Archana "Archie" Panjabi is an English 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...
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Nominations
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television, Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Satellite Award for B...
Movies
San Andreas, A Mighty Heart, East Is East, Bend It Like Beckham, The Constant Gardener, A Good Year, I Origins, Yasmin, Traitor, The Infidel, Espion(s), The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him, The Happiness Salesman, Love Triangle, The Secret, My World, Be G...
TV Shows
The Fall, The Good Wife, Postman Pat, Personal Affairs, Sea of Souls, Blindspot, Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show, Grease Monkeys
Star Sign
Gemini
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Quote
1
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.
2
You have this impression from England that New Yorkers can be quite aggressive, but certainly the people that I've bumped into and the friends I've made here don't seem that way. Just walking down the street and asking for directions, people seem to be very helpful and happy to help.
3
I went out for a film where they wanted seven brothers and one sister, so I was there for half a day while they were waiting for 'Archie' to read for a boy... I've had drivers come to pick me up in England looking for a blond, blue-eyed Scottish boy.
4
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.
5
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.
6
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.'
7
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.'
8
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.
9
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.
10
I have always let the lack of Indian actors in the industry drive me, not hold me back. I remember an agent in L.A. telling me a few years ago that an Indian actor wouldn't ever make it in Hollywood, but my ethnicity has helped me.
11
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.
12
Luckily my parents were not against my ambition, they've always been very supportive. But they were adamant that I went to university first.
13
I knew what I wanted to do for my entire life, from nursery to university. I've always been geared towards wanting to act. I've stuck with it, dedicated time to it.
14
I love roles where I have to transform myself.
15
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.'
16
I like to do new things, so I always take on roles that I feel will keep me on my toes. I never want to pigeon myself, so I always like to surprise myself. I believe in versatility and so I would play anything as long as it was a challenge.
17
I'd love to do a romantic comedy. And perhaps, if the character was right and I had a good gut instinct, a Bollywood movie. And I'd love to direct. One day. I'm learning a lot on the set of 'The Good Wife.'
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Fact
1
Both of her parents were schoolteachers.
2
For her role on The Good Wife (2009), she was named one of the "Eight Actors Who Turn Television into Art", in the cover story of The New York Times Magazine (9/11/11). Also named as one of the Top 10 Faces on TV to Watch. (Variety, 2009).
3
Won Best Actress for her role in Yasmin (2004) at the Reims Festival in 2006.
4
Awarded the Shooting Star Award at the Berlin International Film Festival 2005 for Yasmin (2004). She was selected from hundreds of actors to represent the UK.
5
She spent part of her childhood in Mumbai (Bombay), which is why she considers herself "Part Bombayite, part British." She based the character Gemma/Jessminder in Ridley Scott's A Good Year (2006) on someone she knew in Mumbai.
$3 Million
