Charithra Chandran admits it “hurts” that people assume she works because of “diversity quotas”.
The 25-year-old actress is set to star as Edwina Sharma in the new ‘Bridgerton’ series and she admitted she followed a ‘scary’ chain of thought believing her casting wasn’t down to talent .
She said: “People assume that my success is due to a diversity quota. I’ve even had friends say to me, ‘Oh, you have that because you’re brunette,’ and that really hurts. .
“What’s really scary is you can start to believe it and think, ‘The only reason I was cast as Edwina was because they were looking for an Indian family. “
But Chandran thinks the Netflix period drama’s “color-conscious” cast has been good for the industry.
She told the Telegraph magazine: “I think ‘Bridgerton’ did for TV what ‘Hamilton’ did for theatre.
“It encouraged a whole different audience to watch period dramas and romances. And it made us feel seen on screen.
People also read…
“It would be very difficult to have a period drama now that isn’t diverse.”
The actress welcomed the opportunity to participate in her character because she wanted to use her platform in the most positive way possible.
She said: “The writers were really open to having conversations. We all had their numbers and they were just like, ‘I’m in Texas, it’s cool, it’s jet lag, just call…’
“I really made it clear what I wanted for this young lady. It was a bit scary because I was so new to the business, but I knew what I wanted.
“As a dark-skinned Indian, I may never have access to this platform again, so I needed to use it in a positive way.
“I’m really passionate about dark-skinned representation. And seeing two dark-skinned South Asian women in the biggest show in the world is iconic.”
This article was originally published on famoustainment.com.
