Who is Freida Pinto? The entertainment and acting world knows Freida Pinto as an Indian actress and model best known for her portrayal of Latika in the 2008 Academy Award winning film Slumdog Millionaire, for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 2010, she starred in the films You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and as the title character in Miral.Early life
Freida Pinto was born on 18 October 1984 in Mumbai to a Mangalorean Catholic family.[1][2][3] Her mother, Sylvia, is a principal of St John's Universal High School (Goregaon), and her father, Frederick, is a senior branch manager at the Bank of Baroda. Her older sister Sharon is an associate producer for the NDTV news channel.[4] Pinto dreamed of becoming an actress since she was five years old.[5] When Freida was ten, an Indian actress and model named Sushmita Sen won Miss Universe 1994, which turned out to be a defining point in Freida's life.[1] She studied at Carmel of St. Joseph School in Malad, Mumbai and completed her Bachelor of Arts (BA) with a major in English Literature, and minors in Psychology and Economics, from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.[5][6][7] She also acted in plays and amateur theater while attending St. Xavier's.[1] She later joined Elite Model Management and modeled for two and a half years.[5]Acting career
Before starring in Slumdog Millionaire, Pinto anchored the international travel show, Full Circle, on Zee International Asia Pacific in English between 2006-08. Pinto was also featured in several television and print advertisements for products such as Wrigley's Chewing Gum, Škoda, Vodafone India, Airtel, and DeBeers. Pinto modeled for four years and appeared in runway shows and magazine covers.[4] She learned acting from The Barry John's Acting Studio in Andheri and was trained by theatre director Barry John.[8][9] After six months of auditions, she received a call to audition for Slumdog Millionaire. Pinto auditioned for Danny Boyle and was short-listed and finally selected to star in Slumdog Millionaire.[6]
Pinto made her feature film debut in 2008 in Slumdog Millionaire playing the role of Latika, the girl with whom Jamal (Dev Patel) is in love. At the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, the movie won the Cadillac People's Choice Award.[10] At the 2009 Golden Globe Awards, the movie won four awards. Pinto herself was nominated for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" at the 2009 BAFTA Awards,[11] She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture alongside other cast members from Slumdog Millionaire.[12]Pinto co-starred in Woody Allen's comedy-drama film You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, with Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Anupam Kher and Naomi Watts, which premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.[13] Pinto is due to appear in the 2011 science fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the prequel to the Planet of the Apes (1968), opposite James Franco. She will portray the role of Caroline, a primatologist, who studies primates in the film.[14] She will also appear in the 2011 fantasy-action-drama film, Immortals, in which she will play the role of the oracle priestess Phaedra.[15]
Other work
Pinto has joined hands with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf to support their philanthropic organisation "Agassi Foundation". She is the only Indian actress to have participated in their annual fund raiser titled, "The 15th Grand Slam for Children", that aims at raising funds for education of underprivileged children.[16]Popular reception
Pinto is featured in People magazine's "Most Beautiful People List",[17] and "List of World's Best Dressed Women".[18] She was also featured in the "Top 99 Most Desirable Women" poll conducted by Askmen.com in 2010.[19] According to The Daily Telegraph, she is currently the highest paid Indian actress (although she does not currently count as a Bollywood star as she has yet to appear in a Bollywood film).[20] She has also been listed in the top ten list of the fashion magazine Vogue's 2009 annual list of the most stylish women.[21] On 13 May 2009, Pinto became a new spokesmodel for L'Oréal.[22] Near the end of 2010, Pinto was ranked #6 in TC Candler's list of "Most Beautiful Faces".[23]Personal life
Pinto was engaged to her former publicist and boyfriend of two years, Rohan Antao. In January 2009, Pinto called off her engagement to Rohan and started dating her Slumdog Millionaire co-star Dev Patel. Antao gave an interview to a British tabloid about their relationship and Indian newspapers claimed the two had in fact been secretly married.[7][24]Pinto is trained in different forms of Indian classical dance as well as Salsa.[25] She currently resides in the Orlem locality of the Malad suburb of Mumbai.[7]
Filmography
| Movies | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes and Awards |
| 2008 | Slumdog Millionaire | Latika | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Palm Springs International Film Festival – Breakthrough Performance Award Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated – Black Reel Awards of 2008 – Best Ensemble Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Female Breakthrough Performance Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss |
| 2010 | You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger | Dia | |
| Miral | Miral | ||
| 2011 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Caroline | Post-Production |
| Immortals | Phaedra | post-production | |
