Archie Panjabi Reveals Why She Quit US Show The Good Wife
The British actress claimed her kiss with co-star Gillian Anderson in UK show, The Fall, led to her deciding to quit hit US series The Good Wife, claiming her bi-sexual character took over.
Panjabi, 42, plays investigator Kalinda in the CBS drama which she will leave at the end of the sixth season. Her decision came after a kissing scene with her female co-star in her role as pathologist Professor Reed Smith in BBC crime drama.
Panjabi said, “When I was kissing her, Allan Cubitt, the show’s creator and director, had to say, ‘Archie, can you hold back?’, because Gillian was supposed to take me by complete surprise,”
“I didn’t think that I was very forward in (the scene), but obviously after a while a character starts to affect you.
“I thought, ‘Okay, I think it’s time to go now’.”
After successful roles on British screens in Bend it Like Beckham and East is East, Panjabi’s career took off in the US. She praised the American TV industry for offering more opportunities to actors from ethnic backgrounds,
“The great thing about America is they have to have a certain number of people from a diverse background,” she said.
“For Kalinda (in The Good Wife) I was up against Korean, Chinese, Japanese, African-American (people) – they saw everybody.
“Over here, in the week I decided to leave, I was auditioning for a BBC show, while in LA I had three studios offering me a deal straight off.”
She also feels hopeful about the changes promised since comedian Lenny Henry campaigned over the lack of diversity on British TV screens, saying, “I think there have been a lot of promises made since Lenny Henry’s comments and I’m optimistic. I’ve heard the right noises. It would be really good if we actually saw the right changes.”
Having been offered a development deal by CBS to create any show she wants around her, the actress added, “I would love to do a show where it’s not driven by diversity, but it is something that we explore.
“When I first started out, I was always cast as the Indian girl. I want to go beyond that and say, ‘Look at me for what I am and then I’ll explain to you my culture’. I think TV audiences are totally ready for that sort of show.”
