ER's Parminder Nagra on the Role That Changed Her Career

As Parminder Nagra tells it, an enamored John Wells was “determined to hire the girl” from the hit 2003 film Bend It Like Beckham for a role on season ten of ER.

“I realize those scenarios are very rare,” Nagra says with a laugh. “But I walked into his office, and he told me he enjoyed the movie and then just offered me the job. I don’t think he consulted anybody.” Only later did the actress learn that she’d be playing ER’s Neela Rasgotra, a medical student who’d rise through the ranks over six years and become a respected doctor.

Though Nagra later appeared in The Blacklist and currently stars in DI Ray for ITV in her native England, she remains bonded to her first U.S. series. “When you join that ER family,” she says, “you never really leave it.”

Television Academy: What did it mean for you to get a job on ER?

Parminder Nagra: My life completely changed! I had just bought my first flat in London, and I barely spent a second in it before I was packing my bags and getting ready to go to Los Angeles. But I wanted to do it [because] I was a huge fan of ER. The style and energy of it just blew my mind; it was something that almost looked like reality TV. And I loved latching on to these characters. You could have five cast members in a scene and know what was going on with every single one and be drawn into their stories and wonder what was going to happen next.

What do you rememberabout your first episode?

John Wells directed it, and the brilliant part was that Neela, the med student, didn’t know what she was doing, and I didn’t know what I was doing! The look on her face in that episode is exactly how I felt. Like, “Oh my, is this what it feels like to be on the institution of ER?” I really did get to grow with the character.

Did you have any input into Neela?

I do remember early on that one of the writers came to me and said, “What if we put Neela in a relationship?” I don’t know where it came from, but my instinct was [to say] “no.” I knew the moment she was in a relationship, she would be defined by that relationship. And I said, “If this character is to continue, it would be good for the audience to get to know her a bit.” And the irony is that by the time I finished the show, Neela had been with most of the cast members!

Wait, really? Only a few stand out.

So, there was Shane West [playing Ray Barnett]. The audience lapped that up and never really wanted her to be with anyone else because their chemistry really clicked. Then she got together with Dr. Gallant [Sharif Atkins] — but there was still an unrequited thing with Shane’s character. Then I had a relationship with David Lyons’s character [Simon Brenner]; he was an Australian doctor who came on for a few seasons. Then there was John Stamos’s character [Tony Gates]. He had a young daughter who didn’t like me because she wanted him back together with her mom. So basically everyone except for Dr. Carter. She would have never gotten together with him because of the whole mentor-mentee thing. It was supposed to mirror his relationship with Benton.

What were some of your personal highlights during your tenure?

There were so many great episodes and so many great guest stars. I was a huge Ray Liotta fan, and I was so starstruck by him! I tend to not say anything to anyone, but in my head, I’m like, “Don’t be ridiculous.” So, I introduced myself and welcomed him. But he was having a tuna sandwich and was midway through a bite — literally putting this sandwich into his mouth — so he offered me an elbow. Then, like a moron, I decided to shake his elbow!

You also shared a scene with George Clooney when he came back to do a final episode in the last season. What are your memories of that?

Linda [Cardellini] and I had the scene with him in a hospital because he was delivering a kidney to us for a transplant. John Wells, who was directing, came up to us and said, “Now — listen, girls — I know it’s George, but you can’t smile so much.” Linda and I were like, “How dare you!” We couldn’t believe we got that note. Then, when I watched that episode, I was like, “Oh my.” If that was us toning it down, what did we look like before?

After watching the show for so many years and then starring on it through the end, what surprised you most about being on set? This probably started from George when he was on the show, but everybody was made to feel welcome. Nobody was bigger than anyone else, and you were supported and valued no matter what. I’ve gone on to do other shows, and I’m doing my own show now, and that is still so important to me.

ER is now streaming on Hulu and Max.
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