Parminder Kaur Nagra

Parminder Nagra, born October 5 1975 in Leicester, England, is an actress. She became famous after starring in the film Bend it Like Beckham (2003) and she currently stars in the American medical drama ER. Parminder was the daughter of working class Sikh parents who fell into acting after completing her A-levels when she was approached by her drama teacher to star in a theatre production. For the film Bend it Like Beckham Parminder had to go through intensive futsal training in Brazil. For her performance she was awarded FIFA's Internation Football Personality of the Year, the first woman to be awarded this. In 2002 she was also awarded the Golden Wave Award at the Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema for "best actress" and Movieline Young Hollywood Award for "best breakthrough performance". After Bend it she starred in Miramax's Ella Enchanted, in which she played Arieda a friend of the title character. She was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Leicester in 2007.