Sakina Jaffrey (born February 14, 1962) is an American actress.

Early life

Jaffrey was born in New York City, the youngest daughter of Indian-born parents, actress and food and travel writer

Madhur Jaffrey Madhur Jaffrey CBE (née Bahadur; born 13 August 1933) is an Indian-British-American actress, food and travel writer, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing Indian cuisine to the western hemisphere with her debut cookbook ...

, and actor

Saeed Jaffrey Saeed Jaffrey (8 January 1929 – 15 November 2015) was a British-Indian actor. His career covered film, radio, stage and television roles over six decades and more than 150 British, American, and Indian movies. During the 1980s and 1990s he wa ...

. Her parents divorced when she was three years old, and she grew up estranged from her father, who subsequently moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. She grew up in the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

section of Manhattan where she attended

PS 41 Public School 41, Greenwich Village School, is a public elementary PreK–5 neighborhood catchment school. Founded in 1867, P.S. 41 is located in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York City. In 1957, the old PS 41 was torn down and replaced by a ...

. Later she attended the

Nightingale-Bamford School The Nightingale-Bamford School is an independent all-female university-preparatory school founded in 1920 by Frances Nicolau Nightingale and Maya Stevens Bamford. Located in Manhattan on the Upper East Side, Nightingale-Bamford is a member of th ...

in the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

. Jaffrey picked up her love of Chinese culture from her elder sister, Meera. She graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

in 1984, with a major in

Chinese Language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

and Literature at the college, originally planning to be a translator before she became an actress.

Career

At the age of 17, Jaffrey made her professional acting debut in the play ''

Marie and Bruce ''Marie and Bruce'' is a 2004 American comedy drama film directed by Tom Cairns and starring Julianne Moore and Matthew Broderick. The story spans over one day of a couple's dysfunctional, strained relationship. It was based on the 1978 play of t ...

'' by

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...

at the Public Theatre in New York City. She appeared with her father in the film ''Masala'' (1991) and with her mother in '' The Perfect Murder'' (1988). In 2002, she appeared in '' The Truth About Charlie'' starring

Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, three ...

. Her children Cassius and Jamila appear with her in ''

Raising Helen ''Raising Helen'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. It stars Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, siblings Spencer and Abigail Breslin, and Helen M ...

'' (2004) and in ''

The Ode ''The Ode'' is a 2008 film directed by Nilanjan Neil Lahiri and starring Sachin Bhatt, Wilson Cruz and Sakina Jaffrey. The film is an adaptation of the novel, ''Ode to Lata'' by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla. The biopic was shot on location in Kenya an ...

'' (2008). She starred as Linda Vasquez, the White House Chief of Staff, in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a structu ...

'' (2013). In 2014, it was announced that she would be appearing in the second season of

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's television series '' Sleepy Hollow'' as Leena Reyes, the new sheriff. From 2016 to 2018, she had a starring role in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television series '' Timeless'' as Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher. She also starred as Malini Soni in ''

The Meyerowitz Stories ''The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)'' is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed and written by Noah Baumbach. The film stars Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel and Emma Thompson, and follows a group of dysfunct ...

'', a 2017 comedy-drama film directed by

Noah Baumbach Noah Baumbach () (born September 3, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is known for making witty and intellectual comedies set in New York City and has often been compared to writer-directors such as Woody Allen and Whit Sti ...

and costarring

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...

and

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

Personal life

Jaffrey lives in suburban New York City with her husband, Francis Wilkinson, a journalist, and their two children, Cassius and Jamila.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffrey, Sakina American film actresses American television actresses American actresses of Indian descent Living people Actresses from New York City Vassar College alumni People from Manhattan 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American actresses American people of Punjabi descent People from Nyack, New York 1962 births