Taj Atwal (born in December 1987) is a British actress from

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, who has appeared in '' Stella'', '' In the Club'', '' Line of Duty'', TV drama ''

The Syndicate ''The Syndicate'' is a British television drama series. It was written by Kay Mellor and is broadcast on BBC One. It sees five members of a betting syndicate win the lottery. Each series follows a different syndicate. The first series is set ...

'' and comedy '' Hullraisers''.

Biography

Atwal was born in

to an Indian family. After her mother lost her job at the

Rowntree's Rowntree's is a British confectionery brand and former business based in York, England. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat (introduced in 1935), Aero (introduced in 1935), Fruit Pastilles (introduced in 1881), Smarties (introduced in 1937) brands ...

factory in Norwich and was offered a job in York, Atwal moved there with her mother when aged about seven. Living in

Haxby Haxby is a town and civil parish in the City of York district of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 8,754, reducing to 8,428 at the 2011 Census. Open farmland is to the north as far as the vil ...

, Atwal participated in stage productions at

Easingwold School Outwood Academy Easingwold is a Mixed-sex education, mixed 11–18 secondary school with Academy (English school), academy status in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, England. It had 915 pupils in 2017, including an on-site sixth form. The school i ...

. She had to leave her home aged 16, and lived with volunteers from the homeless charity SASH (Safe and Sound Homes) for two years, and attended York College from 2004 to 2007, obtaining distinctions in both a National Award in Dance and a National Diploma qualification in Performing Arts (Acting). For her graduate production, she played Anitra in Peer Gynt. Having gained funding through

Dance and Drama Awards The Dance and Drama Awards are a scholarship scheme which subsidises professional vocational training at some of the leading performing arts schools in the United Kingdom. Established in 1998, the awards are funded and regulated by the British G ...

, she then became a student at

Guildford School of Acting Guildford School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an academic school in the University of Surrey. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate ...

. In 2013 she played Amani Sarin, a teacher who suffers

alopecia Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scar ...

due to

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

and then lies that she has cancer, in an episode of the

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

'' Moving On''. Later roles include Jasminder in '' Stella'', Jasmin in '' In the Club'', and PC Tatleen Sohota in the fifth series of '' Line of Duty'' (2019). She chose to join the cast of ''

'' rather than continue in ''Line of Duty''. Her stage roles include Meenah in '' East Is East'' (2014–2015), and Rita in a 2018 production of ''

Rita, Sue and Bob Too ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' is a 1987 British comedy-drama film directed by Alan Clarke, set in Bradford, West Yorkshire about two teenaged schoolgirls who have a sexual fling with a married man. It was adapted by Andrea Dunbar, based on two of ...

''. Atwal is an ambassador for Children's Air Ambulance. In 2020 she became a patron of Theatre@41 in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atwal, Taj Living people 1987 births 21st-century English actresses Actors from Norwich British actresses of Indian descent English stage actresses