'I'm not such a good little girl': Parminder Nagra on getting naked

Born in Leicester, Parminder Nagra is Britain's first Indian actress to make it big in Los Angeles, landing the lead role of surgeon Neela in the US medical drama, ER, six years ago.

'Bend It Like Beckham was my breakthrough film,' says Nagra.

'But for years after the only movies I was offered were about arranged marriages. Then I got onto ER and things changed.'

Soon to be seen on TV in Compulsion with Ray WinstoneRay Winstone, Nagra is married to photographer James Stenson (who took this picture for Live) and is expecting her first baby this summer.

'I'm not the usual Hollywood star,' she says. 'The first thing I did when I arrived was to buy chapati flour and lentils. I'm proud of my heritage but it doesn't define me.'

The ER star on George ClooneyGeorge Clooney gate-crashing her birthday party, David BeckhamDavid Beckham admiring her football skills and filming her first nude scene. Born in Leicester, Parminder Nagra is Britain's first Indian actress to make it big in Los Angeles, landing the lead role of surgeon Neela in the US medical drama, ER, six years ago. 'Bend It Like Beckham was my breakthrough film,' says Nagra. 'But for years after the only movies I was offered were about arranged marriages. Then I got onto ER and things changed.' Soon to be seen on TV in Compulsion with Ray Winstone, Nagra is married to photographer James Stenson (who took this picture for Live) and is expecting her first baby this summer. 'I'm not the usual Hollywood star,' she says. 'The first thing I did when I arrived was to buy chapati flour and lentils. I'm proud of my heritage but it doesn't define me.' She Says: My sex scenes with Ray Winstone in Compulsion were a nude shepherd's pie appreciation club. First I agreed to do nude scenes - and then I found out that Ray was to play my lover. We met up beforehand to discuss the technical side but with those kind of scenes you just have to get on with it. It felt slightly surreal to be sprawled naked with him in the back of a car but we spent a lot of the time laughing. When we weren't saying our lines, we spent most of our naked down-time together talking about shepherd's pie. Ray's a connoisseur. David Beckham said I was a good footballer. I sat right behind him at the first screening of Bend It Like Beckham, but I couldn't see his face. I did notice he had nice manicured nails and he was concentrating on the screen intensely. He was with Victoria, who tapped her feet any time music came on. And then she turned to him and said: 'This is really good, isn't it?' After the film he came up and shook my hand and said I'd done really well. Ray Winstone is a real man. He has a very good body, that's all I can say. I love Hilary SwankHilary Swank's body too. To me she looked perfect in Million Dollar Baby. I think strong bodies are sexy bodies. I like my back and my arms because they are toned and strong-looking from a lot of running and Pilates. I hate the super-skinny look and I've never gone down that route.