Mandana was born on the 26th february 1967 to her Welsh father and Iranian Mother. She has two brothers. Mandana is a piscean. Tall with brown eyes and brown hair.

Her Head of English encouraged her to take up acting when she was unsure what she wanted to do with her life. She began building up her CV and one of her first jobs was an usherette in London's West End. Then she got into drama school (the same school attended by Bad Girls Series 3 co-star Helen Grace) The Drama School. Her theatre credits include 'Midsummer Nights Dream' at the National in 1992, 'Hove' at the National 1993 and ''Resolution' at the Battersea Arts Centre 1994. Previously she did Julius Caesar (Compass/No 1 tour), The Merchant of Venice, Volpone (English Shakespeare Company), (The Merchant of Venice and Volpone, after a visit to the Globe Theatre in Tokyo, completed a twentyfour week UK tour), Cymbeline/The Wager (Start Here Productions tour including the Lyric and Birmingham Rep Studios). She was also in a film called Flesh and Blood.

Her role on ITV award winning drama Bad Girls is what most people associate her with.
Mandana became a gay icon to millions of women through her role on Bad Girls playing Nikki Wade and is very proud of the shows achievements. But before Nikki she played parts such as a Doctor on London Bridge.

"I love how she is incredibly outspoken, honest and intelligent and not scared. Playing someone as confident as she is, I think it would be great to be like that. Sometimes it's hard to achieve because I'm not like that." - on her character Nikki Wade

"I have had some astonishing letters that say things like, "my life is easier because of you" and "My parents who threw me out the house when I told them I was gay, have asked me to come home again after 18 months" It's very exciting to think you're doing something like that, something that is causing some sort of positive change. Everybody wants to make a difference in life and I feel very privileged to have been given the opportunity to do so." - On her role in Bad Girls