A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Sunetra Sarker

 

Sunetra Sarker was born in West Derby, Liverpool on the 25th of June 1973 into an Indian family of Bengali origin. Her parents are from Calcutta, with her father a retired doctor and her mother Bisakha, a statistician who taught her Indian classical dance. However, although her mum and sister were very into their dance, Sunetra would unexpectedly get a passion for acting and never really thought of anything else and had said she ignored her own rich culture in favour of her home city of Liverpool. "I've always been really proud to say that I'm from Liverpool, something that comes so easily to me. The minute anyone says "where are you from?" I say Liverpool, and I really like saying that actually.". She admits as a teenager she kicked back against her parents’ religion by sneakily drinking cups of hot Bovril (beef is forbidden in Hinduism). She has a degree in Information Systems for Business in Europe from Brunel University London and never chose to be an actor. It was acting that chose her when she was spotted at a bus stop on the way home from school when she was 15 by the casting director at 'Brookside', and ended up playing Nisha for 3 episodes which then somehow became 3 years! (1988-2003). Totally being unprepared for acting as she hadn't made life choices at all but it was a perfect a route for her in hindsight. She says, "I have been really fortunate to stumble my way along the years to being part of a profession I am actually really suited to, and one that I probably wouldn't have considered. I enrolled into a night time drama school to gain some acting knowledge, but everything I know has been learnt from every director and senior colleague that has taken me under their wing and guided me through the stages of acting."

Sunetra first appeared as Nisha Batra in 1988, working alongside Sammy Rogers at a local supermarket after school - a job she had taken without the knowledge of her strict family, who believed she was using the time to study at the library. A significant ongoing storyline for Nisha, Sammy and Sammy's boyfriend Owen came in the summer of 1989, when, following a night out with a group of friends, they were involved in a serious car accident which killed the driver of their car. Nisha re-appeared in the show ten years later and began working as a nurse. Other roles around this time included 3 episodes as Karen in 'Starting Out' (1999), Doctor Meera in 2 episodes of 'Playing the Field' (2000) and 4 episodes as Priti Chowdry in 'Emmerdale Farm' (2003). Then came a major role in which she made her name, in Channel 4’s 'No Angels' (2004-06), the critically acclaimed comedy drama series following the lives and loves of four young nurses who work on the wards of St Margaret's Hospital in Leeds in which she played Anji Mittel, a promiscuous Health Care Assistant. There followed 'The Chase' (2006-07), a drama series that centred on a family-run vetinary practice in which she played Clare Burnes, the Practice Nurse. It wasn't long before she landed the biggest role of her career in 'Casualty' (2007-2024), departing in 2016 as her character left to pursue a job opportunity in America before later reappearing for one episode in 2018 as Zoe reunited with her husband Max Walker, as part of actor Jamie Davis's storyline. Sunetra was the producer of Casualty for episodes 13 and 14 of Series 35 and revealed on 'Loose Women' in 2023 that she was reprising her role as Dr Zoe Hanna for for a special double episode of the hospital drama to bid farewell to Derek Thompson, who was leaving Casualty after 37 years playing senior nurse Charlie Fairhead. She had left the series in 2016 to "find something very different" after playing the role of Dr Zoe Hanna for more than eight years.

as Dr Zoe Hanna

From 2017 until 2022, she featured in the Channel 4 drama series 'Ackley Bridge' as canteen worker-turned school counsellor Kaneez Paracha, where she received the award for Best TV Character at the Asian Media Awards. Starring in the show resulted in her being asked to be a panelist on 'Loose Women' in 2021 which she has really enjoyed. Her other work includes 'Ideal' (2005-08), 'Cold Feet' (1999-2020), 'Broadchurch' (2017), 'Safe House' (2017), 'Informer' (2018), 'The Bay' (2021) and 'Desperate Measures' (2022). 

She married Nick Corfield in 2003 and they have a son, Noah, born in 2001 but they divorced in 2009. In November 2018 she married Scott Carey, whom she has known since 1991.  In 2020 Sunetra was announced as the new celebrity ambassador for charity Savera UK, an organisation dedicated to tackling culturally-specific abuse, including forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and so-called honour-based abuse. The organisation provides support to those at risk, regardless of their age, culture, sexuality or gender.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/12/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians_17.html