Jacqueline Fernandez is a renowned Sri Lankan actress, born in Manama, Bahrain, to a multi-ethnic family. Her father, Elroy Fernandez, hails from Sri Lanka, being of Sinhalese-Catholic descent, while her mother, Kim, is of Malaysian origin. Jacqueline has two brothers and an older sister, and her parents relocated to Bahrain in the 1980s due to the Sri Lankan civil unrest, thus allowing her to be born and raised in Bahrain.
Following her schooling in Bahrain, Jacqueline was awarded a scholarship to pursue a degree in Media and Communications at the University of Sydney in Australia. This experience further fueled her passion for cultures and languages, leading her to join the Berlitz school of languages, where she honed her skills in Spanish, French, and Arabic.
In 2006, Jacqueline's remarkable journey began as she was crowned the Miss Sri Lanka title for Miss Universe 2006 in March of that year. She went on to participate in the Miss Universe 2006 pageant. After her triumph, Jacqueline ventured into television, anchoring a business show called Lanka Business Report on Sri Lankan television.
Subsequently, Jacqueline migrated to Mumbai on a modeling contract, landing a role in the Bollywood film Aladin (2009),directed by Sujoy Ghosh, alongside notable Indian stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, and Riteish Deshmukh. The success of her debut film led to her signing on with Milap Zaveri for his directorial debut, Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (2010),in which she played the role of an alien searching for love on earth. Her co-star from Aladin, Riteish Deshmukh, once again became her leading man. Jacqueline's director in Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai, Milap Zaveri, introduced her to renowned director Farah Khan, who made a guest appearance in the film. Jacqueline made a cameo appearance in the song of the movie Housefull (2010),directed by Farah Khan's younger brother, Sajid Khan.
