Balvinder Sopal (born 4 December 1978) is an English actress, whose acting career has spanned over two decades. She rose to prominence for her portrayal as Suki Panesar-Unwin in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' since January 2020. Sopal has also appeared in other British soap operas including ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'', ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' and ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'', and voiced Simran Kaur in the radio soap opera '' Silver Street'' from 2004 to 2010.

Early life

Balvinder Sopal was born on 4 December 1978 in

Chatham, Medway Chatham ( ) is a town within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Strood and Rainham, Kent, Rainha ...

. She is the eldest of four children and was brought up in

Gillingham, Medway Gillingham ( ) is a town in Kent, England, which forms a conurbation with neighbouring Chatham, Kent, Chatham, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Strood and Rainham, Kent, Rainham. It is the largest town in the borough of Medway and in 2020 had a populat ...

. She attended the

University of Huddersfield The University of Huddersfield is a public research university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has been a University since 1992, but has its origins in a series of institutions dating back to the 19th century. It has made te ...

Career

Sopal made her professional acting debut as Bhelua in '' The Beautiful Violin'' at

Oldham Coliseum Theatre Oldham Coliseum Theatre is a theatre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Located on Fairbottom Street in the town centre, it opened in 1887 as the Colosseum, a reconstruction of an 1885 wooden circus building, has since been rebuilt as a ma ...

in 2001. She then went on to appear in stage productions such as '' Absent Friends'', '' Relatively Speaking'' and ''The Tales of the Harrow''. Sopal made her onscreen debut in a 2001 episode of the BBC series ''Kidhaar!'' as Reena directed by Kate Rowland. From 2004 to 2010, she voiced Simran Kaur in the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

radio soap opera '' Silver Street''. In 2008, she appeared in the

film '' White Girl'' as Fatima. From 2009 to 2018, Sopal made numerous appearances in four

British television soap operas British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

; ''

'', ''

'' and ''

''. In December 2019, she was cast in her first regular role in the

soap opera ''

'' as Suki Panesar. Her first scene aired on 27 January 2020. Suki's most notable storyline includes her on-off affair with Eve Unwin ( Heather Peace), which won several awards.

Filmography

Television Film

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sopal, Balvinder Living people 1978 births 21st-century English actresses Actors from Chatham, Kent Actors from Gillingham, Kent Actresses from Kent Alumni of the University of Huddersfield English film actresses English people of Indian descent English radio actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses