Freida Pinto Biography

Full Name: Freida Pinto
Occupation: Actress / Model
Date of Birth: October 18, 1984
Place of Birth: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Age: 24
Hair / Eyes: Brown / Brown
Family: Mother Sylvia Pinto (a principal of St. John’s High School), Father Frederick Pinto (a senior branch manager at the Bank of Baroda) and older sister Sharon Pinto (an associate producer on the NDTV news channel).



Freida Pinto was born in Mumbai, India, on October 18, 1984. Her father is a banker, while her mother is the principal of a High School. Her sister, Sharon, is a producer at the Indian news channel, NDTV. Freida earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, and got recruited by the Elite model agency in India at age 20. She has then done campaigns for such companies as Chanel, Visa and eBay. In 2006-2007, she anchored the TV travel show Full Circle, and visited several Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Freida always knew she wanted to be an actress, professional or not. Though with the high standards of India’s response to Hollywood - Bollywood - it’s very difficult to get ahead. As Freida put it: “You have to be a child of an actor or actress, or have a godfather.”

Her one in a life time-chance came with Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, which was to be filmed in the city of Mumbai, India. When Boyle saw Freida’s tape he immediately asked for her to come to the audition. But since she had no acting experience, they put her through an entire process of auditioning for six months. “The first time I read with the casting director and the second time on it was with Danny Boyle. I would go in probably once a month, sometimes twice a month and every time I’d go in for an audition Danny would say ‘Fantastic. I’ll see you again’. So every time he said that I’d say, ‘Okay, maybe in three days’. 30 days! He’d just keep me waiting for 30 days. I think every time I went in was fun. I’m not complaining because I think it was literally like going to an acting school and I think it was necessary because since I had absolutely no acting experience besides the amateur theatre that I’d done.”

Boyle followed his gut feeling and Freida was cast as Latika, the long-lost love interest of the movie’s main character, Jamal (played by the talented Dev Patel). “I put 23 years of research into this film, not knowing I was going to play this part”, Freida said. When Slumdog Millionaire premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008, the movie and its stars received rave reviews. Viewers have described the movie with words as “a masterpiece” and “one in a million”. And it truly is.

Already at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, Freida received the “People’s Choice” award, and has since then been honored with a “Breakthrough Performance” award at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards as well as a BAFTA nomination for “Best Supporting Actress”. Slumdog Millionaire itself has been nominated for practically every major award at every ceremony, and won Golden Globes for “Best Motion Picture - Drama”, “Best Director”, “Best Original Screenplay” and “Best Adapted Screenplay”. It’s no wonder why it’s been surrounded by Oscar-buzz ever since the premiere.

“After this success, I still consider myself to be a regular Mumbai girl. I’m just one that has been extremely blessed.” Not knowing what the future holds for her, Freida recently signed with one of the leading talent agencies in the world - CAA. She dreams of one day star be able to work with seasoned actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp. “I think they are simply fantastic and so versatile. I would love to do a dark romantic film with Johnny Depp.” I think it’s safe to say that this rising star isn’t done yet.

Written by Filip, 2009. Information gathered from various interviews and articles.
Do not re-print without my permission.