Biography

Jacqueline Fernandez (born 11 August 1985) is a Sri Lankan actress, former model, and the winner of the Miss Sri Lanka Universe pageant of 2006. Fernandez was born and raised in Bahrain into a multiracial family, where her ancestors belong from Canada, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. After graduating in Mass communication and working as a journalist in Sri Lanka, she accepted offers to join the modeling industry. She was crowned the Miss Sri Lanka Universe 2006, and represented her country at Miss Universe 2006 held in Los Angeles.

While on a modelling assignment in India in 2009, Fernandez got an offer to join Hindi film industry, thus making her acting debut in Sujoy Ghosh's fantasy drama Aladin. For the film, she won an IIFA Award for Best Female-Debut. Fernandez gained recognition with her appearance in Mohit Suri's erotic-thriller Murder 2 (2011), which emerged as her first commercial success and followed it with glamorous roles in the ensemble-comedy Housefull 2 (2012) and the action-thriller Race 2 (2013) both of which were major box-office successes. In 2014, Fernandez portrayed the leading lady in Sajid Nadiadwala's Kick, which emerged as one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of all-time.

Fernandez's off-screen life includes social activism and participation in stage shows. She is also a celebrity endorser for several brands.