Freida Pinto Biography

Freida Pinto Biography  

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.

Surprisingly, Freida, who studied at Mumbai's St. Xaviers College, only began taking acting classes [she has done amateur theatre before] after completing her debut film - when she attended a three-month workshop by Barry John, the veteran theatre guru.

Between 2006-07, she anchored 'Full Circle', a travel show which was telecast on Zee International Asia Pacific. She went on assignments to Afghanistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Fiji among other countries.
Trivia
Freida's parents are from Mangalore, a coastal town in southern India. Her father is a banker, while her mother is the principal of a High School. Her sister, Sharon, is a producer with the Indian news channel, NDTV.

Trained in some forms of Indian classical dance as well as Salsa.

Was engaged to her fiancé Rohan Antao from 2007 until January 2009. They had been in a relationship since 2003.

Auditioned for the part of Bond Girl Camille in Quantum of Solace (2008), but lost out the role to Olga Kurylenko.

The surname "Pinto", is a Portuguese surname meaning "Chick" (little bird). The Portuguese were the first European colonizers and settlers of India, arriving in 1497.

She studied at Carmel of St. Joseph School in Malad and completed her Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English Literature from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.

Is in a relationship with Dev Patel, having met on the set of Slumdog Millionaire (2008) (February 2009).

Was considered to replace Emma Stone in Sucker Punch (2011), but lost out to Jamie Chung.

Her favorite actors are Jack Nicholson and Johnny Depp and her favorite actresses are Marilyn Monroe and Nicole Kidman.


Personal Quotes
This industry is for fighters and those who do not give up! It is very important to believe in yourself. Even when a hundred people rejected me, I did not lose hope and, finally, one of the biggest directors of all times [Danny Boyle] believed in me! Also working in this film [Slumdog Millionaire (2008)] has taught me a lot, not just in terms of acting but also about myself, which is an integral part of being a good actor!

I'm just so used to calling it Bombay. I know everything has changed. It's India's way of trying to brush off colonialism and make it what it originally was, but unfortunately for me I called it Bombay for 16 years, and I think that's a long time in a 26-year-old's life to automatically start calling it Mumbai. It's very confusing for a lot of people. My agent thought Bombay and Mumbai were two different places. And I was like, "No, it's the same thing."

[on preparing to play a primatologist in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)] Like most people, I only knew what I'd been taught in school about chimps, and that's not enough. So I watched a ton of videos about Jane Goodall, who I'd love to meet. All her research was fascinating and so useful, especially in how she studied human behavior in comparison to chimp behavior.