Recent work includes the CBS series Elsbeth, the feature film Relay, Men on Boats at Nantucket Performing Arts Center, and Cymbeline with NAATCO and Play On Shakespeare.

Born abroad and raised in New York City, Purva Bedi is a multi-lingual actor of film, television, and theater, as well as a deviser and collaborator on new work. A true craftsperson, Purva approaches each project with curiosity, rigor, and a commitment to finding the emotional truth and humanity within every character she plays.

A Drama Desk Award winner for her performance in Dance Nation at Playwrights Horizons, Purva’s theater work spans new play development, classical theater, and groundbreaking contemporary performance. Her recent theater credits include Wives (Playwrights Horizons), Dance Nation (Playwrights Horizons), Passage (Soho Rep), India Pale Ale (Manhattan Theatre Club), An Ordinary Muslim (New York Theatre Workshop), Uncommon Sense (Tectonic Theater Project), Coach Coach (Clubbed Thumb), The Lucky Ones (Boomerang Theatre Company), Men on Boats (Nantucket Performing Arts Center), and NAATCO’s Cymbeline. She has also created work extensively with Target Margin Theater, where she is an Associate Artist and serves on the Board of Directors.

Purva is passionate about the development of new work and has collaborated with playwrights, directors, and theater companies from first readings through full productions. Her development work includes projects with The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, A.C.T., Long Wharf Theatre, The Lark, New Dramatists, Ars Nova, Atlantic Theater Company, and others.

Her film credits include Relay (directed by David Mackenzie), The Assistant, Sully, Equity, Rare Objects, Americanish, Queen of Glory, A Walk Among the Tombstones, The Adjustment Bureau, Kumare, The Surrogate, Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn, Green Card Fever, The Emperor’s Club, and American Desi.

Television credits include CBS’s Elsbeth, Peacock/NBC’s One of Us Is Lying, Billions, High Maintenance, She’s Gotta Have It, Madam Secretary, Person of Interest, Nurse Jackie, The Blacklist, The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU, Gossip Girl, The West Wing, and The Drew Carey Show. She is also the co-creator and star of the comedy series Shrinkage.

In addition to her acting career, Purva is a dedicated teacher and coach. She has served on the faculty of SUNY Purchase College Conservatory and has taught master classes and coached actors through The Prep Studio, Anthony Meindl’s Actors Workshop, and private coaching. She also brings her performance expertise into executive coaching, helping leaders develop authentic communication, presence, and storytelling skills.

Purva is a member of The Actors Center Workshop Company, an Associate Artist and Board Member of Target Margin Theater, and a founding member of Disha Theatre. She studied at Williams College, the British American Drama Academy, and the Public Theater Shakespeare Lab.

Purva lives in New York City with her husband and longtime collaborator, David Andrew Stoler, where she continues her favorite and most challenging role: mother to their two children and their two large cats.