Freida Pinto is an Indian actress and professional model, best known for her performance as Latika in her debut film Slumdog Millionaire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2009.

Freida was born in Mumbai to Sylvia Pinto, now a principal of St. John’s Universal High School (Goregaon), and Frederick Pinto, a senior branch manager at the Bank of Baroda. Pinto studied at Carmel of St. Joseph School in Malad and completed her Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English Literature from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. She currently resides in Malad, a suburb of Mumbai. She is also trained in different forms of Indian classical dance as well as Salsa.

Before starring in Slumdog Millionaire, Freida anchored the international travel show, Full Circle on Zee International Asia Pacific in English between 2006-08. Pinto was also featured in several television and print advertisements for products such as Wrigley's Chewing Gum, Škoda, Hutch, Airtel, and DeBeers. Pinto modeled for ten years and appeared in runway shows and magazine covers. She learned acting from The Barry John's Acting Studio in Andheri and was trained by her mentor Barry John. After six months of auditions, she received a call to audition for Slumdog Millionaire. Pinto auditioned for Danny Boyle and was short-listed and finally selected to star in Slumdog Millionaire.

Pinto made her film debut in 2008. Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a young man from the slums of Mumbai who appears on a game show and exceeds people's expectations, arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. In the movie, Pinto played the role of Latika, the girl with whom Jamal (Dev Patel is in love. At the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, the movie won the Cadillac People's Choice Award. At the 2009 Golden Globe Awards, the movie won four awards. Pinto herself was nominated for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" at the 2009 BAFTA Awards, and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture alongside ten other cast members from Slumdog Millionaire.

Pinto has been cast in Woody Allen's next film set in London. Other cast members include Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins Antonio Banderas and Naomi Watts Shooting for the film starts in July 2009.