Top 25 Archie Panjabi Quotes

I’d love to say I made the smart decision of picking projects that became hits, but with ‘The Good Wife,’ I read the script and something inside me said, ‘I love this, I want to do this.’

I am one of the new characters in the brand new series of ‘Postman Pat.’ It has been a joy to do.

You can have all the agents and publicists in the world but no one’s ever going to give you 110 per cent like someone who loves you.

I am still married, yes – no children. I have Benzo, though; he’s my dog, a Lhasa apso.

I like to cook Indian food when I can. I find the process of creating a home-cooked meal to be unwinding.

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an actor. I never even thought about other careers. The acting field is certainly not the path many Indian parents encourage their children to take, but mine were very supportive. They wanted me to have an education, but understood that this is what I wanted to do.

My mother wanted to be a teacher when she was young, and my father didn’t approve of it, so she fought very hard to become one. And she did it. So when I said I wanted to become an actress, my mother was very supportive. She always said to me, ‘There’s no such thing as ‘can’t.’

I don’t ever want to be hugely famous because I had a little taste of it after ‘East Is East’ and ‘Bend It.’

I’d love to do a romantic comedy. And perhaps, if the character was right and I had a good gut instinct, a Bollywood movie. And I’d love to direct. One day. I’m learning a lot on the set of ‘The Good Wife.’

I’ve always been quite psychic and believe there’s a reason why things happen and that we need to learn from them.

I went to Brunel University and very much wanted to go on to do a PhD in management, but then my acting career started to take off. In those days when you switched on the box there were hardly any brown or black faces.

I like to do new things, so I always take on roles that I feel will keep me on my toes. I never want to pigeon myself, so I always like to surprise myself. I believe in versatility and so I would play anything as long as it was a challenge.

When I was younger I was fat. I was never conscious of it and was content with who I was because I was so loved. My mother never told me to lose weight and my father doted on me, but my agent told me. I tried, but I loved Indian food too much.

Since I was a baby my goal was to be on TV because film was just impossible – you never got any Asian women in Western cinema. I grew up wanting to be in ‘East-Enders’ because film wasn’t even a dream. The community were very much like, ‘How can you want to act? It’s such a low-class profession.’

It was the success of ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ which got my name out there. ‘A Mighty Heart’ also helped.

I love roles where I have to transform myself.

My mother told me not to listen to anyone. She had been told that she wouldn’t be able to teach and she did.

I knew what I wanted to do for my entire life, from nursery to university. I’ve always been geared towards wanting to act. I’ve stuck with it, dedicated time to it.

The generation that migrated to the West in the 1970s or 1960s has now lived more in the West than India, and India has changed so much. My parents fall into that category.

There is a big misconception about arranged marriage. Yes, it can mean that you meet someone and then have to marry them, but this was my mother saying, ‘I’m going to introduce you to so-and-so – If you don’t like them, fair enough.’

I think it is vital to fight to do something you want to do despite not gaining your community’s or your friends’ approval.

I had a dialect coach to get an American accent, and then another dialect coach to come off it a bit. There is something deep and mysterious in the voice when it isn’t too high-pitched American.

At the end of the week, it’s nice to just hang out in a pair of jeans and let my hair down. I need a break from all that fashion!

Sometimes my ethnicity is relevant, other times not. I definitely get the best of both worlds.

Luckily my parents were not against my ambition, they’ve always been very supportive. But they were adamant that I went to university first.