Freida Pinto Biography

Name : Freida Pinto

Date of Birth : 18 October 1984, Bombay, Maharashtra, India

Nickname : Fro 

Height : 5' 6" (1.68 m) 

Occupation : Model and actress 

Freida Pinto was born on October 18, 1984, in Mumbai, India. Her early interest in acting (she remembers it starting at age 5) was a direct contrast to the occupations and interests of the rest of the family: Her mother, Sylvia, worked as a principal, while dad Frederick served as a bank manager and sister Sharon became a television news producer.  

While attending St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, Freida Pinto's course load included studies in film and literature, which piqued her interest in show business all the more and solidified her intent to work in entertainment. A few amateur theater productions followed, but Freida Pinto found that entering the Bollywood film industry was difficult. She had no family members or close friends employed there already, so another approach was needed.

Freida Pinto graduated from St Xavier's College in her hometown of Mumbai with a BA in English in 2005. She was signed up to the Elite Model Agency in India where she was selected for numerous campaigns for brands such as De Beers, Visa, MTV, Chanel, eBay and Airtel.

She has appeared on several TV shows including Wendell Rodricks for Lakme Fashion Week 2006. She went on to anchor Full Circle on Zee International Asia Pacific, successfully completing 52 episodes where she presented a unique report on Afghanistan and explored the vibrant cultures and traditions of Fiji, Malaysia and Singapore among others.

Freida Pinto traversed the modeling circuit in Mumbai [represented by Elite Model Management India] for two years before gaining her big break when director Danny Boyle picked her out in the audition process to play the female lead, Latika, for his project Slumdog Millionaire (2008). In a promo interview, Boyle likened spotting her to his discovery of Kelly Macdonald for Trainspotting.

She was nominated for a BAFTA Film Award for her feature film debut as Latika in Slumdog Millionaire (2009) and shared a Screen Actors Guild award with the rest of the cast. Since then, she has had starring roles in Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) and Julian Schnabel's Miral (2010).