‘The Blacklist’: Why Did Meera Malik Actor Parminder Nagra Leave the Show?
Meera Malik’s time on the show ended after the first season of NBC’s The Blacklist, but her story returns in season 10. Meera’s daughter Siya joins the task force looking for answers about her mother’s secretive life and mysterious death. Parminder Nagra portrayed Meera in The Blacklist. Here’s why she is no longer on the show.
Parminder Nagra enjoyed playing Meera Malik on ‘The Blacklist’
Parminder Nagra portrayed Meera Malik during season 1 of The Blacklist. The actor enjoyed tackling yet another powerful female character in the NBC show.
“Playing a bad-ass character, I have to say I am enjoying it probably a bit too much sometimes,” the English actor stated in a 2014 interview with Tulsa World.
“It’s very empowering. I love it. I really, really do enjoy playing such a strong female character. It’s nice. And you don’t get a lot of those parts, especially on TV, for women that are so strong.”
Why did Parminder Nagra leave ‘The Blacklist’? Her character died at the end of season 1
The short answer as to why Parminder Nagra left The Blacklist is that her character Meera was killed off in the season 1 finale. Berlin attacks the task force while Donald Ressler and Meera work on an assignment. Liz tries to warn them, but her message arrives too late, and an unnamed assailant slits Meera’s throat.
Nagra doesn’t seem to have anything negative to say about working on The Blacklist, so it’s possible that her stint on the show was always meant to be short-lived. The actor has never given a specific reason for leaving the show.
However, since her departure, Parminder has worked on several big-name movies and TV shows. She appeared in Netflix’s Bird Box, as well as the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black-ish, and 13 Reasons Why. Before her time on The Blacklist, she also appeared in ER and Bend It Like Beckham.
Siya Malik searches for answers about her mother’s death in season 10
Though Parminder Nagra’s character Meera Malik is no longer on The Blacklist, her storyline returns in season 10. The task force meets Meera’s daughter Siya, who decides to join the group in order to learn more about her mother’s life and death.
“Finding out the truth about Meera is really the emotional core and the driving force for Siya,” Anya Banerjee said of her character to NBC Insider.
“So she will stop at nothing to find the truth. And as Siya gets more ingrained within the Task Force, we’ll learn more about her personal backstory and her own skills and unique talents as an MI6 agent.”
Banerjee added, “She has to walk a fine line between doing her job and helping the Task Force, and also learning from Red what secrets he might have about her own mother. So it gets very interesting and tricky there between them.”
New episodes of The Blacklist Season 10 air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
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