11 Indian Origin Hollywood Actresses

There are many Indian-origin actors in Hollywood and they are doing pretty well overseas. Here are 11 Indian origins Hollywood actresses.

Padma Parvati Lakshmi

Padma Parvati Lakshmi Vaidynathan was born on December 6, 1971 in New York City. She is the daughter of Vishnuvardhan and Pravinanda Raghunathani. After graduating from college with a degree in business administration.

She began her career as an advertising model and then worked as a public relations specialist before becoming an author and television host. In 2009, she became the first Indian American to be given a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality Host when she hosted Top Chef on Bravo.

Archie Panjabi

Archie Panjabi is an Indian origin Hollywood actress who has achieved international acclaim for her roles in films and television series. She was born in London, England, to Punjabi parents who had migrated from India. Archie started her career as a model and then ventured into acting, making her debut in the British film East is East. 

She has since appeared in numerous films and television series, including the Academy Award-nominated film The Constant Gardener, the BAFTA Award-winning series Life on Mars, and the critically acclaimed series The Good Wife. Archie has won several prestigious awards for her work, including an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and two children.

Freida Pinto

Freida Pinto was born in Mumbai, India, to a Catholic family. She is the daughter of Sylvia Pinto, a principal, and Frederick Pinto, a businessman. Her mother is Indian and her father is British. She has a younger sister named Sophie.

She attended St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, where she majored in English literature. After college, she worked as a model and appeared in commercials. In 2006, she was cast in the film “Slumdog Millionaire.” The film was a critical and commercial success, and Pinto’s performance earned her several awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Pinto has since appeared in several films, including “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” “Immortals,” and “Trash.” She has also appeared in the TV series “Guerrilla” and “The Path.” In 2017, she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.

Pinto is a global ambassador for the anti-poverty organization Oxfam. She has also been involved with several other charitable organizations, including the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Pratham Education Foundation.

In 2009, Pinto began dating actor Dev Patel. The couple split in 2014. Pinto is a vegan and an animal rights activist. In 2016, she was named PETA’s Person of the Year.

Naneen Contractor

Naneen Contractor is an Indian-origin Hollywood actress who has starred in a number of films and TV shows. She made her debut in the 2002 film The Rookie opposite Dennis Quaid and later went on to star in popular TV series like 24, Heroes, and Person of Interest. Contractor is also a noted theater actress and has performed in a number of productions in Los Angeles. Some of her recent work includes the film The Black Prince opposite Shabana Azmi and the TV series Designated Survivor. Contractor is a very talented actress who has been praised for her work in both film and television.

Nazneen Contractor was born on May 22, 1982, in Toronto, Canada to Indian parents. Her father is a civil engineer and her mother is a homemaker. She has two sisters, one of whom is also an actress. Contractor grew up in Canada and attended the prestigious Etobicoke School of the Arts. She later moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. Contractor is married to actor/writer/director Sachin Sahel and they have one son together.

Noureen DeWulf

Noureen DeWulf is of Indian origin and has made a name for herself as a successful Hollywood actress. She has starred in a number of high-profile films and television shows, including “30 Rock”, “Anger Management” and “The Goldbergs”. DeWulf was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Indian parents.

Her mother is a former model and her father is a doctor. DeWulf’s parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her maternal grandparents in Mumbai, India. DeWulf returned to the United States when she was 18 years old to attend college.

She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in communications. DeWulf began her acting career with a role in the film “The Hot Chick” (2002). She has since appeared in a number of films and television shows, including “CSI: Miami”, “NCIS” and “Bones”. DeWulf is married to actor Omar Benson Miller. The couple has two children.

Padma Laxmi

Padma Laxmi is an Indian-origin Hollywood actress who has achieved success in the entertainment industry. She started her career as a model and soon transitioned into acting, appearing in films and television shows. Padma is known for her beauty and talent and has won several accolades for her work. She is also a strong advocate for women’s rights and has been involved in several humanitarian efforts. Padma currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.

Padma Parvati Laxmi was born in Madras (Chennai). She spent her childhood in New York with her mother, and Chennai with her grandparents. 

She began her career at the age of 18 as a model. She made her acting debut in an Italian murder mystery, IL Figlio DI Sandokan. She has appeared on a reality TV show, a television series, modeling and acting credits, as well as being the author of a cookbook.

Parminder Nagra

Parminder Nagra is a successful Indian actress who has achieved fame in Hollywood. She started her career as a model, and soon transitioned into acting, appearing in films and television shows. Parminder is known for her beauty and talent and has won several awards for her work.

Parminder Kaur Nagra was born in Leicester, England. She began her acting career with stage performances. She became famous after starring in Bend It Like Beckham in 2002.

She has also appeared in numerous other top-rated television series, including The Blacklist season one as Meera Malik and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where she played Ellen Nadeer in season four.

Rhona Mitra

Rhona Mitra was born on August 9, 1976, in the Paddington area of London to Anthony Mitra, a surgeon, and Nora Downey. Her father is of Bengali, Indian descent, while her mother is Irish.

In 1994, she made her film debut with the project Party of Five. She has appeared in several Tele serials, short films, and feature films. She has been nominated for two Emmys.

She was seen in two seasons of Michael Bay’s post-apocalyptic television series, The Last Ship, beginning in 2014 and 2015. In 2017, she appeared in The Strain’s fourth season as Charlotte.

Mitra was cast as Mercy Graves in the CW television series Supergirl in 2018. In 2020, she played the part of Simone in the science fiction movie Archive. She also appeared in the science fiction film Skylines as Dr. Mal.

Rhona Mitra was rewarded with a Screen Actors Guild Award for her work on Boston Legal in 2006. She was also nominated for a Scream Awards in 2009 as Best Actress for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

Sheetal Sheth

Sheetal played alongside Albert Brooks in his comedy Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. She made her debut with rave reviews in ABCD and American Chai, and has appeared in I Can’t Think Straight and The World Unseen. Sheth has taken home several best actress honors on the festival circuit and was chosen to represent CHI haircare and Reebok.

Sheth was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and is a first-generation Gujarati Indian American. Her parents arrived in the United States from Gujarat, India, in 1972.

She is also the first Indian American to appear in Maxim magazine. Sheetal’s op-eds have been published on CNN, The Daily Beast, and Thrive Global. Her debut children’s book, Always Anjali, has received excellent reviews and is set to become a series. This is the first picture book series to feature a South Asian protagonist.

Zuleikha Robinson

Zuleikha Robinson was born in London and raised in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia by an Indian-Burmese mother and an English father. She is Scottish and Iranian, in addition to being of English descent. She studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. She is Dr. Alastair Robinson’s younger sister.

Moriarty is probably best known for her role as Yves Adele Harlow in the 2001 Fox drama The Lone Gunmen. She has acted in Hidalgo (2004), The Merchant of Venice (2004), and The Namesake (2006). Robinson later was a regular cast member on the series Lost (2009–10), the political thriller Homeland (2012) and the drama The Following (2015). In 2019, she joined the cast of Law & Order: SVU for their 21st season, in the recurring role of Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Hadid.

Priyanka Chopra

This one surely needs no introduction. The ‘New Girl in the City’ made her Bollywood debut with Andaaz alongside Lara Dutta and Akshay Kumar in the film. She subsequently moved to Hollywood and conquered the Kingdom of Dreams after demonstrating her versatility as an actress in India.

She played a lifeguard opposite Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in Baywatch. She was promoted to regular on Quantico after signing a talent holding deal with ABC Studios, making her the first South-Asian to star in an American TV series.

Priyanka Chopra has projects in the works with both Indian and Hollywood producers, such as ‘A Kid Like Jake’ and ‘Isn’t It Romantic.’ She justifiably received Time magazine’s accolade as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Scroll to Top