Parminder Nagra

Parminder Kaur Nagra (born 5 October 1975) is a British actress of Indian Punjabi Sikh heritage. She is known for portraying Jess Bhamra in the film Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and Dr. Neela Rasgotra in the NBC medical drama ER (2003–2009). Her other television roles include Meera Malik in the first season of the NBC crime drama The Blacklist (2013–2014) and a recurring role in the ABC/Marvel series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016–2017) as Ellen Nadeer for season four. More recently, Nagra has starred as the titular character of the ITV series DI Ray (2022). Early life Nagra was born on 5 October 1975 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. Career