Sakina Jaffrey

{{Infobox person

| image = Sakina Jaffrey 2014.jpg

| caption = Jaffrey at the 2014 Montclair Film Festival

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|2|14}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

|alma_mater=Vassar College (AB)

|education =Nightingale-Bamford School

|spouse = Francis Wilkinson

|relatives=Kiara Advani (cousin)
Raghu Raj Bahadur (cousin)

|mother=Madhur Jaffrey

|father=Saeed Jaffrey

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1979–present

| children = 2

}}

Sakina Jaffrey (born February 14, 1962){{cite web |url=https://newfederaltheatre.com/nft-artist/sakina-jaffrey/ |title=Sakina Jaffrey |author= |date= |publisher=New Federal Theatre |access-date=12 June 2022 |quote=Sakina Jaffrey was born on February 14, 1962 in Manhattan.}} 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, and actor Saeed Jaffrey. Her parents divorced when she was three years old, and she grew up estranged from her father, who subsequently moved to the United Kingdom.{{cite news |title=The three faces of Saeed Jaffrey |work=Toronto Star |date=February 2, 1992 |first=Sid |last=Adilman |page=C1}}

She grew up in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan where she attended PS 41. She later attended the Nightingale-Bamford School on the Upper East Side.

Jaffrey picked up her love of Chinese culture from her elder sister, Meera. She graduated from Vassar College in 1984, with a major in Chinese Language and Literature, originally planning to be a translator before she became an actress.{{cite news |title=Actress Sakina Jaffrey: Getting Used to the Red Carpet |work=Boca Raton News |date=July 4, 2004 |first=Kay |last=Renz |page=8V}}

Career

At the age of 17, Jaffrey made her professional acting debut in the play Marie and Bruce by Wallace Shawn at the Public Theatre in New York City.

She appeared with her father in the film Masala (1991){{Cite news |last=Woo |first=Elaine |date=2015-11-17 |title=Saeed Jaffrey dies at 86; Actor exuded flair and versatility from Bollywood to Britain |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-saeed-jaffrey-20151117-story.html |access-date=2022-02-10 |work=Los Angeles Times |url-access=subscription}} and with her mother in The Perfect Murder (1988).The Perfect Murder 1988, directed by Zafar Hai | Film review (timeout.com) In 2002, she appeared in The Truth About Charlie starring Mark Wahlberg.{{Cite web |title=The Truth About Charlie |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/438429/the-truth-about-charlie |access-date=2024-06-20 |publisher=Turner Classic Movies}} Her children Cassius and Jamila appear with her in Raising Helen (2004).{{Cite web |title=Raising Helen |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/452791/raising-helen |access-date=2024-06-20 |publisher=Turner Classic Movies}} Jaffrey starred in the English-language U.S.-Indian drama film The Ode (2008).

She starred as Linda Vasquez, the White House Chief of Staff, in the Netflix series House of Cards (2013).{{Cite magazine |last=Goodman |first=Tim |date=2013-01-26 |title=House of Cards: TV Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/house-cards-netflix-tv-review-415589/ |access-date=2022-02-10 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}} In 2014, it was announced that she would be appearing in the second season of Fox's television series Sleepy Hollow as Leena Reyes, the new sheriff.{{Cite news |date=2014-05-27 |title=Sleepy Hollow Casting Scoop: House of Cards Star Is the New Sheriff in Season 2 |url=https://www.eonline.com/news/545773/sleepy-hollow-casting-scoop-house-of-cards-star-is-the-new-sheriff-in-season-2 |access-date=2022-02-10 |work=E! News}}

From 2016 to 2018, she had a starring role in the NBC television series Timeless as Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher.{{Cite web |title=Timeless |url=https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/timeless/cast/1030189989/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |publisher=TV Guide}}

She also starred as Malini Soni in The Meyerowitz Stories, a 2017 comedy-drama film directed by Noah Baumbach and costarring Dustin Hoffman and Adam Sandler.{{Cite web |title=The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-meyerowitz-stories-new-and-selected/cast/2030316167/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |publisher=TV Guide}}

Personal life

Jaffrey lives in New York with her husband, Francis Wilkinson, a journalist, and their two children, Cassius and Jamila.{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/20/india/india-diaspora-series-sakina-jaffrey-intl/index.html |title='House of Cards' actress Sakina Jaffrey feels '100% New Yorker' |work=CNN |date=May 21, 2019}}

Acting credits

=Film=

Year ! Title ! Role ! class=unsortable \| Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
1988	The Perfect Murder	Neena Lal
1989	Slaves of New York	Willfredo's receptionist
1991	Masala	Rita Solanki
1995	The Indian in the Cupboard	Lucy
1996	Daylight	Kit's passenger #1
1999	Chutney Popcorn	Sarita
1999	Cotton Mary	Rosie
2001	Revolution No. 9	Dr. Ray
2001	The Mystic Masseur	Suruj Mooma
2002	The Guru	Young Woman in Dance Class
2002	The Truth About Charlie	Sylvia
2003	Ash Tuesday	June
2003	American Made	{{n/a}}	Short film
2004	Raising Helen	Nilma Prasad
2004	The Manchurian Candidate	Mysterious Arabic Woman
2006	Hiding Divya	Dr. Sharma
2007	Where God Left His Shoes	Doctor
2007	Dharini	Kiran	Short film
2007	Waking Dreams	Rajani
2007	The Nanny Diaries	Sima
2007	Before the Devil Knows You're Dead	Manager
2008	Definitely, Maybe	School Mom
2008	The Toe Tactic	Lacticia Utt
2008	The Understudy	Nurse
2008	The Ode	Parin
2009	Company Retreat	Sareeta
2010	Nevermind Nirvana	Dr. Sarita Matto	Television film
2011	Breakaway	Livleen Singh
2012	The Domino Effect	Serena
2013	The Necklace	Sunita	Short film
2016	Claire in Motion	Maya
2017	The Meyerowitz Stories	Dr. Soni
2018	Red Sparrow	Trish Forsyth
2018	Behold My Heart	Jane
2018	The Equalizer 2	Fatima
2019	Late Night	Mrs. Patel
2020	Soul	Doctor	Voice role
2021	The Hating Game	Helen

=Television=

Year \|\| Title \|\| Role \|\| class=unsortable \| Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
2000	Law & Order	Dr. Balikrishan	Episode: "Endurance"
2003–2005	Third Watch	Dr. Hickman	16 episodes
2004	Sex and the City	Rama Patel	Episode: "Splat!"
2004	Law & Order	Roya Koutal	Episode: "Caviar Emptor"
2006	Heroes	Mrs. Suresh	2 episodes
2007	What Goes On	Asha	Episode: "Blue"
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Geeta Chanoor	Episode: "Outsider"
2011	Blue Bloods	Mrs. Demir	Episode: "Thanksgiving"
2012	Girls	Gynecologist	Episode: "Vagina Panic"
2013–2018	House of Cards	Linda Vasquez	19 episodes
2014–2015	Sleepy Hollow	Sheriff Leena Reyes	5 episodes
2014–2018	Madam Secretary	Chondita Samant	2 episodes
2015–2017	Mr. Robot	Antara Nayar	7 episodes
2015	Halal in the Family	Fatima Qu'osby	4 episodes
2015–2016	The Mindy Project	Sonu Lahiri	6 episodes
2016	Blindspot	Susan Albright	Episode: "Cease Forcing Enemy"
2016–2018	Timeless	Agent Denise Christopher	26 episodes
2017 \| The Problem with Apu \| Herself \| Documentary film
2018 \| Homeland \| Dr. Meyer \| 3 episodes
2019 \| American Gods \| Mama-Ji \| 4 episodes
2019 \| Lost in Space \| Captain Kamal \| 5 episodes
2020 \| Defending Jacob \| Lynn Canavan \| 7 episodes
2021–2022 \| Snowpiercer \| Dr Headwood \| 16 episodes
2022–2023 \| Billions \| Daevisha ‘Dave’ Mahar \| 20 episodes
2022 \| Ms. Marvel \| Auntie Shirin \| Episode: "Destined"
2024 \| Ghosts \| Champa Arondekar \| Episode: "A Very Arondekar Christmas"
2025 \| Goosebumps \| Ramona \| Recurring (season 2)
2025 \| Deli Boys \| Seema \|

==Theatre==

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

! Production

! Role

! Venue

! class=unsortable | Notes

! class=unsortable | {{tooltip|Ref.|References}}

1979

|Marie and Bruce

|Public Theatre

|Professional acting debut

rowspan=2|1988

|George Washington Slept Here

|Apple Corps Theatre

| {{cite news |last=Nelsen |first=Don |date=22 July 1988 |title=Hart-Kaufman Play is Mossy |url= |work=New York Daily News |access-date=}}

Phaedra Brittanica

|CSC

| {{cite news |last=Kissell |first=Howard |date=16 Dec 1988 |title='Phaedra' Seems to Be Out to Lunch |url= |work=New York Daily News |access-date=}}

2009

|The River Crosses Rivers: Short Plays by Women of Color

|Castillo Theatre

|Production of New Federal Theatre

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Association ! Category ! Nominated work ! Result
2015	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	House of Cards	{{nom}}

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Association

! Category

! Nominated work

! Result

2015

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

House of Cards