Freida Pinto was born in Mumbai in a Catholic Christian family. Her mother, Sylvia Pinto is a principal of St John’s Universal High School (Goregaon), and father Frederick Pinto, a senior branch manager at the Bank of Baroda. Her family belongs to Mangalore. Pinto has done her schooling from Carmel of St Joseph School in Malad and finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from St Xavier`s College, Mumbai.
She currently resides in Malad, a suburb of Mumbai. Her elder sister Sharon Pinto is working as an associate producer in NDTV news channel. Before starring in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, Freida anchored the international travel show, Full Circle on Zee International Asia Pacific between 2006-07. Pinto also appeared in several television and print advertisements for products such as Wrigley`s Chewing Gum, Škoda, Hutch, Airtel, and DeBeers.
Pinto had also done modelling for two 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’.