Parminder Nagra

Parminder Nagra, who scored with audiences and critics alike this year as a soccer-playing English teenager in the surprise hit film Bend It Like Beckham, now joins the cast of ER as third-year medical student Neela Rasgotra in a decidedly less athletic role.

Nagra was born and raised in Leicester, England but her family is originally from the state of Punjab in India. She admits that she had no formal acting training but that it was something she fell in to. Bend It Like Beckham was Nagra's feature-film debut and breakthrough role as a teenaged English girl whose unexpected talents on the soccer field – inspired by her idol, international soccer star David Beckham – do not endear her with her traditional Indian family.

Nagra's other credits include the upcoming film Ella Enchanted. She recently completed Twelfth Night for UK Channel 4 and also stars in the leading role for the channel's two-part drama, Second Generation. In the United Kingdom, she also appeared in A&E, Donovan Quick and Turning World.

Nagra can speak fluent Punjabi, a bit of Hindi and various swear words in different languages, she confesses. She also recently traveled to Calcutta, marking her first trip to India. Among her acting role modes are Holly Hunter, Jodie Foster and Edward Norton.

Note: This profile was written in or before 2003.

Parminder Nagra Facts

Birth Name	Parminder Kaur Nagra
Occupation	Actress
Birthday	October 5, 1975 (47)
Sign	Libra
Birthplace	Leicester, England, United Kingdom
Height	5' 3" (1m60) How tall is Parminder Nagra compared to you?

Selected Filmography

Compulsion (2009)

In Your Dreams (2009)

Ella Enchanted (2004) as Areida

ER (2003)

as Dr. Neela Rasgotra

Second Generation (2003)

Bend It Like Beckham (2002) as Jess (breakthrough)

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