Modeling

In effect, Lakshmi began her modeling career at age 21, when a modeling agent discovered Lakshmi while she was studying in Madrid.^[6] She has said, "I was the first Indian model to have a career in Paris, Milan, and New York. I'm the first one to admit that I was a novelty."^[10] Lakshmi was able to pay off her college loans by working as a model and actress.^{[citation needed]}

She has modeled for designers including Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti and appeared in ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Versus.^[11] She was a favorite model of the photographer Helmut Newton, whose photographs of her often highlighted the large scar on her right arm.^[12][13]

Lakshmi has appeared on the covers of Redbook, Vogue India, FHM, Cosmopolitan, L'Officiel India, Asian Woman, Elle, Avenue, Industry Magazine, Marie Claire (India Edition), Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country, and Newsweek.^[14] She also posed nude for the May 2009 issue of Allure.^[15]

She has done shoots for photographers Mario Testino and Helmut Newton.^[6][16]

Film, television, and hosting

Lakshmi served as a host of Domenica In, an Italian program, in 1997.^[17] She hosted the Food Network series Padma's Passport,^[16] which was part of the larger series Melting Pot in 2001, where she cooked recipes from around the world. She also hosted two one-hour specials in South India and Spain for the British culinary tourism show Planet Food, broadcast on the Food Network in the U.S. and internationally on the Discovery Channels.^[18] Lakshmi was also an official contributor for season 19 of The View from 2015 to 2016.^[19]

Lakshmi was a host and judge on the television show Top Chef. She also serves as an executive producer of the show. Lakshmi was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2009 and in 2020 through 2022 for Top Chef. In 2020, Lakshmi won three Critic's Choice Awards for Top Chef.^[20] In 2023 she departed from the show following the twentieth season.^[21]

Lakshmi is also the creator, host, and executive producer of Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, which premiered on Hulu on June 18, 2020,^[22] and received the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series^[23] and a Critic's Choice Award for Best Culinary Show.^[24] Taste the Nation received 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.^[25] In 2021, Hulu released a 4-episode special, Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition. In June 2022, Lakshmi received her first James Beard Foundation Award for Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition.^[26]

Her first film roles were in the Italian pirate movies The Son of Sandokan and Caraibi (Pirates: Blood Brothers). She had a comical supporting part as the lip-synching disco singer Sylk in the 2001 American movie Glitter, starring Mariah Carey. In 2002, Lakshmi made a guest appearance as alien princess Kaitaama in "Precious Cargo," the 37th episode of the science fiction TV series Star Trek: Enterprise. She portrayed Madhuvanthi in the TV movie Sharpe's Challenge (aired 2006).^[27] In 2006, she appeared in ABC's Biblical TV series The Ten Commandments as Princess Bithia. In 2009, Lakshmi starred in the video for the Eels song "That Look You Give That Guy."^[28]

She starred in the 2003 Bollywood film Boom, alongside Katrina Kaif and Madhu Sapre, as one of three supermodels accused of stealing diamonds. She played the role of Geeta in Paul Mayeda Berges's 2005 film The Mistress of Spices. Lakshmi also made a guest appearance on the NBC series 30 Rock in 2009 and appeared on Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 2014.^[29]

Books and writing

Lakshmi's first cookbook, Easy Exotic, a compilation of international recipes and short essays released in 1999, was awarded the Best First Book at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Versailles. Her second cookbook, Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet, was released on October 2, 2007,^[30] and was reissued in March 2021.^[31] Her first memoir, Love, Loss and What We Ate, was released on International's Women's Day, March 8, 2016. Also in 2016, Lakshmi's third culinary book, an encyclopedia and reference guide, The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World, was released on October 4.^[32] Her first children's book Tomatoes for Neela, released on August 31, 2021 and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, debuted fourth on The New York Times best-seller list.

• Easy Exotic: A Model's Low Fat Recipes From Around the World (1999, Hyperion Books)
• Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet: A World of Recipes for Every Day (2007, Hachette Book Group)
• Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir (2016, Ecco)
• The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World (2016, HarperCollins)
• Tomatoes for Neela (2021, Viking Children's Books)

Lakshmi also guest edited The Best American Travel Writing 2021, a collection of essays from renowned travel writers.

Lakshmi wrote a syndicated column in The New York Times^[33] and has written articles on style for the American edition of Vogue, at editor Anna Wintour's request. She also wrote a column on style for Harper's Bazaar (UK and US editions), following a commission from editor Glenda Bailey.

Philanthropy

Lakshmi is a co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing awareness, education, research, and legislative advocacy against the disease.^[43][44] The foundation was instrumental in the 2009 opening of the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research,^[45] where Lakshmi gave the keynote address.^[46]

Activism

Lakshmi is known as an advocate for immigrant rights, the independent restaurant industry,^[47] and women's rights.^[48]

Lakshmi is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ambassador for immigration and women's rights. She has also been a critic of skin-lightening creams marketed to people of color.^[49] She has also spoken about the colorism she has experienced while living in India and the United States.^[50][51]

Lakshmi was appointed United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador on March 7, 2019. "My main mission as UNDP Goodwill Ambassador is to shine a spotlight on the fact that inequality can affect people in rich and poor countries alike. Many nations have greatly reduced poverty, but inequality has proved more stubborn," said Lakshmi. "Inequality is further compounded by gender, age, ethnicity, and race. It especially affects women, minorities, and others who face unimaginable discrimination in the societies in which they live."^[52] In December 2021, she received the Advocate of the Year Award by the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA).^[53] In October 2022, Lakshmi was honored at the 20th edition of the ACLU's Sing Out For Freedom benefit concert along with Patti Smith and Shaina Taub.^[54]