Poorna Jagannathan

She played Blacklister #44 on The Blacklist, and appeared as the guest lead on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for their 18th year's double-season-finale episodes.

Poorna Jagannathan (born December 22, 1972) is an American producer and actress of Indian descent.

She is known for her portrayal of Safar Khan in the HBO drama miniseries The Night Of, as well for her role as Nalini Vishwakumar in the Netflix teen comedy series Never Have I Ever by Mindy Kaling.

She also co-conceived, produced and acted in the play Nirbhaya, which was known as "one of the most powerful and urgent pieces of human rights theatre ever made," and is considered a critical moment in India's history of women's empowerment.

Jagannathan was named among the top 100 Most Impactful Asians in America in 2021 and 2022 by Goldhouse.

Jagannathan was born in Tunis, Tunisia, to Vasantha Jagannathan and G. Jagannathan, an Indian diplomat, on December 22, 1972.

She grew up in Pakistan, Ireland, India, Brazil and Argentina and speaks Tamil, Hindi, English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Jagannathan attended the University of Brasília before graduating in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

On a scholarship, she began a Master of Fine Arts in acting at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University.

Although she dropped out after the first year, she continued to study acting under her mentor, Elizabeth Kemp, whom she met there.

Jagannathan went on to train at The Barrow Group where she is currently a board and company member and cites The Barrow Group as the place she learned how to become a professional, working actor.

Before her career as an actor, Jagannathan spent 15 years working in advertising at agencies like TBWA\Worldwide, Ogilvy, and Deutsch Inc. before starting her own consultancy, Cowgirls & Indians.

Jagannathan has had recurring parts on several TV shows like Big Little Lies, Better Call Saul and Ramy.

Jagannathan also won critical acclaim for her role as a spunky, irreverent journalist in the 2011 Hindi cinema film Delhi Belly.

The Village Voice said that "the most enjoyably subversive element is Poorna Jagannathan as the self-sufficient bachelorette who waylays Tashi on his way to the altar. Rangy, corkscrew-haired, with a wary demeanor that can't long be upset by anything, she's a happy departure from the usual run of Xeroxed, pedestaled beauties."

Mumbai Mirror said, "Poorna Jagannathan, an offbeat choice, is remarkably subtle and does a brilliant job."

The Daily News and Analysis said that Jagannathan shines in the film, and that "her bohemian sex appeal" is "a refreshing change from the prim and proper 'heroine' we are used to watching."

The editor of Outlook Lounge said that Jagannathan's performance was a "masterclass in effortless acting".

She was featured among the top 10 in Femina magazine's "India's 50 most beautiful women" in 2012.

In 2012, Deadline.com reported that Jagannathan had joined the cast of the HBO show The Night Of as a series regular.

Her performance in The Night Of received rave reviews; Vinnie Mancuso of Observer wrote, "Poorna Jagannathan, who has been putting in one of the year's most heartbreaking performances, continues to shine....."

Vikram Murthi from Vulture wrote "Poorna Jagannathan's subtle performance really shines .... Her facial reactions convey such a profound array of emotions."

Variety Sonia Saraiya wrote that her performance was "quietly devastating".

While lauded for her dramatic performance, Jagannathan's comedic roles have gained her the most attention.

Her episode in the Duplass Brothers Productions Room 104 was widely praised by critics.

Kathryn VanArendonk of Vulture wrote, "But Jagannathan's Divya is even better. Even without a physical presence, Divya is still immediately recognizable as a character. At times she's breezily unconcerned, at other moments, she's sharply chastising her son for his brusqueness. Her delivery is the bedrock of the episode's sense of humor."

Jagannathan's performance as Nalini Vishwakumar in Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever was lauded by critics.

Her comic yet nuanced portrayal of an immigrant woman has been regarded as groundbreaking and a first for television.

Sonia Saraiya from Vanity Fair said, "I’ve seen a lot of actors attempt to flesh out the stereotypically demanding Indian mom, but I’ve never seen anyone do it as well as Jagannathan does... It's the little things: the nearly untraceable Indian accent, the mumbled exclamations in a different language, the slight gestures and paranoiac side-eyes of the Indian aunty, the seemingly effortless bridging of the paradox between ancient tradition and modern necessity."

Jinal Bhatt from Mashable.com wrote, "Poorna Jagannathan has been a revelation in this series, and I'd say she puts forth one of the best portrayals of Indian-American mothers we’ve seen. Some of the #JustMomThings she says penetrate through the screen and hit you while you watch! But her dynamic with Devi is beautiful in the subtext."

John Anderson from The Wall Street Journal said that she "is a hilarious mix of Indian tradition, widowhood, creeping Americanization and the flat delivery of a sentencing judge."

Delia Cai from Vanity Fair says, "By following Nalini's story beyond the basic assimilation arc and exploring her character via universal themes of parenting, loss, and intergenerational family ties, we get a fully three-dimensional character who is easily the best part of the show."

Verve magazine named her among the top 50 most powerful women in India in 2014.

In 2017, she played one of the leads in A24's film Share.

In 2018, Jagannathan lent her voice to three podcasts in the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series, based on The New York Times Best Seller list books by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo.

She read the stories of Mary Kom, Margaret Hamilton and Madam C. J. Walker.

The series was named among the 50 best podcasts for 2018 by Time and won the 2019 People's Choice Podcast Award in the Education category.

Share premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and was immediately acquired by HBO.

In 2019, Delhi Belly was named one of the top 25 Bollywood movies of the decade by FilmCompanion.

Never Have I Ever, which debuted in 2020, went on to win the People's Choice Awards for Seasons 1, 2 and 3 consecutively.