Nayan Patel aka Parminder biography

Real biography: Parminder Nagra burst onto the Hollywood scene in 2002, when she co-starred in the smash hit Bend It Like Beckham. Since then, she's had no trouble finding work.

Life Story

Nagra was born in Leicester, England to parents who had emigrated there from India in the 1960's. Her parents worked in factories, but Nagra was destined for greater things. In high school, Nagra was a star viola player and acted in school theatre productions. At 16, she started to work as an usher at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre, where she quietly studied the methods of the actors working there. After a few weeks in college, Nagra was approached by her former high school acting teacher who convinced her to quit school to join an Indian theatre company. Originally she was a chorus member, but was soon cast in leading roles. Throughout the 90's, Nagra lived in London and acted primarily on the stage.

In 1997 Nagra started to get film work, when she did three episodes on a British show called Turning World. For the next five years, Nagra stuck to stage and extra work, but in 2002, she got her big break when she was cast alongside Kiera Knightley in Bend It Like Beckham, which became an international hit. Following the success of that movie, she was cast on the hospital drama ER, where she's done 99 episodes since 2002. In 2004, Nagra went back to the big screen when she had a role in the fantasy flick, Ella Enchanted. Upcoming roles for Nagra include movies Fallen Hero and Marathon, which are set to be released in 2008.