Sakina Jaffrey (born February 14, 1962) is an American actress.

Early life

Jaffrey was born in New York City, the youngest daughter of Indian-born parents, actress and food and travel writer Madhur Jaffrey, and actor Saeed Jaffrey. Her parents divorced when she was three years old, and she grew up estranged from her father, who subsequently moved to the United Kingdom. She grew up in the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

section of Manhattan where she attended PS 41. She later attended the Nightingale-Bamford School on the Upper East Side. Jaffrey picked up her love of Chinese culture from her elder sister, Meera. She graduated from Vassar College in 1984, with a major in

Chinese Language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

and Literature, originally planning to be a translator before she became an actress.

Career

At the age of 17, Jaffrey made her professional acting debut in the play '' Marie and Bruce'' by Wallace Shawn at the Public Theatre in New York City. She appeared with her father in the film ''Masala'' (1991) and with her mother in '' The Perfect Murder'' (1988). In 2002, she appeared in '' The Truth About Charlie'' starring Mark Wahlberg. Her children Cassius and Jamila appear with her in '' Raising Helen'' (2004). Jaffrey starred in the English-language U.S.-Indian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

'' The Ode'' (2008). She starred as Linda Vasquez, the White House Chief of Staff, in the Netflix series '' House of Cards'' (2013). In 2014, it was announced that she would be appearing in the second season of Fox's television series '' Sleepy Hollow'' as Leena Reyes, the new sheriff. From 2016 to 2018, she had a starring role in the NBC television series '' Timeless'' as Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher. She also starred as Malini Soni in '' The Meyerowitz Stories'', a 2017 comedy-drama film directed by

Noah Baumbach Noah Baumbach (born September 3, 1969) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making light comedies set in New York City and his works are inspired by filmmakers such as Woody Allen and Whit Stillman. His frequent collaborators include Wes A ...

and costarring Dustin Hoffman and

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

Personal life

Jaffrey lives in New York with her husband, Francis Wilkinson, a journalist, and their two children, Cassius and Jamila.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffrey, Sakina American film actresses American television actresses American actresses of Indian descent Living people Vassar College alumni Actresses from Manhattan 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses American people of Punjabi descent People from Nyack, New York 1962 births