Archie Panjabi

Archana Panjabi (born 31 May 1972) is an English actress. She has had various roles in both British and American television including as Maya Roy in ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007), Kalinda Sharma in ''The Good Wife'' (2009–2015), Nas Kamal in '' Blindspot'' (2016–2017, 2020), Kendra Malley in '' Departure'' (2019–2023), and The Rani in ''Doctor Who'' (2025). Her work in ''The Good Wife'' 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. Panjabi is the first Asian actor to win a Primetime Emmy for acting. Other notable roles include Meenah Khan in '' East Is East'' (1999), Pinky Bhamra in ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002), Yasmin Husseini in '' Yasmin'' (2004), and Asra Nomani in '' A Mighty Heart'' (2007).

Early life

Archana Panjabi was born 31 May 1972 in Edgware, London, to Govind and Padma Panjabi, both Sindhi Hindu immigrants from India. Her ancestry belongs to Sindh, now in Pakistan; her parents settled in India after the Partition of India. She graduated from Brunel University with a degree in management studies in 1994. She is also trained in ballet.

Career

Panjabi has appeared in film and television, from early appearances in the 1999 comedy film '' East is East'' to the BBC television series ''Life on Mars''. Her first Hollywood role, as a British diplomat, was in the Oscar-winning '' The Constant Gardener'', released in 2005. One of her highest profile film roles was in the 2002 comedy release ''Bend It Like Beckham''. Panjabi then landed the role of witty and wisecracking office colleague Gemma in the 2006 Ridley Scott-directed romantic comedy '' A Good Year'', alongside Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard.

Panjabi next appeared in 2007 with Angelina Jolie in the film adaptation of '' A Mighty Heart'', a book by Mariane Pearl, wife of the journalist Daniel Pearl. Panjabi played the role of former ''Wall Street Journal'' reporter Asra Nomani. In 2008, she played the role of Chandra Dawkin in ''Traitor''.

She provided the voices for several characters in the British children's television animation '' Postman Pat''. She lent her voice to the video game '' Dead Space: Extraction''. Panjabi appeared on the BBC Four ''World Cinema Award'' show in February 2008, arguing the merits of five international hits such as ''The Lives of Others'' and '' Pan's Labyrinth'' with Jonathan Ross and Christopher Eccleston. In 2009, she portrayed an MI5 agent in the French movie ''Espion(s)'', and in the same year she joined the cast of the new CBS television series ''The Good Wife'' as Kalinda Sharma, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. Panjabi is the first actor of Indian descent to win an Emmy award.

In 2010, she played Saamiya Nasir in the British comedy '' The Infidel''. On 28 May 2012, she was cast as pathologist Tanya Reed Smith in BBC Two drama series '' The Fall''. Panjabi appeared as Blaise in the BBC World Service radio series '' Westway''. After leaving ''The Good Wife'' in 2015, she guest starred in Fox comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''. She joined the cast of ''Shetland'' series 3.

In 2016, it was announced that she will star in ABC anthology drama series ''The Jury'' as the show's protagonist, Kim Dempsey. She also joined the cast of NBC drama '' Blindspot''.

In December 2017, Panjabi commented in ''The Daily Telegraph'' on the improvement for offers of parts for actors from ethnic groups "I think there's definitely been an acknowledgement of there being a lack of diversity...". In an interview with ''The Guardian'' in February 2018, subsequent to her ''The Good Wife'' success, Panjabi ruefully recalled "A US talent agent once told me an Indian woman could never have a career in Hollywood". She also starred as Reece Shearsmith's third love interest, in the ITV drama '' The Widower'', first aired in August 2019. She starred in TNT's drama ''Snowpiercer'' in Season three in 2022.

In May 2021, Panjabi voiced Depa Billaba in the series premiere of '' Star Wars: The Bad Batch''.

In September 2024, it was reported by '' Deadline'' that Panjabi had been cast in the fifteenth series of ''Doctor Who''. At the end of " The Interstellar Song Contest" it was revealed that she is playing the newest incarnation of The Rani, a villain not seen since the 1993 special ''Dimensions in Time''.

Philanthropy

Panjabi was appointed the first Pratham USA Ambassador, representing the largest educational movement in India. She is a celebrity participant in the Rotary International's "This Close" public service campaign to end polio. In support of women's rights, she has partnered with Amnesty International to head their Stop Violence Against Women campaign to change the "no recourse to public funds" rule that traps women in a cycle of violence

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