Parminder Kaur Nagra (born 5 October 1975) is an English film and
television actress. She is known for playing Jess Bhamra in the film
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Dr. Neela Rasgotra in the NBC medical
drama series ER from 2003 to 2009. She has had several other major
television roles, including a starring role as Meera Malik in the NBC
crime drama series The Blacklist for season one and a recurring role
on the ABC/Marvel Television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Ellen
Nadeer for season four.Nagra was born in Leicester, England, to Sukha
and Nashuter Nagra, Sikh factory workers who emigrated from the Punjab
region of India in the 1960s. She is the eldest of four children with
two brothers and one sister. Nagra attended the Northfield House
Primary School in Leicester. At her comprehensive school, Soar Valley
College, she played the 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 Jez Simons, her
former drama instructor, about becoming part of the Leicester-based
theatre company Haithizi 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 Haymarket Theatre. Only a week
into rehearsals, she was switched from the chorus to replace the lead
actress, who had dropped out. Simons recalls that Nagra, a good singer
and actress, also had a quality that raised her above other actresses
which led him to select her as the new lead, despite the inconvenience
of performing with her arm in a cast.
television actress. She is known for playing Jess Bhamra in the film
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Dr. Neela Rasgotra in the NBC medical
drama series ER from 2003 to 2009. She has had several other major
television roles, including a starring role as Meera Malik in the NBC
crime drama series The Blacklist for season one and a recurring role
on the ABC/Marvel Television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Ellen
Nadeer for season four.Nagra was born in Leicester, England, to Sukha
and Nashuter Nagra, Sikh factory workers who emigrated from the Punjab
region of India in the 1960s. She is the eldest of four children with
two brothers and one sister. Nagra attended the Northfield House
Primary School in Leicester. At her comprehensive school, Soar Valley
College, she played the 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 Jez Simons, her
former drama instructor, about becoming part of the Leicester-based
theatre company Haithizi 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 Haymarket Theatre. Only a week
into rehearsals, she was switched from the chorus to replace the lead
actress, who had dropped out. Simons recalls that Nagra, a good singer
and actress, also had a quality that raised her above other actresses
which led him to select her as the new lead, despite the inconvenience
of performing with her arm in a cast.
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