Contender Q&A: Archie Panjabi finds a role that’s more than skin deep

“The Good Wife” came to the Emmys last August with nine nominations in its pocket but took home just one: supporting actress in a drama for the otherwise hardly known (in America at least) Archie Panjabi. She’s a new face on this side of the pond, but British-Indian Panjabi has built a scene-stealing reputation for the last 15 years in such films as “The Constant Gardener,” “Bend It Like Beckham” and “A Mighty Heart.” These days, she’s Kalinda, “Wife’s” house investigator with a don’t-mess-with-me steely gaze. In person, Panjabi hardly resembles the tightly wound Kalinda — she’s softer, ladylike and quick with a laugh. But the serious truth is that now she’s an Emmy-winning up-and-comer with more than a passing chance at impressing the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. in January.

FOR THE RECORD:
Archie Panjabi: In an article about “The Good Wife” actress Archie Panjabi in the Dec. 2 Envelope section, Panjabi is quoted as saying, “My mother wanted to be a teacher when she was young, and my father didn’t approve of it, so she fought very hard to become one.” The actress was actually speaking of her grandfather and had said, “My mother wanted to be a teacher when she was young, and her father didn’t approve of it, so she fought very hard to become one.” —

Archie is short for Archana. So do people who don’t know you expect a man?

It did happen when I was younger — I went out for a film where they wanted seven brothers and one sister, so I was there for half a day while they were waiting for “Archie” to read for a boy. … I’ve had drivers come to pick me up in England looking for a blond, blue-eyed Scottish boy. But I have grown to love it; I was a tomboy when I was younger, so it was appropriate.

What do you think it is that people respond to about Kalinda?

You feel very safe with Kalinda; she’s there to protect. If I’m stuck in a spot of bother I try to think, “What would Kalinda do?” She’s very detached, and she can make a decision and think five steps ahead without emotion. That’s not something most of us can do.

Thus far, the show hasn’t made much of her ethnicity. Was she not written as Indian?

They were looking for a particular quality but not a particular ethnicity, though they did want that role to be from a different culture and background. She’s being introduced as a person and a woman first. There are questions about her sexuality but not many about her ethnic background, which is a great way forward for television. It doesn’t have to be a driving force in her character.

Does that come as a relief to you — that the main characteristic of a role you’re playing isn’t that she’s nonwhite?

It’s more complicated than that. In England, traditionally, you would not get people from minorities writing roles. As time went on, you would get a few roles that were very much others’ ideas of how your community worked. So I was often cast based on ethnicity, but that’s gradually changing. What you’re seeing on TV now is a much more real reflection on society.

Have your immigrant Indian parents supported you in your acting?

The generation that migrated to the West in the 1970s or 1960s has now lived more in the West than India, and India has changed so much. My parents fall into that category. My mother wanted to be a teacher when she was young, and my father didn’t approve of it, so she fought very hard to become one. And she did it. So when I said I wanted to become an actress, my mother was very supportive. She always said to me, “There’s no such thing as ‘can’t.’”

You were married at 26; are you still together?

I am still married, yes — no children. I have Benzo, though; he’s my dog, a Lhasa apso. I want to bring him here to play Kalinda’s dog, but I don’t want to put him in cargo. I miss him so much. He’s such a character, and he loves the camera, loves having his picture taken. I’m not to blame for that though.

Word has it that you play pranks on set. That’s not very Kalinda-like.

I’m quite mischievous on set. I do laugh a lot. That helps me on set because she’s so very serious. Sometimes it is difficult to transform from one face to the other. You read Kalinda through her eyes, so if I’m laughing inside, she’ll be laughing.

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