Parminder Nagra

British Actress Parminder Nagra was born in Leicester in 1975 to Sikh parents who migrated from the Punjab region of India. She first started performing in ...

She also won a Movieline Young Hollywood Awards in the category of Breakthrough Performance by a Female for Bend it Like Beckham, Nagra won a Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards for Best Actress for her role in Second Generation, as well as a South Asian Students' Alliance award and an Asian Excellence Awards, both of which were for her role in ER. The novel is focused on a highschool girl who makes a list of the best looking guys in school for her to kiss, with the hope of proving that she is a good kisser. She and Keira Knightley jointly won the Golden Wave Best Actress award for Bend it Like Beckham at the Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema, and Nagra also won the FIFA Presidential Award for the film. In defiance of her parents, Jess joins a local women’s team which eventually moves to the top of the league. Nagra made a string of appearances in TV shows in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s including Turning World, Casualty, and Holby City, but it was in 2002 that she had a breakthrough role in the sports comedy Bend it Like Beckham.

The 46-year-old actress grew up in Leicester and made her first TV debut in 1994, with a role in the medical drama Casualty. DI Ray is Parminder's first leading ...

During Friday’s edition of The One Show, she said: ‘In this, we were shooting four episodes so four hours of TV all in one go. The 46-year-old followed in the footsteps of her character and headed to the US, where she landed a starring role in the hit TV show ER, staying for six years as Dr Neela Rasgotra until 2009. So in the morning, you could be doing something for episode four and in the afternoon you could be doing something from episode one. The 46-year-old actress grew up in Leicester and made her first TV debut in 1994, with a role in the medical drama Casualty. As well as the developments of the murder investigation, the programme will also explore racism in the workplace and promises to ask ‘difficult questions about what it’s like to be British but feel “other”.’ The synopsis reads: ‘Her heart sinks as she realises she has only got the job due to her Indian heritage, but she is convinced this is no “honour” murder and finds herself deep in the world of organised crime.’

Thrilling series aims to do a lot for representation - including the Leicester accent.

“In other roles, I have to do RP and I don’t think my accent is ever on TV, other than [Match Of The Day’s] Gary Lineker. Also produced by Jed Mercurio, the head honcho behind the BBC’s mega-successful Line of Duty, DI Ray promises a series of shocks across its four episode run this week. But when her first case is deemed a ‘culturally specific homicide’, Rachita fears she only got the job due to her Indian heritage.

Actress Parminder Nagra takes the leading role in DI Ray, the new ITV thriller that launches this week.

Written by Maya Sondhi and exec produced by the force that is Jed Mercurio, we are being helmed by an amazing team to bring something special to our story telling landscape.” More recently, Parminder, bow 46, Nagra joined the second season of Netflix series 13 Reasons Why as Priya Singh, the new counsellor of Liberty High. The channel is going through a real purple patch of successful crime dramas at the moment, with series 3 of The Bay pulling in millions of viewers every week, Grace getting everyone talking with its second series and The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe dramatizing the real life crimes of John Darwin and his wife Anne. And, clearly realising when they're onto a good thing, ITV are launching another drama on Monday, in the form of DI Ray.

Parminder Nagra is back on our screen tonight taking on the lead role of DI Rachita Ray in new ITV drama DI Ray, but her life has turned out drastically ...

"I wasn’t thrilled about playing the doctor again," Parminder said. But those parts are really hard to come by or don't get made very often. And my mum could say I made it as a doctor!" "In London there was an article about all these girls bending it like Beckham, and in India there's this big wave of girls playing football. "Do you keep pounding? "It stuns me how the film is doing and how people respond to it," Nagra said after its release. "I can see the change with the likes of Bridgerton, but in DI Ray this is my generation of women, we’re in Birmingham and it’s so relatable – it's nice to play. Desrcibing her character, Parminder says: "Rachita is a really good, meaty character and to me it’s all about finding this woman's place in the world. "But, yeah, that was a story for the books and there was lots of little stories like that." Speaking to The Mirror last monht, Parminder recalled an incident where her agent suggested her for a role and the response was "they’ve already got an Indian person on the cast". Speaking of her career and meeting Becks and wife Victoria, Parminder said: "He loved the film and she said: ‘You were all so funny in it.’ So I went from that to being asked a year later — by George Clooney — if I wanted to play a doctor in ER. "I’m doing the same thing I’d be doing if I was in England," said the actress, who does make the most of the LA outdoors lifestyle and keeps in shape by hiking.

When did Parminder Nagra star in Bend it Like Beckham and what else has she been in? Here's what we know...

Celebrities Celebrities Celebrities Celebrities We’re in Birmingham, and it’s so relatable. I don’t often get that opportunity.

Parminder Nagra is back on our screens 20 years on from her big break playing Jesminder Bhamra from London in Bend It Like Beckham.

So just keeping the track of that and making sure you're en point was a challenge but hopefully we did it." "In this, we were shooting four episodes so four hours of TV all in one go. So in the morning, you could be doing something for episode four and in the afternoon you could be doing something from episode one." When it comes to Parmindr’s love life she prefers to keep it away from the spotlight so it is unknown if she is currently in a relationship. Speaking to The One Show co-hosts Alex Jones and Ronan Keating via video link, Ronan asked: "It's your first lead role in a TV drama but you feel it's one of the hardest things you've done? Parminder Nagra, 46, was born Leicester and is best recognised for her role as Jess Bhamra in the hit film Bend it Like Beckham as well as the first female to win the FIFA Presidential Award back in 2002.