Archie Panjabi
Archie Panjabi
Archana "Archie" Panjabi is a British actress, best known for her role as Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife. Her portrayal has earned her a Primetime Emmy Award in 2010 and an NAACP Image Award in 2012, as well as two further Emmy nominations, one Golden Globe nomination, and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations shared with the cast. Her other notable roles include Yasmin Husseini in Yasmin, Pinky Bhamra in Bend It Like Beckhamand Asra Nomani in A Mighty...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionTV Actress
Date of Birth31 May 1972
children careers parent
I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an actor. I never even thought about other careers. The acting field is certainly not the path many Indian parents encourage their children to take, but mine were very supportive. They wanted me to have an education, but understood that this is what I wanted to do.
careers black acting
I went to Brunel University and very much wanted to go on to do a PhD in management, but then my acting career started to take off. In those days when you switched on the box there were hardly any brown or black faces.
dialect-coach voice mysterious
I had a dialect coach to get an American accent, and then another dialect coach to come off it a bit. There is something deep and mysterious in the voice when it isn't too high-pitched American.
school thinking america
I remember sitting in school and thinking, 'I don't know why I'm here, because I know I'm going to act and I know I'm going to America.'
ambition parent supportive
Luckily my parents were not against my ambition, they've always been very supportive. But they were adamant that I went to university first.
heart names beckham
It was the success of 'Bend it Like Beckham' which got my name out there. 'A Mighty Heart' also helped.
love-you giving agents
You can have all the agents and publicists in the world but no one's ever going to give you 110 per cent like someone who loves you.
new-york believe home
Coming to New York is like a big hug, everyone is so welcoming. There's something about here, everyone makes you feel so at home. I miss my family of course, but I don't miss London that much. I was worried, but I feel really at home. Everyone says that who comes here from London, but I didn't believe them.
mother father agents
When I was younger I was fat. I was never conscious of it and was content with who I was because I was so loved. My mother never told me to lose weight and my father doted on me, but my agent told me. I tried, but I loved Indian food too much.
mother mean introducing
There is a big misconception about arranged marriage. Yes, it can mean that you meet someone and then have to marry them, but this was my mother saying, 'I'm going to introduce you to so-and-so - If you don't like them, fair enough.
fall parent west
The generation that migrated to the West in the 1970s or 1960s has now lived more in the West than India, and India has changed so much. My parents fall into that category.
dream baby class
Since I was a baby my goal was to be on TV because film was just impossible - you never got any Asian women in Western cinema. I grew up wanting to be in 'East-Enders' because film wasn't even a dream. The community were very much like, 'How can you want to act? It's such a low-class profession.
mother teacher father
My mother wanted to be a teacher when she was young, and my father didn't approve of it, so she fought very hard to become one. And she did it. So when I said I wanted to become an actress, my mother was very supportive. She always said to me, 'There's no such thing as 'can't.
smart wife decision
I'd love to say I made the smart decision of picking projects that became hits, but with 'The Good Wife,' I read the script and something inside me said, 'I love this, I want to do this.