Who is Parminder Nagra? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

British Celebrities Born In October

Also Known As: Parminder Kaur Nagra

Age: 48 Years, 48 Year Old Females

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: James Stenson (m. 2009 – div. 2013)

father: Sukha Nagra

mother: Nashuter Nagra

children: Kai David Singh Stenson

Actresses British Women

Height: 5'2" (157 cm), 5'2" Females

Notable Alumni: Soar Valley College

City: Leicester, England

More Facts

education: Soar Valley College

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Childhood & Early Life

Parminder Nagra was born on October 5, 1975 in Leicester, England, UK, to Sukha and Nashuter Nagra. She grew up in a working-class Sikh family. Her parents had emigrated from Punjab, India, in the 1960s and worked as factory workers. Hers was a highly religious family, and she was the eldest of the four children of her parents.

Parminder was interested in performing arts ever since she was a child. While at the ‘Northfield House Primary School’ in Leicester, she would often watch films and TV series. She learnt to play the viola and played it in an orchestra while she attended ‘Soar Valley School.’ She also started acting in theatrical productions at ‘Soar Valley.’

Following her high-school graduation, her parents wanted her to pursue further education. However, Parminder’s interests lay in theater and acting. Jez Simons, one of her earlier drama instructors, asked her to join the theatrical company named ‘Haithizi Productions.’ She initially started working as an artistic director in the company.

She was one of the chorus members in the musical titled ‘Nimai,’ which was played at the ‘Haymarket Theatre’ in Leicester. She later became one of the lead actors of the musical when she filled in for the lead who had dropped out.

Later, she was told that she was the best actor in the entire chorus and had thus been chosen to play the lead role. She also rejected constant pressure from her parents and chose to make a career in theater.

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Career

In 1991, she played a minor role in a Punjabi film titled ‘Dushmani Jattan Di.’ From 1994, she focused more on theater. She made her official stage debut with the 1994 play titled ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ in which she played the princess.

Her knowledge of Hindi and her Indian features had her working with a few England-based Indian theatrical companies such as ‘Tamasha’ and ‘Tara Arts.’ In the mid-1990s, she appeared in plays such as ‘The 6th Wonder of the World: The Kali Tutti Story’ and ‘Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards.’

She made her TV debut in 1994, with a small role in the TV series titled ‘Casualty.’ She appeared in two episodes of the series, once in the 10th season and then in the 13th season.

However, she did not find much success in the 1990s. Much of her failure to get meaty roles was attributed to her Indian features. She was deemed perfect for Indian/Middle-Eastern characters, but there were very few such roles. In the late 1990s, she made small appearances in series such as ‘Turning World,’ ‘Goodness Gracious Me,’ and ‘Holby City.’

She appeared in shorts and TV films such as ‘Park Stories,’ ‘Donovan Quick,’ and ‘The Swap.’

The year 2002 transformed her acting career completely. She was cast as ‘Jesminder "Jess" Bhamra,’ the lead character in the British family romantic comedy ‘Bend It Like Beckham.’ The film revolved around an Indian orthodox family in London, and Parminder played the role of a rebellious girl rejecting orthodox traditional Indian values to fulfil her dream of becoming a footballer.

The film was a huge critical and commercial success, establishing Parminder as a bankable actor. However, this success did not help her earn lead roles in any of her future projects. She continued to appear in supporting roles for which actors of Indian origin were required.

In 2003, Parminder got a huge TV breakthrough when she was signed to play the role of ‘Dr. Neela Rasgotra’ in the medical drama ‘ER.’ Over the next 6 years, Parminder appeared in 129 episodes of the series.

Parminder was one of the most critically acclaimed actors on the show and was honored with the ‘Asian Excellence Award’ for ‘Outstanding Female Television Performance’ for her performance.

In 2012, she was signed to play ‘Dr. Lucy Banerjee,’ one of the leading roles in the prison-drama series titled ‘Alcatraz.’ Although the series was received well, it was canceled after one season.

She was then offered the role of ‘Meera Malik,’ a ‘CIA’ agent, in the crime thriller series ‘The Blacklist.’ She appeared in 21 episodes of the series.

She was recently seen playing supporting roles in series such as ‘13 Reasons Why,’ ‘Fortitude,’ ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,’ and ‘God Friended Me.’

Meanwhile, her film career failed to hold a firm ground. Over the years, she was seen playing small/supporting roles in films such as ‘In Your Dreams’ and ‘Bird Box.’ She also played a leading role in the 2012 film ‘Twenty8k,’ but the film was a huge critical and commercial failure.

Family & Personal Life

In the early 1990s, Parminder Nagra dated Irish actor Kieran Creggan for 5 years. They lived together during their relationship.

She started dating photographer James Stenson in the early 2000s, and the couple got married in January 2009. In May 2009, she gave birth to her son, Kai David Singh Stenson. However, the couple divorced in 2013.

Parminder has claimed that her parents were extremely orthodox and that they wanted her to marry a boy of their choice when she was 18 years old. However, Parminder had refused to get married to a stranger back then.

Parminder Nagra Biography