Sophie Khan Levy is one of those actors you notice once and then keep spotting everywhere. With her fierce screen presence in EastEnders, acclaimed stage work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a growing list of TV credits, she’s quietly becoming one of the most interesting British performers of her generation. Born on 25 July 1989 in Wandsworth, South London, Sophie Shaheen Khan Levy grew up in a creative household: her mother is the respected actress and playwright Shaheen Khan, known for Bend It Like Beckham and for her pioneering work in British South Asian theatre.
Early Life, Heritage and Training
Sophie Khan Levy’s background is as layered as many of the characters she plays. Raised in South London and of mixed-race South Asian heritage, she grew up watching her mother build spaces for Asian artists on British stages. Shaheen Khan helped establish early platforms for South Asian performers, including work with Tara Arts and Tamasha Theatre Company, which meant Sophie was surrounded by scripts, rehearsals and rehearsal-room conversations from a young age.
As a teenager she spent about a year and a half living in Canada with a cousin, an experience she has described in interviews as broadening her horizons and sense of independence. Back in the UK, she studied Theatre and Performance at the University of Warwick, where she became involved in student theatre. After graduating, she trained at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama. At Guildhall, she took on a range of roles in productions such as As You Like It, Merrily We Roll Along and A Respectable Wedding, honing the versatility that would later become her trademark.
Stage Career: From Shakespeare to One-Woman Drama
Sophie’s professional break came soon after leaving drama school. She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), where she quickly built a reputation for intelligent, emotionally honest performances. At the RSC she appeared in Cymbeline, Love’s Labour’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Christmas Truce and As You Like It, among others, often taking on complex or high-energy roles. In Cymbeline, her performance as Imogen drew strong notices, with the company itself describing her as a “fiercely intelligent and brilliant actress.
Her stage work hasn’t been limited to Shakespeare. She has played roles such as Celia in As You Like It (RSC’s West End transfer), Mary Magdalene in Mystery Plays, Hecuba in Trojan Women, Amanda in Private Lives and Mabel in While the Sun Shines at the Orange Tree Theatre. Reviews of While the Sun Shines highlighted her sharp comic timing and emotional warmth, confirming she can switch from classical drama to sparkling mid-20th-century comedy without missing a beat.
One of her most acclaimed performances came in the one-woman play Hanna at London’s Arcola Theatre. Critics described her work there as “beautifully performed” with a “lovely unforced naturalness” and a compelling emotional range that carried the entire show on her shoulders. That kind of solo performance is a serious test for any actor; for Sophie, it became a calling card that she could command a stage on her own.
Television and Screen Roles Before EastEnders
Before Walford came calling, Sophie was already quietly building a strong TV CV. Her early on-screen work included short films like The Last Bus and roles in TV projects such as Ride and the dark comedy-drama Mammals.
In 2022, she appeared in the much-loved period drama All Creatures Great and Small, playing Florence Pandhi in a recurring role across several episodes. This gave audiences a glimpse of her ability to bring warmth and nuance to gentle, character-driven stories. She also showed up in the critically acclaimed true-crime drama The Sixth Commandment, further proving she can move easily between genres—from cosy period pieces to unsettling real-life drama.
These roles laid the groundwork for something bigger: a major part in one of Britain’s flagship soaps.
Priya Nandra-Hart in EastEnders: A Breakout Soap Role
In October 2023, Sophie Khan Levy arrived in EastEnders as Priya Nandra-Hart, the sharp-witted, unapologetically messy ex of Ravi Gulati and mother of Davinder “Nugget” Gulati and Avani Nandra-Hart. Her first appearance came when Nugget, who had gone missing, was discovered hiding at Priya’s flat, setting off a chain of family drama that continues to ripple through Walford.
Priya is a character full of contradictions: fiercely protective yet morally grey, vulnerable yet spiky, and not afraid to use charm or chaos to protect her own. Storylines have explored her complicated history with Ravi, the secrecy around their daughter Avani, her clashes with the powerful Panesar family and her entanglements in wider schemes on the Square.
Sophie’s performance quickly drew attention. Her Priya feels grounded and real: she wears bold hoops and padded jackets, cracks jokes, makes bad decisions, then shows flashes of raw hurt that hint at years of trauma, including the revelation that she had been abused and forced out by Ravi’s father Ranveer. That emotional complexity helped her secure a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 2024 Inside Soap Awards, marking her as one of the standout fresh faces in British soap.
Representation, Identity and Off-Screen Presence
Beyond specific roles, Sophie Khan Levy’s career also matters for what it represents. As a mixed-race British South Asian actress playing prominent, three-dimensional characters on mainstream TV and major UK stages, she contributes to a slowly more honest picture of contemporary Britain. Her work echoes the path paved by her mother, Shaheen Khan, who has long pushed for better representation of Asian stories in theatre and film.
Sophie maintains a relatively low-key presence on social media. On Instagram and X, she shares occasional behind-the-scenes shots, promotional images and playful hints about her EastEnders storylines—teasing Priya’s “claws” and enjoying fan reactions to her character’s chaos. She comes across as both grateful and slightly amused by the intensity of soap fandom, especially as Priya’s decisions spark heated debates online.
What’s Next for Sophie Khan Levy?
With a solid foundation in classical theatre, standout fringe performances and regular visibility in a hugely popular soap, Sophie Khan Levy is in a powerful position career-wise. She has already been recognised as a rising star—coming second in Digital Spy’s Reader Awards “Rising Star” poll for her work on EastEnders—and industry coverage frequently notes her range and emotional honesty.
Whether she stays in Walford for years or eventually moves on to lead roles in high-end drama, comedy or even film, the trajectory is clear: she’s an actor who can carry both intimate one-woman shows and sprawling ensemble storylines. For viewers, that means one thing—keep an eye on Sophie Khan Levy. If Priya Nandra-Hart has already made a lasting impression, her creator is only just getting started.