Ten Questions with Parminder Nagra
She shot to fame by bending a ball like Beckham — now she’s telling it like it is as Brummie detective DI Ray
Dan Tuffs/Alamy
- Steve O'Brien
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Parminder Nagra got her big break in 2001 aged 26, when she was cast as the football-mad teen Jess in Bend It like Beckham. After moving to the US, she joined ER as Dr Neela Rasgotra, a role she played until the final episode in 2009, becoming its longest-serving cast member. Since then, she’s appeared in Agents of SHIELD, Fortitude, Intergalactic and Maternal, and in 2022 made her debut as DI Rachita Ray in ITV1’s police drama DI Ray, which is now in its second series.
It’s been 23 years since Bend It like Beckham, which helped launch yours and Keira Knightley’s careers. Has there ever been any talk of a sequel?
I heard Gurinder [Chadha, director] had said somewhere she’d got an idea of where a sequel would go, but I don’t know – sequels can be tricky. The expectation is so up there, especially with something so beloved. Can you imagine if Ferris Bueller’s Day Off or The Breakfast Club had sequels? Some things need to be left alone.
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So you don’t ever wonder what Jess would be doing now?
I don’t know what she’d be up to. Would she be coaching? Would she have a daughter who was getting into football? I almost don’t recognise that girl that was in Bend It. I know it’s me, but it feels like I’m watching someone else.
Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley in Bend it Like Beckham. Film Council / LionsGate
Have you been able to play football since then, or does everyone get their cameras out if you go near a ball?
When friends’ children are kicking a ball around, I think there’s an expectation that I’m suddenly going to bust out some moves. The training for that film was intense, and I do sometimes think, what if I’d have carried that on? I’d probably be a lot fitter!
There’s a second series of DI Ray currently on ITV1 — was the character easy to get back into?
I felt more settled with her this time, even though she’s unsettled at the start of series two. I get who she is – fundamentally, she’s someone who wants to do the right thing and get to the truth, even if it ruffles a few feathers. But in season two, it’s about playing the politics a little bit more, so I’m just nodding my head and saying yes, then doing what I want anyway!
What reaction did you have to series one?
I had so many texts saying it was lovely to see a south Indian person on screen that just isn’t stereotypical. But ultimately, it’s a numbers game, because it’s show-business. In terms of audience, it felt like it had been received well and people stayed to the final episode. But it’s all a work in progress, so when you’re going back to do a second series, you’re asking what are the things that worked? What didn’t quite work? How do we make it better? I mean, we got to do series two, they ordered six this time, and they’re longer episodes, too.
When friends’ children kick a ball, there’s an expectation I’ll bust out some moves
Would you get on with DI Ray, do you think?
I probably wouldn’t say some of the things she says – she’s very bold. Especially some of those interview scenes, they were very exciting to play. She just goes there, to get to the truth of the matter. I’d be friends with her for that: “Oh, you say it like it is, you’re cool!”
It’s filmed in Birmingham, but you’re still based in LA. How does that work for you?
My son goes to school in Los Angeles, but I’ve been lucky because filming DI Ray overlaps with the holidays, so I go from being a mum to being a crime-fighter!
Is there any other series you’ve done or character you’ve played that you’d like to return to?
Alcatraz was a big one [she played Dr Lucy Banerjee in JJ Abrams’ one-season 2012 sci-fi show]. That series was like a good meal – it was just so sumptuous. My character existed in the present and also in the 60s, so she was straddling timelines. And then it finished, so we never got to find out what was going on with her! We had an amazing cast, it was ridiculous – Sam Neill, Mahershala Ali, Rami Malek…
Gemma Whelan as DCI Kerry Henderson and Parminder Nagra as DI Rachita Ray. ITV
Similarly, how disappointed were you when ITV’s Maternal didn’t get a second series?
Oh we were all gutted! I loved straddling that line between comedy and drama. When we took a deep dive in terms of emotion, we really went there. I’d love to do something with that tone again.
And finally… you spent your 30th birthday with George Clooney — who starred in ER before you joined the cast — having bumped into him at the restaurant you were celebrating in. Any starry plans for your 50th next year?
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I’d need Tom Cruise at the next one! My 30th birthday was the most surreal experience of my life. At the end, I went to take care of the bill because I’d been with all of my friends and they said no, George had taken care of it. It was nuts!
Authors
Steve O'BrienFreelance
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