Parminder Nagra was born in Leicester, England, to Sukha and Nashuter Nagra, both immigrants from the Punjab, India. After serving as the artistic director to Hathi Productions in Leicester, Nagra was approached to become an actress. One week into her first play, she was switched from a chorus member to the leading actress. Nagra later left Leicester and moved to London, where she took part in numerous theatre productions. in 2002, Nagra's breakout role was in the British movie Bend It like Beckham in which she starred. This was followed by a supporting role in 2004's Ella Enchanted alongside Anne Hathaway. Nagra took part in two productions for Channel 4, both adaptations of Shakespearean plays. In 2003, Nagra joined the cast of NBC medical drama ER portraying Neela Rasgotra. Her first appearance was in the tenth season premiere, "Now What?", and remained on the show until its series finale in 2009, titled "And In the End...". In 2008, Nagra provided her voice to the character of Cassandra in the DC animated movie Batman: Gotham Knight.