Poorna Jagannathan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Poorna Jagannathan
Jagannathan at the Lisner Auditorium in 2023
Born	(1972-12-22) December 22, 1972 (age 52) Tunis, Tunisia
Nationality	American
Education	University of Brasília University of Maryland, College Park (BA) Pace University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2001–present
Spouse(s)	Azad Oommen ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	1

Poorna Jagannathan (born December 22, 1972) is an American actress and producer. She has Indian roots. You might know her from the HBO show The Night Of, where she played Safar Khan. She is also famous for her role as Nalini Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen comedy series Never Have I Ever.

Poorna also helped create, produce, and act in a play called Nirbhaya. This play was praised as a very powerful work about human rights. It is seen as a key moment for women's empowerment in India.

In 2021 and 2022, Goldhouse named Poorna among the "Top 100 Most Impactful Asians" in America. People magazine featured her in their 2024 “The Beautiful Issue.” Also, Verve magazine listed her among the top 50 most powerful women in India in 2014.

Early Life and Education

Poorna Jagannathan's father, G. Jagannathan, was an Indian diplomat. This meant her family moved a lot. Poorna was born in Tunis, Tunisia. She grew up in many different countries, including Pakistan, Ireland, India, Brazil, and Argentina.

She can speak several languages, such as Tamil, Hindi, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Poorna went to the University of Brasília. She later earned a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. She also studied acting at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University. Even though she left after her first year, she kept learning acting from her mentor, Elizabeth Kemp. Before becoming an actress, Poorna worked in advertising for 15 years.

Acting Career Highlights

Poorna Jagannathan has appeared in many popular TV shows. She had recurring roles in series like Big Little Lies, Better Call Saul, and Ramy. She was also a guest star on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2017, she played a main role in the film Share, which was later bought by HBO.

Film Roles

Poorna received great reviews for her role as a journalist in the 2011 Hindi cinema film Delhi Belly. Critics praised her natural acting style. The Village Voice said she was a "happy departure from the usual" actresses. Mumbai Mirror called her performance "remarkably subtle and brilliant." In 2019, Delhi Belly was named one of the top 25 Bollywood movies of the decade.

Her performance in the HBO show The Night Of also earned her much praise. Critics called her acting "heartbreaking" and "quietly devastating." They noted how her facial expressions showed many deep emotions.

Television Roles

While she is known for serious roles, Poorna's comedic acting has also gained a lot of attention. Her episode in the Room 104 series was highly praised. Critics loved her voice-only performance as Divya.

Poorna's role as Dr. Nalini Vishwakumar in Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever was especially celebrated. Many critics said her portrayal of an immigrant mother was groundbreaking for television. Vanity Fair noted her ability to show the mix of old traditions and modern life. Mashable.com called her performance "one of the best portrayals of Indian-American mothers we’ve seen." Never Have I Ever won the People's Choice Awards for three years in a row.

In 2018, Poorna lent her voice to three stories for the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls podcast series. She read about famous women like Mary Kom, Margaret Hamilton, and Madam C. J. Walker. This podcast was named one of the 50 best podcasts by Time magazine. It also won a People's Choice Podcast Award.

The Play Nirbhaya

Poorna Jagannathan worked with famous playwright and director Yaël Farber to create the play Nirbhaya. The play opened in August 2013 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It won the 2013 Amnesty International Award, along with other honors.

The Sunday Herald called Nirbhaya "one of the most powerful and urgent pieces of human rights theatre ever made." The play toured for three years in many cities around the world. It was a huge success, often playing to sold-out audiences. The New York Times even named it a Critics' Pick. Nirbhaya is seen as a very important moment in India's history for the women's empowerment movement.

Filmography

Key

Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	She Hate Me	Song's Girlfriend
2005	The Weather Man	NY Pedestrian
2007	Awake	Dr. Neyer's Nurse
	Montclair	Dr. Blight
2009	Karma Calling	Quality Control Supervisor
2011	Peace, Love & Misunderstanding	Mira
	Delhi Belly	Menaka Vashisht
2012	Thanks for Sharing	Dr. Kazhani
2013	Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani	Riana
2015	Growing Up Smith	Nalini Bhatnagar
2016	Carrie Pilby	Fliss
2017	The Circle	Dr. Villalobos
	Daisy Winters	Annabel Kumar
2018	Mile 22	Dorothy Brady
	An Actor Prepares	Dr. Fisher
	The Dead Center	Sarah Grey
2019	Share	Kerri
2020	Alia's Birth	Jaime
2022	I'll Show You Mine	Priya Sura
	House Comes With a Bird	Langley	Short film
2023	The Out-Laws	Rehan
2024	Turtles All the Way Down	Dr. Singh
	Wolfs	June
	Goodrich	TBA	Post-production

Television

Awards and Recognition

Poorna Jagannathan has won several awards for her acting.

• For her role in Delhi Belly, she won the Stardust award for Best Supporting Actress. She also received the L'Oreal Femina Award for Breakthrough Performance in 2012.
• Goldhouse named her among the top 100 Most Impactful Asians in 2021 and 2022.
• In 2014, Verve magazine listed her as one of the top 50 most powerful women in India.
• Italian Marie Claire recognized her in 2012 as one of 12 women from the East making an impact in Western cinema.
• Poorna is also an ambassador for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an organization that helps animals.

See also

In Spanish: Poorna Jagannathan para niños