Mandip Gill is a British actress, who has worked in many TV shows, films, and short films. She is well known for playing the role of Yasmin Khan from 2018 to 2022 in the sci-fi TV show ‘Doctor Who.’ She started her acting career by playing the role of Phoebe McQueen from 2012 to 2015 in the British television show ‘Hollyoaks.’ In 2016, she worked in two other television sitcoms titled ‘Cuckoo’ and ‘Doctors’ in which she played the characters of Lauren and Shazia Amin, respectively.
Wiki/Biography
Mandip Kaur Gill was born on Tuesday, 5 January 1988 (age 34 years; as of 2022) in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Her zodiac sign is Capricorn. She spent her childhood in the suburban region of Middleton in West Yorkshire. After completing her primary education, she enrolled in Cockburn School to complete her secondary education. She moved to a semi-rural village called Allerton Bywater with her family at the age of 14 where she enrolled in Brigshaw High School. In 2009, she did BA (Hons) in Acting from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, England. Later, she studied performing arts at Park Lane College in Leeds, England.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Weight (approx.): 60 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Figure Measurements (approx.): 35-28-35
Family
Mandip Gill belongs to a Sikh family which belongs to Punjab in India. She spent her childhood on the estate where her parents owned newsagents.
Parents & Siblings
Mandip has six siblings, five sisters and one brother.
Mandip with her parents and siblings
Career
Television
She debuted as an actor in the soap opera ‘Hollyoaks’ in 2012. In 2017, she played the role of Padma Kholi in two episodes of the drama series ‘The Good Karma Hospital.’ In the same year, she was offered the role of a supporting character in two drama series titled ‘Casualty’ and ‘Love, Lies and Records.’ She rose to fame when she was cast to play the main character of companion Yasmin Khan in the television programme ‘Doctor Who.’ Her latest show is a thriller TV series ‘Suspicion’ which premiered on 4 February 2022 in which she is playing the character of Sonia Chopra.
Mandip Gill on the poster of the TV series ‘Doctor Who’
Short films
She has done two short films. In 2016, she worked in an award-winning drama short film ‘Rwd/Fwd’ which was directed by Teddy Nygh. She played the character of Megan in the 2021 thriller short film ‘On Air.’
Poster of the short film ‘On Air’
Film
Mandip landed her first acting role in the 2019 film named ‘Flood.’ In 2020, she played the role of Shaina in the film ‘Five Dates’ which was directed by Paul Raschid.
Poster of Mandip Gill starrer film ‘Five Dates’
Theatre
In 2022, she worked in a thriller theatre play titled ‘2:22 A Ghost Story’ directed by Danny Robins. She played the character of Jenny. The play won a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play.
Poster of thriller theatre play ‘2 22 A Ghost Story’
Controversies
Criticising Netflix’s ‘Indian Matchmaking’ show
In 2020, Netflix launched a reality show called ‘Indian Matchmaking,’ which is based on arranged marriages which are popularly done in Indian Culture. After watching the show, many people criticised it for supporting colourism and racism, and at the same time keeping the arranged marriage tradition sacred and pure.
Mandip is one of those people who criticized the show. She took to Twitter and wrote,
#IndianMatchmaking stressed me out within the first 60 seconds. No lie.”
In another tweet, she added,
She said you’ll come to see her fair skin. I’m done!!! Get outta here with your flipping s**t show!”
Mandip’s tweet criticising Netflix’s ‘Indian Matchmaking’ show
Favourites
- Podcast: Happy Place by Fearne Cotton
- Book: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Facts/Trivia
- In an interview, she shared that for a short period of time, she thought about becoming a police officer but immediately dropped the idea because she didn’t have the skill set that is needed to become a police officer.
- When she started searching for work in the acting industry, she auditioned for two years constantly but did not pass any auditions which made her think that maybe an acting career is not a fit for her and that she should give up. In 2012, she got her first acting role in the TV show ‘Hollyoaks.’
- Mandip has a lot of experience in working with multiple theatre productions before working in television.
- She has 127k followers on Instagram.
- Chips, pasta, and sandwiches are her go-to comfort food. She always orders prawn firecrackers with extra sauce from her favourite restaurant ‘Wagamama,’ which is a British food chain, serving Asian food.
- In an interview, on being asked about what kind of job roles are offered to an outsider or a person of a different race as compared to years back, she shared,
There are more parts that say ‘non-race specific’. Years ago, there was one Asian person in a soap and the entire Asian acting community was going for that role. Now, you can find a few different Asian people, and their character isn’t entirely based on their religion or culture: they just happen to be in a soap. But we’ve got a long way to go and I hope that, in time, I can audition for anything and just worry about being the best person for the job, not the right race.
- On being asked in an interview about what would make her turn a role down, to which she replied,
When it comes to playing a character that’s not a Sikh, as I am, I always think, “Would I do this if the character was Sikh? Would I offend anyone in my family?” If the answer is no [to the latter], then I would always play the part. But there are still so many other roles that I would love to play, and hopefully I’m in a position after Doctor Who to be a bit choosier about which ones I do. I want to play Wonder Woman.
