
Prasanna Puwanarajah
Prasanna Puwanarajah (Tamil: பிரசன்னா புவனராஜா; born 1981) is a British actor, director, writer, and former junior medical doctor. Puwanarajah was born at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk to Tamil Sri Lankan parents from Sri Lanka, his mother a psychiatrist and his father a dentist. He spent his early childhood on Churchill Avenue in Ipswich before the family moved to Hampshire when he was four. He participated in school plays and spent a season with the National Youth Theatre, but thought of acting as more of a hobby than a career choice at the time. He trained in Medicine at New College, Oxford. After working as a junior doctor in reconstructive surgery for over three years, Puwanarajah decided to take a year out. It was during this time he decided to become a full-time actor, describing it as "more of a strong pull towards something else" than a "push away from" his medical career.
21 acting credits · 1 directing credit
Acting · 21

The Crown
2016

The Sarah Jane Adventures
2007

Silk
2011

Patrick Melrose
2018

Too Much
2025

You, Me and the Apocalypse
2015

Critical
2015

The Listeners
2024

The Gunman
2015

Payback
2023

Ten Percent
2022

The Stoning of Soraya M.
2009

Defending the Guilty
2018

Möbius
2013

Diana
2013

National Theatre Live: London Assurance
2010

The Vote
2015

National Theatre Live: Hamlet
2010

National Theatre Live: Dara
2020

The Baby Shower
2016

Malcolm
2023
