Sakina Jaffrey (born February 14, 1962) is an American actress. Jaffrey may be best known for portraying Linda Vasquez in the Netflix original series House of Cards, and Denise Christopher in the NBC series Timeless.
Early life Jaffrey was born in New York City, the youngest daughter of Indian-born parents, actress and food and travel writer Madhur Jaffrey, and actor Saeed Jaffrey. Her parents divorced when she was three years old, and she grew up estranged from her father, who subsequently moved to the United Kingdom.
She grew up in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, where she attended PS 41. She later attended the Nightingale-Bamford School on the Upper East Side.
Jaffrey picked up her love of Chinese culture from her elder sister, Meera. She graduated from Vassar College in 1984, with a major in Chinese Language and Literature, originally planning to be a translator before she became an actress.
Career At the age of 17, Jaffrey made her professional acting debut in the play Marie and Bruce by Wallace Shawn at the Public Theatre in New York City.
She appeared with her father in the film Masala (1991) and with her mother in The Perfect Murder (1988).The Perfect Murder 1988, directed by Zafar Hai | Film review (timeout.com) In 2002, she appeared in The Truth About Charlie starring Mark Wahlberg. Her children Cassius and Jamila appear with her in Raising Helen (2004). Jaffrey starred in the English-language American-Indian drama film The Ode (2008).
She starred as Linda Vasquez, the White House Chief of Staff, in the Netflix series House of Cards (2013). In 2014, it was announced that she would be appearing in the second season of Fox's television series Sleepy Hollow as Leena Reyes, the new sheriff.
From 2016 to 2018, she had a starring role in the NBC television series Timeless as Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher.
She also starred as Malini Soni in The Meyerowitz Stories, a 2017 comedy-drama film directed by Noah Baumbach and costarring Dustin Hoffman and Adam Sandler.
Personal life Jaffrey lives in New York with her husband, Francis Wilkinson, a journalist, and their two children, Cassius and Jamila.
Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 1988 The Perfect Murder Neena Lal 1989 Slaves of New York Willfredo's receptionist 1991 Masala Rita Solanki 1995 The Indian in the Cupboard Lucy 1996 Daylight Kit's passenger #1 1999 Chutney Popcorn Sarita Cotton Mary Rosie 2001 Revolution No. 9 Dr. Ray The Mystic Masseur Suruj Mooma 2002 The Guru Young Woman in Dance Class The Truth About Charlie Sylvia 2003 Ash Tuesday June American Made Short film 2004 Raising Helen Nilma Prasad The Manchurian Candidate Mysterious Arabic Woman 2006 Hiding Divya Dr. Sharma 2007 Where God Left His Shoes Doctor Dharini Kiran Short film Waking Dreams Rajani The Nanny Diaries Sima Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Manager 2008 Definitely, Maybe School Mom The Toe Tactic Lacticia Utt The Understudy Nurse The Ode Parin 2009 Company Retreat Sareeta 2010 Nevermind Nirvana Dr. Sarita Matto Television film 2011 Breakaway Livleen Singh 2012 The Domino Effect Serena 2013 The Necklace Sunita Short film 2016 Claire in Motion Maya 2017 The Meyerowitz Stories Dr. Soni 2018 Red Sparrow Trish Forsyth Behold My Heart Jane The Equalizer 2 Fatima 2019 Late Night Mrs. Patel 2020 Soul Doctor Voice role 2021 The Hating Game Helen 2026 Super Troopers 3 TBA Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 2000 Law & Order Dr. Balikrishan Episode: "Endurance" 2003–2005 Third Watch Dr. Hickman 16 episodes 2004 Sex and the City Rama Patel Episode: "Splat!" Law & Order Roya Koutal Episode: "Caviar Emptor" 2006 Heroes Mrs. Suresh 2 episodes 2007 What Goes On Asha Episode: "Blue" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Geeta Chanoor Episode: "Outsider" 2011 Blue Bloods Mrs. Demir Episode: "Thanksgiving" 2012 Girls Gynecologist Episode: "Vagina Panic" 2013–2018 House of Cards Linda Vasquez 19 episodes 2014–2015 Sleepy Hollow Sheriff Leena Reyes 5 episodes 2014–2018 Madam Secretary Chondita Samant 2 episodes 2015–2017 Mr. Robot Antara Nayar 7 episodes 2015 Halal in the Family Fatima Qu'osby 4 episodes 2015–2016 The Mindy Project Sonu Lahiri 6 episodes 2016 Blindspot Susan Albright Episode: "Cease Forcing Enemy" 2016–2018 Timeless Agent Denise Christopher 26 episodes 2017 The Problem with Apu Herself Documentary film 2018 Homeland Dr. Meyer 3 episodes 2019 American Gods Mama-Ji 4 episodes Lost in Space Captain Kamal 5 episodes 2020 Defending Jacob Lynn Canavan 7 episodes 2021–2022 Snowpiercer Dr. Headwood 16 episodes 2022 Ms. Marvel Auntie Shirin Episode: "Destined" 2022–2023 Billions Daevisha ‘Dave’ Mahar 20 episodes 2024 Ghosts Champa Arondekar Episodes: "A Very Arondekar Christmas," parts 1 and 2 2025 Goosebumps Ramona Recurring (season 2) Deli Boys Seema 2026 Avatar: Seven Havens Agam Upcoming
Theatre Year Production Role Venue Notes 1979Marie and BrucePublic TheatreProfessional acting debut 1988George Washington Slept HereApple Corps Theatre Phaedra BrittanicaCSC 2009The River Crosses Rivers: Short Plays by Women of ColorCastillo TheatreProduction of New Federal Theatre
Awards and nominations Year Association Category Nominated work Result 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series House of Cards
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