Anna Khaja is an American actress and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. She is known for her roles as Indira in

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

's post-apocalyptic horror drama '' The Walking Dead: World Beyond'', Manisha Al-Jamil in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

comedy series ''

The Good Place ''The Good Place'' is an American fantasy comedy television series created by Michael Schur. It premiered on NBC on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons and 53 episodes. Although the plot evolves significa ...

'', Sita Parrish in '' Quantico'', and Rachel in ''

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

''. Khaja also wrote and starred in the off-Broadway play ''Shaheed: The Dream and Death of Benazir Bhutto''.

Early life and education

Khaja attended

Castro Valley High School Castro Valley High School is located in the unincorporated suburban community of Castro Valley, California, United States. It is a State school#United States high school for grades 9 to 12. Named a National Exemplary School in 1984–85 and 1988� ...

, where she starred in theater productions such as

The Diary of Anne Frank ''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...

and graduated in 1992. Khaja graduated from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

's School of Theater, Film, and Television in 1997. Khaja is one of the recipients of the 2020-21 Black List and

Google Assistant Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike t ...

Storytelling Fellowship.

Career

After graduating, Khaja played roles in TV series such as

NUMB3RS ''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American crime drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, for six seasons and 118 episodes. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton ...

, Weeds,

FlashForward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

, and

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

. She also appeared in the

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...

's production of the play

Stuff Happens ''Stuff Happens'' is a play by David Hare, written in response to the Iraq War. Hare describes it as "a history play" that deals with recent history. The title is inspired by Donald Rumsfeld's response to widespread looting in Baghdad: "Stuff ...

David Hare David Hare may refer to: *David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist *David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer *David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...

. Khaja also originated the role of Nerjas in the U.S. premiere of the play Palace of the End. She received an

LA Weekly Theater Award LA Weekly Theater Award was an annual critics' award system established in 1979, organized by the ''LA Weekly'' for outstanding achievements in small theatre productions in Southern California. Nominees were typically announced in January for Eq ...

for Solo Performance for her work in the play.

Personal life

Khaja is married to screenwriter Chris Rossi.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khaja, Anna Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American television actresses American film actresses 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights American women dramatists and playwrights American actresses of Indian descent