The Big Bang Theory
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When a television series is on for long enough, there are going to be a lot of memorable storylines and a lot of recurring characters that make their impact felt. “The Big Bang Theory” is certainly one of those shows, airing nearly 300 episodes during its run that lasted for 12 years. There were a lot of characters brought in, including family members that hadn’t been mentioned during the early seasons. Among them is Priya, who was played by Aarti Mann, and to date it has been her biggest role.
Mann comes from Connecticut, where she was born on March 3, 1978 after her parents had moved to the United States from India. Mann’s parents both worked in the medical field, and eventually made their way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where Mann attended school. “I’m the daughter of two Indian immigrant doctors, and I have an older sister and younger brother, and none of us have pursued medicine as a career,” she said. “We’re all over the artistic side of things.”
She was an excellent student, but didn’t take acting classes while growing up like many future stars. That didn’t mean she didn’t have a passion, though. “My mom always knew I was going to be an actor because I was a ham from the very beginning, so she would push me toward it, which is really unconventional for Indian families to do,” Mann said. The lack of acting remained true even as she went to New York University, a school known for its film program, and she earned her degree while finally getting in some acting classes. From there, she started off her acting career.
Mann made her acting debut in the 2006 independent film “The Memsahib”, and had a brief cameo in a film called “Monsoon” the same year. It was a short film, and that’s what Mann would be doing with the next couple of years during her career. Then, in 2008, Mann had her television debut on the show “Quarterlife” in one episode of the NBC series.
The next year, Mann appeared once again on an episode of “Heroes”, and then followed it up with a one-off role in the long-running soap opera “The Young and the Restless”. In 2010, Mann landed the role that she has become most well known for as Priya Koothrappali on “The Big Bang Theory”. For two seasons, she was a recurring character on the hit CBS series.
Mann’s role was that of the younger sister of Raj Koothrappali, who was played by Kunal Nayyar. Priya became an attorney and came to visit Raj and his friends and it was learned that she had a relationship with Leonard Hoffstedter, who was played by Johnny Galecki. The two rekindled their relationship during this part of the series, much to the dismay or Raj and their parents. Though she stopped appearing on the show after the fifth season, Priya was mentioned several times and she turned out to become married as well.
Mann loved her time on the set and wasn’t quite finished when she was written off the show. “I would love to come back and see where it goes with Leonard and Priya,” she said when her storyline was wrapping up. “But no contracts have been signed.” The dialogue was left open in case they wanted to bring her back in the subsequent seasons, though. “It was revealed to me after we shot the show that (executive producer) Bill (Prady) wanted to leave the option open for Priya to come back later in the season,” she said.
During this time, Mann also had films with “Pox” and the short movie “Worker Drone”. Since then, Mann has had several film roles, most of them being independent films. “Love Sonia” is her most notable feature film that was shot in India, and her most recent film was 2018’s “sharon 1.2.3.”
On television, Mann has had several more guest television appearances after “The Big Bang Theory”. She was in “Suits”, “Wendell & Vinnie” and “Scandal” all in 2013. In 2015 she was in an episode of “NCIS: New Orleans” and most recently in 2017 with “Grey’s Anatomy”. Mann has also been busy with her home life, as she’s gotten married and had a child since her “Big Bang” appearance.
Mann isn’t finished with acting, though. She’s not looking for major film roles, as she’s been doing short films and independent productions throughout her entire career on top of her guest appearances. Honestly, she finds them to be quite beneficial. “I’d really love to get back into commercials, actually,” Mann said. “I love how quick and breezy they are. And honestly, they pay really well.”
One of the reasons that “The Big Bang Theory” had such success was because of how all of the actors, whether they be part of the main cast, recurring characters or guests, all got along swimmingly. Prady and co-creator Chuck Lorre had worked with many of the actors before, but Mann was a new one. Thankfully, she fit in just fine.
Galecki noted about how well Mann blended into the set of “The Big Bang Theory” “We just really loved Aarti,” he said. “And her work ethic kind of melded with everybody else’s.” With one of the highest paid actors in recent television history giving that solid of a review, she probably wouldn’t struggle to find work if she wanted to look hard enough.
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