Luckily, I have been offered the chance to play a South American, Hispanic and even a character from the Middle East in films. There are also a lot of TV series in the U.S. that have a strong presence of actors from India.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I have always let the lack of Indian actors in the industry drive me, not hold me back. I remember an agent in L.A. telling me a few years ago that an Indian actor wouldn't ever make it in Hollywood, but my ethnicity has helped me.
Acting for the Indian audience is surely on my bucket list; it may take some time, though.
India is a great talent pool of actors. I see Freida Pinto making it big in Hollywood, and I am sure many others can also make it.
I am lucky that the Western world chooses me to play roles in their movies an television, whatever language it may be.
I'm an international actor, but at the same time, I'm also a Bollywood actor, even though most of my career has been abroad. However, I've always kept in touch with Hindi cinema.
I grew up in Mexico, not the U.S., and the fact is that there just aren't any parts for Latin actresses. I have to persuade people that my accent won't be a problem, but an asset.
It's funny, because I've never thought of myself as a Hispanic actor, like in 'American Gangster,' I'm playing an Italian. I've always been fortunate enough to have been allowed to play all these diverse roles.
Usually, I'll be auditioning for the third lead, and there will be Latina actresses, Indian actresses, African American actresses because it will be like, 'Let's check off this box. We have our lead white girl, and we need an ethnic slot.'
I've built a career in Asia for 18 years, playing roles that had nothing to do with my race because everybody's Chinese in the films.
You don't see Indians in Hollywood films around which a story can revolve. As soon as we have a social presence in your society, I am sure there will be many actors from our part of the world that will be acting in Hollywood films.