Prasanna Puwanarajah
Biography
Prasanna Puwanarajah (Tamil: பிரசன்னா புவனராஜா; born 1981) is a British actor, director, writer, and former junior medical doctor.
Puwanarajah was born at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk to Tamil Sri Lankan parents from Sri Lanka, his mother a psychiatrist and his father a dentist. He spent his early childhood on Churchill Avenue in Ipswich before the family moved to Hampshire when he was four. He participated in school plays and spent a season with the National Youth Theatre, but thought of acting as more of a hobby than a career choice at the time.
He trained in Medicine at New College, Oxford. After working as a junior doctor in reconstructive surgery for over three years, Puwanarajah decided to take a year out. It was during this time he decided to become a full-time actor, describing it as "more of a strong pull towards something else" than a "push away from" his medical career.
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Full filmography
- The Crown (2016) as Martin Bashir
- Silk (2011) as Dr Malik
- The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007) as Car Salesman
- Patrick Melrose (2018) as Johnny
- Too Much (2025) as Auggie
- Finding Emily (2026) as Professor Westlake
- The Gunman (2015) as Doctor (UCL)
- You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015) as Rajesh
- Critical (2015) as Dr. Ramakrishna Chandramohan
- The Listeners (2024) as Paul
- Payback (2023) as DC Jibran Khan
- Ten Percent (2022) as Dan Bala
- The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009) as Revolutionary Guard
- Diana (2013) as Martin Bashir
- The Vote (2015) as Tom Baird
- Defending the Guilty (2018) as Ashley
- Möbius (2013) as Saïd
- National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2010) as Guildenstern
- National Theatre Live: London Assurance (2010) as Servant
- National Theatre Live: Dara (2020) as Prosecutor Talib
- The Baby Shower (2016)
- Malcolm (2023) as Joe