Rebecca Sarker
{{Short description|English actress}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rebecca Sarker
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1975}}
| birth_place = Halifax, West Yorkshire, England{{cite news |last1=Hulme |first1=Charlotte |title=Everything you need to know about Emmerdale's Manpreet Jutla actress Rebecca Sarker |url=https://www.ok.co.uk/lifestyle/emmerdale-rebecca-sarker-life-manpreet-22757180 |access-date=24 February 2021 |work=OK! |publisher=Reach plc |date=28 September 2020}}
| occupation = Actress
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
}}
| yearsactive = 1998–present
| television = {{Plainlist|
}}
}}
Rebecca Sarker (born 1975) is an English actress. After portraying the role of Nita Desai in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 1999 to 2000, she made various appearances in television series including Rosemary and Thyme, Doctors, Holby City, The Golden Hour and EastEnders. In 2018, she began appearing in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Manpreet Sharma.
Early life
Sarker is from Halifax, West Yorkshire. Her parents met while working at a hospital in Nottingham; her father, Khaleque, is a British Bangladeshi GP, and her mother, Elizabeth, is an English children's nurse. Her older brother is a dentist. Sarker attended Bradford Girls' Grammar School. She pursued a degree in Modern Languages at Leeds University and spent a year teaching English in Spain, where she took up flamenco dancing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/My+heart+sank+when%3B+Corrie+offered+me%3B+REBECCA+SARKER+THOUGHT+NITA...-a060961243|title=My heart sank when; Corrie offered me; Rebecca Sarker thought Nita Desai might be Coronation Street's token Asian - but she couldn't have been more wrong.|journal=Sunday Mirror|first=Colin|last=Wills|date=6 February 2000|accessdate=26 May 2023}} She later trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London.{{Cite web|url=http://www.corrie.net/profiles/actors/sarker_rebecca.html|title=Rebecca Sarker|website=Corrie|accessdate=26 May 2023}}
Career
Sarker made her acting debut in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Nita Desai in 1999.{{CN|date=February 2025}} Following her exit from the soap in 2000, she appeared in various television series, including two guest appearances on the BBC soap opera Doctors, appearances in the BBC medical dramas Holby City and Casualty and portraying Dr Newton in two episodes of the BBC soap opera EastEnders.{{cite web|url=https://www.heart.co.uk/showbiz/tv-movies/emmerdale/rebecca-sarkers-manpreet-age-career-family/|title=Emmerdale star Rebecca Sarker's life away from Manpreet Sharma: Age, height and children revealed|date=2 May 2024|first=Hope|last=Wilson|work=Heart Radio|accessdate=28 February 2025}} She then starred in the ITV miniseries The Golden Hour as Nina Osbourne in 2005.{{cite news |last1=Allcock |first1=Beth |title=Rebecca Sarker career: Emmerdale's Manpreet Jutla actress' Hollywood roles before playing Rishi Sharma's love interest on ITV soap and why fans recognise her |url=https://www.ok.co.uk/lifestyle/rebecca-sarker-emmerdale-manpreet-jutla-14331981 |access-date=24 February 2021 |work=OK! |publisher=Reach plc |date=31 October 2018}} In 2012, she made her film debut in the feature film John Carter. In 2018, it was announced that she had been cast as series regular Manpreet Jutla in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.{{cite news |last1=Rodrigues |first1=Charlotte |title=Who is Manpreet's daughter in Emmerdale? What happened to Aiesha? |url=https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/soaps/who-is-manpreets-daughter-in-emmerdale-what-happened-to-aiesha/ |access-date=24 February 2021 |work=Entertainment Daily |publisher=Digitalbox |date=29 January 2021}} Then in 2022, she competed in the revival of the ITV series The Games.{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=John |title=Emmerdale actress Rebecca Sarker's forgotten roles and private family life |url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/tv/rebecca-sarker-the-games-emmerdale-23910571.amp |access-date=9 May 2022 |work=YorkshireLive |publisher=(Reach plc) |date=9 May 2022}}
Personal life
Filmography
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |
| 1999–2000
| Series regular; 122 episodes |
| 2002
| PC Haywain | Episode: "May as Well Face It, You're Addicted to Fudge" |
| 2003, 2009
| Doctors | Tepali Sharma / Deborah Mortimer | 3 episodes |
| 2003, 2006, 2017
| Nina Sharma / Carla Harris / Gayle Travis | 3 episodes |
| 2004
| Fallen | Nisha Mehta | Television film. Main role |
| rowspan=3 | 2005
| Nina Osbourne | Mini-series. Main role; 4 episodes |
| The Brief
| DI Joan Fernandes | Episode: "The Architect's Wife" |
| Broken News
| Correspondant | Mini-series; Episode: "Hijack" |
| 2006
| ''Rosemary & Thyme | Blanca Parfitt | Episode: "Racquet Espanol" |
| 2007
| 2 episodes |
| 2010, 2014
| Casualty | Alison Roberts / DCI Jackie Prior | 2 episodes: "Leave Me Alone" and "The Lies We Tell" |
| rowspan=2 | 2012
| Stayman #1 / Navigator | Feature film |
| Twenty Twelve
| TV Reporter, Hilary | 2 episodes: "Boycott: Part 1" and "Clarence House" |
| 2018
| Smita Williams | Episode: "Dead Men Don't Pay Debts: Part 1" |
| 2018–present
| Series regular |
| 2022
| Herself – Contestant | 5 episodes |
| 2024
| Herself – Contestant | Episode: "Les Dennis, Rebecca Sarker and Jordan Stephens" |
Awards and nominations
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0765284}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarker, Rebecca}}
Category:20th-century English actresses
Category:21st-century English actresses
Category:Actresses from Halifax, West Yorkshire
Category:Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds
Category:English people of Indian descent
Category:English soap opera actresses