Sarita Choudhury

Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury (; born 18 August 1966) is a British actress who has appeared in film and on television. Choudhury made her screen debut starring in the romantic drama film Mississippi Masala. She later appeared in numerous American and international film productions, including A Perfect Murder (1998), Spike Lee's She Hate Me (2004), Lady in the Water (2006), Midnight's Children (2012), and The Green Knight (2021).

Choudhury played the leading roles in a number of films, notably the historical erotic romance Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), the drama For Real (2009), and the supernatural horror film Evil Eye (2020). On television, she starred as Mira Berenson in the Showtime thriller series Homeland (2011–2017), and as Kith Lyonne in the Netflix superhero series, Jessica Jones (2019). In 2021, Choudhury began starring as Seema Patel in the HBO Max comedy-drama series, And Just Like That..., and in 2024 as Moldaver/Miss Williams in the Fallout TV series.

Early life and education Choudhury was born in Blackheath, London, to English and Bengali parents. Her father was a scientist, and she grew up in Jamaica and Italy.

Career Choudhury made her big screen debut starring opposite Denzel Washington in the 1991 romantic drama film Mississippi Masala directed by Mira Nair, for which she received her Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card. She was still working as a waitress in Manhattan's East Village to make ends meet while the film was in theatres.

After appearing in the American comedy film The Perez Family and the made-for-television drama Down Came a Blackbird in 1995, Choudhury starred as Tara, the Indian princess in the historical erotic romance film Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) directed by Nair. The film generated controversy at the time of its release and was banned in India due to its erotic theme and sexual content. The following years, she acted primarily in American productions, notable playing the recurring role on the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street for five episodes during the 1998–99 season as Dr. Kalyani, a medical examiner. In 1998, she appeared in the crime thriller film A Perfect Murder and the romantic drama film Restless. The following year, she had a minor role in the thriller film Gloria directed by Sidney Lumet. She had recurring roles on the short-lived television dramas Deadline (2000) and 100 Centre Street (2001–2002), and later appeared in the comedy films It Runs in the Family (2003) and She Hate Me (2004).

In 2005, Choudhury starred in the independent political drama film The War Within and the following year appeared in the psychological thriller Lady in the Water by M. Night Shyamalan. In 2007, she played the role of the King's mistress, Helen Pardis, in the NBC short-lived drama series Kings. The series was based upon the Biblical story of King David but set in modern times. Her character's Biblical counterpart was Rizpah, a concubine of King Saul. She worked with independent-film director Sona Jain in the 2009 drama film For Real. In an interview with The Statesman, she said, "After Mississippi Masala and Kama Sutra I started getting offers in New York... doing theatres... I just went with the flow. One fine day, I thought that I haven't been back to India, haven't shot there and that's something I wanted to. There were Bollywood offers but it was not until Sona's script that made me look at India." The film had a commercial release in September 2010.

In 2011, Choudhury was cast as Saul Berenson's wife, Mira, in the Showtime political thriller series, Homeland. She was promoted to series regular during the third season. Along with cast, she received Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. After Homeland, she co-starred in the romantic comedy-drama film, Learning to Drive (2014), and played Egeria, the Capitol's Minister of Interior in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015). In 2015–2016, she appeared as the Deputy White House Political Director Sophia Varma in the NBC crime drama series Blindspot. In 2016, she starred opposite Tom Hanks in the comedy-drama film A Hologram for the King.

Choudhury appeared in the independent films The Last Photograph (2017) and After Louie (2018), and was a regular cast member during the third and final season of Hulu drama series The Path in 2018. In 2019, she starred as Kith Lyonne in the Netflix series Jessica Jones and the following year appeared in the Hulu miniseries Little Fires Everywhere. In 2020, she played the leading role in the supernatural horror film Evil Eye. She also starred in the Spanish drama film It Snows in Benidorm (2020), and appeared in the science fiction drama After Yang (2021) and The Green Knight (2021).

In 2021, Choudhury joined the cast of HBO Max comedy-drama series And Just Like That..., a Sex and the City revival series. She plays Seema Patel, a real estate broker who becomes a new friend for Carrie Bradshaw. Choudhury received wide press coverage for her performance in the series. Some of critics dubbed her as "the new Samantha Jones". The A.V. Club named her the best part of the series. After her And Just Like That... performance, HBO Max announced that Choudhury would star in and produce the family drama series The Colony based on the 2019 film Stray Dolls.

In 2022, Choudhury played a sex worker in a massage parlor in three episodes of the third season of Ramy, a comedy-drama show created by Ramy Youssef. In an interview with Awards Radar, Youssef said Choudhury "brought so much dimension to a relationship in Ramy’s life that could have felt totally off and unreal."

Personal life Choudhury has one daughter, named Maria.

Filmography Films YearTitleRoleNotes 1991 Mississippi Masala Meena 1992 Wild West Rifat 1993 The House of the Spirits Pancha Garcia 1994 Fresh Kill Shareen Lightfoot 1995 The Perez Family Josette 1996 Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love Tara, the Queen 1998 High Art Joan Uncredited A Perfect Murder Raquel Martinez Restless Jane Talwani 1999 Gloria Angela 2000 Come On Sarita 2001 3 A.M. Box Trigger Happy Alison 2002 Just a Kiss Colleen Refuge Girl 2003 Rhythm of the Saints Mariela It Runs in the Family Suzie 2004 Marmalade Angela She Hate Me Song The Breakup Artist Mona Indocumentados Mrs. Guerrero 2005 The War Within Farida S. Choudhury L'est de la brúixola Dabashree 2006 Lady in the Water Anna Ran 2008 The Accidental Husband Sunny 2009 Entre nos Preet For Real Priya 2011 Aazaan Menon 2012 Gayby Ushma Generation Um... Lily Midnight's Children Indira Gandhi BMW: Bombay's Most Wanted 2013 Admission Rachel Innocence Dr. Vera Kent 2014 The Disinherited Anna Learning To Drive Jasleen The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Egeria Roman Buildings Sarita 2015 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 Egeria Sweets Sweets 2016 A Hologram for the King Zahra 2017 The Last Photograph Hannah After Louie Maggie 2020 Evil Eye Usha Kharti It Snows in Benidorm Alex 2021 After Yang Cleo The Green Knight Mother 2025 Three Goodbyes Gastroenterologist

Short films YearTitleRoleNotes 1997 Dinner Party Rosie Story of the Red Rose Infanta 2004 Exactly Lily 2006 Lady in a Box Ms. Pullman 2008 Woman in Burka Sarita 2009 Coup de Grâce 2012 Monarchs and Men Nadzia 2013 Give Into the Night Veena 2015 Love Comes Later 2016 Wake O Wake Lila 2019 Human Terrain Adelah Nasser 2020 Here Comes Frieda Yvonne

Television