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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. 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. Later she attended the Nightingale-Bamford School in the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street (Man ...

. 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 fol ...

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 ...

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'' 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 ''The Truth About Charlie'' is a 2002 mystery film. It is a remake of ''Charade'' (1963) and an homage to François Truffaut's ''Shoot the Piano Player'' (1960) complete with the French film star Charles Aznavour, making two appearances singing h ...

'' 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, thre ...

. Her children Cassius and Jamila appear with her in '' Raising Helen'' (2004) and in '' The Ode'' (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 ...

series '' House of Cards'' (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''). Twelv ...

'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 ...

television series ''

Timeless Timeless (or atemporal) or timelessness (or atemporality) may refer to: * Agelessness, the condition of being unaffected by the passage of time * Akal (Sikh term), timelessness in Sikhism * Eternity, timeless existence or infinite duration * Immo ...

'' as Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher. She also starred as Malini Soni in '' The Meyerowitz Stories'', 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 St ...

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 ...

and Adam Sandler.

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