrid Henry. The first British film for children to be shot in 3D, its UK release date was 29 July 2011...
(2011) as Miss Lovely (Post-production) - The Whole TruthThe Whole Truth (TV series)The Whole Truth is an American legal drama series that premiered on ABC on September 22, 2010. Episodes aired on Wednesdays at 10:00 pm ET/9:00 pm CT...
(2010, 1 episode) "Liars" as Pilar Shirazee - CompulsionCompulsion (television film)Compulsion was a one-off ITV television drama, produced by Size 9 Productions and broadcast on 4 May, 2009. Inspired by the Jacobean tragedy The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley, it follows a young female Cambridge graduate called Anjika Indrani and attempts by her father Satvick ...
(2008) as Anjika Indrani - Batman: Gotham KnightBatman: Gotham Knightis a 2008 direct-to-DVD animated superhero anthology film of six animated short films set in-between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It depicts Batman battling against the mob of Gotham City, as well as other villains...
(2008) as Cassandra (voice) - In Your Dreams (2007) as Charlie
- Maya the Indian Princess (2005) (voice)
- Ella EnchantedElla Enchanted (film)Ella Enchanted is a 2004 British-American romantic-comedy film loosely based on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 novel of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway as Ella and Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont. It plays with the usual fairy-tale genre...
(2004) as Areida - Second Generation (2003) as Heere/Sonali Sharma
- Twelfth Night (2003) as Viola
- ERER (TV series)ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
(2003–2009, 129 episodes) as Dr. Neela RasgotraNeela RasgotraDr. Neela Rasgotra is a fictional character portrayed by Parminder Nagra on the television show ER. Following the departure of Goran Visnjic, Maura Tierney, and Mekhi Phifer this left Nagra as the longest term cast member on ER and it also made her character the show's main character so, in terms... - Always and EveryoneAlways and EveryoneAlways and Everyone was a British television drama that ran from 1999 to 2002. It dramatised the hectic everyday lives of the doctors and nurses running the Accident and Emergency department of the large, busy city hospital, St. Victor's. The series has never been released commercially on VHS or...
(2002, 1 episode) as Sunita Verma - Bend It Like BeckhamBend It Like BeckhamBend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
(2002) as Jesminder 'Jess' Bhamra - The Swap (2002) as Hotel Receptionist
- Judge John DeedJudge John DeedJudge John Deed is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Sir John Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove...
(2001, 1 episode) "Exacting Justice" as Ishbel McDonald - Holby CityHolby CityHolby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
(2000, 1 episode) "The Trouble with the Truth" as Tina - Donovan Quick (1999) as Radhika
- Park Stories (1999)
- Casualty (1998, 1 episode) "Next of Kin" as Asha Guptah
- Goodness Gracious MeGoodness Gracious Me (TV & radio)Goodness Gracious Me is a BBC English language sketch comedy show originally on BBC Radio 4 and later televised on BBC Two based on four British Indian actors: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia...
(1998) in various roles - Turning World (1997, 3 episodes) as Sabina
- King Girl (1996) as Ayshe
- Casualty (1996, 1 episode) "Land of Hope" as Ayisha
- Dushmani Jattan Di (1991)
Awards
| Organisation | Year | Result | Award/Category | For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian Excellence Awards Asian Excellence Awards The Asian Excellence Awards is an annual celebration of the outstanding achievements of Asians and Asian Americans in film, television, music, and the performing arts. The Asian Excellence Awards is the only nationally televised event celebrating significant Asian and Asian American achievements in... |
2008 | Nominated | Outstanding television actress | ER |
| Asian Excellence Awards | 2007 | Won | Outstanding television actress | ER |
| Morgan Stanley Great Britons Awards | 2006 | Nominated | Arts | |
| South Asian Students' Alliance | 2005 | Won | Recognition of Excellence Award Outstanding Achievement in Acting (Female) |
ER |
| Teen Choice Awards Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with... |
2004 | Nominated | Choice Breakout TV Star — Female | ER |
| Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards EMMA EMMA is an Organization which raises awareness of discrimination through media campaigns, social networking, and the EMMA Awards.... |
2004 | Won | Best Television Actress | Second Generation (2003) |
| Movieline Young Hollywood Awards | 2004 | Won | Breakthrough Performance by a Female | Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
| Internet Movie Awards | 2004 | Nominated | Best Breakthrough Performance | Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
| Empire Awards Empire Awards An Empire Award is an accolade bestowed by Empire, Britain's biggest selling film magazine, to recognize excellence of professionals in the locale and global film industry. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and in an annual ceremony, the Empire Awards, the winners are presented... |
2003 | Nominated | Best Newcomer | Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
| 7th Annual Hollywood Film Festival Awards | 2003 | Nominated | Hollywood Actress of the Year | Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
| Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards | 2003 | Nominated | Best Actress (Film) | Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
| Fédération Internationale de Football Association FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth... |
2002 | Won | FIFA Presidential Award FIFA Presidential Award The FIFA Presidential Award is an Association football award given annually at the FIFA World Player Gala. It was first awarded by the incumbent President of FIFA Sepp Blatter in 2001, and has been awarded each year since.... |
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
| Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema | 2002 | Won | Golden Wave Best Actress (Meilleure Comédienne Long Métrage) |
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) Tied with Keira Knightley |
| British Independent Film Awards British Independent Film Awards The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British... |
2002 | Nominated | Most Promising Newcomer | Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
| European Film Awards | 2002 | Nominated | Audience Award Best Actress | Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |
| Carlton Multicultural Achievement Awards | 2002 | Nominated | Film | Bend It Like Beckham (2002) |