
Prasanna Puwanarajah
Actor
Born: June 1, 1981 (44 years old)
Place of birth: Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK
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.
Filmography (19)
- The Stoning of Soraya M. (2009, ★ 7.7)
- The Vote (2015, ★ 8.4)
- National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2010, ★ 7.8)
- The Crown (2016, ★ 8.2)
- Payback (2023, ★ 6.3)
- Critical (2015, ★ 6.9)
- Patrick Melrose (2018, ★ 7.5)
- You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015, ★ 6.8)
- Defending the Guilty (2018, ★ 7.2)
- The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007, ★ 7.1)
- Silk (2011, ★ 7.5)
- The Gunman (2015, ★ 5.8)
- Ballywalter (2023, ★ 6.6)
- Breathtaking (2024, ★ 6.7)
- Möbius (2013, ★ 5.7)
- Diana (2013, ★ 5.6)
- Ten Percent (2022, ★ 5.5)
- Too Much (2025, ★ 5.7)
- The Listeners (2024, ★ 4.2)