Prasanna Puwanarajah

Acting · Writing · Directing

Born June 1, 1981, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK

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

• 2026Finding Emily — Professor Westlake
• Too Much — Auggie
• Breathtaking — Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
• The Listeners — Paul
• 2023Ballywalter — Director
• 2023Malcolm — Joe
• Payback — DC Jibran Khan
• Ten Percent — Dan Bala
• 2020National Theatre Live: Dara — Prosecutor Talib
• Defending the Guilty — Ashley
• Patrick Melrose — Johnny
• 2016The Baby Shower
• The Crown — Martin Bashir
• Critical — Dr. Ramakrishna Chandramohan
• 2015The Gunman — Doctor (UCL)
• 2015The Vote — Tom Baird
• You, Me and the Apocalypse — Rajesh
• 2013Diana — Martin Bashir
• 2013Möbius — Saïd
• 2012Boy — Writer
• Silk — Dr Malik
• 2010National Theatre Live: Hamlet — Guildenstern
• 2010National Theatre Live: London Assurance — Servant
• 2009The Stoning of Soraya M. — Revolutionary Guard
• The Sarah Jane Adventures — Car Salesman