Karen Johal

Karen Johal is a British South Asian actor best known for playing Nicole Shelley in the Emmy Award-winning Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso. Most recently, she filmed a role in Season 4 of Netflix's The Diplomat, due to premiere in October, and previously played the recurring role of Noreen Khan in the first two seasons of the BBC drama Phoenix Rise.

Her screen work also includes the MTV short film The Waves, directed by BAFTA winning filmmaker Sindha Agha, Frank’s Plan for Amazon Prime and the award-winning psychological thriller Man on the Phone.

Karen has an extensive background in theatre, playing lead roles in David Harrower’s Blackbird, Moira Buffini’s Welcome to Thebes and Ayad Akhtar’s The Who and the What, performed at The English Theatre of Hamburg. Her Off-Broadway credits include The Public Theater’s production of Julius Caesar, for Shakespeare in the Park, Charly Clive’s Camel and The Journey to America at Carnegie Hall.

Born and raised in Birmingham, England, Karen is a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, New York. With a career spanning acclaimed television, independent film and international theatre, Karen is now building on her breadth of experience as she moves into the next stage of her career.