BIPOC on the big screen

I have always loved acting. I remember doing elementary school plays and my friend’s dad coming into our school to give drama workshops when we were kids. Even when I didn’t get speaking parts, I was happy to be a part of an ensemble, to be a part of a production. I loved the energy, the costumes, the buzz. When I was in high school, I was lucky to attend a school with a great theatre program. We had two wonderful drama teachers that created an open and welcoming environment. I loved spending time in that theatre - so many wonderful memories and friendships were created in that space.

As a visible minority, I always felt a measure of discomfort at playing white characters both on- and off-stage. Some early memories of this:

• In 3rd grade my friends were obsessed with the 1997 animated film Anastasia. We took turns playing Anastasia while re-enacting the movie and singing all the songs. I remember feeling like I shouldn’t really play Anastasia, as I looked nothing like her, and my friends did.

• When I wanted to dress up as a character for Halloween, such as [insert name of 99.99% of any character from any show, network or movie in North America]. I felt fraudulent for dressing up like a white character… but what other choices were there? Oh, let me tell you, because it’s a short list:

  1. Mulan

  2. Pocahontas - we’re both dark-skinned… close enough, right?

  3. I could “get away” with Spinelli from the Disney TV show Recess

That’s it. That was the list, circa 2000.

However, when I was in high school, I didn’t feel as constrained by the social construct of race - as much. It didn’t really seem to matter that I was Chinese in the roles I played. Sure, they may have been originally written for or were originally played by white women, but it wasn’t an issue.

In 12th grade, I applied for a local District scholarship that was meant for you to highlight an elective course, trade or volunteer work. You had to dedicate a certain number of hours on a project and complete a presentation on your work. I chose to prepare a theatrical performance to compete for this scholarship. My drama teacher had a bunch of scripts available and I searched through them to see what called out to me. I remember choosing one - and for the life of me I can’t remember what play it is from now - that took place in Germany during WWII. I didn’t do an accent or anything like that, but contextually, one would know it was set in Germany during the war. Sometimes I think back on this and wonder if the panel of adjudicators found this choice odd at all? The present-Carman thinks this may have been an odd choice, but I also trust that there was something else in this particular scene that made it worth choosing and the social construct of race didn’t matter so much with that in mind.

At that point in my high school career, I was strongly considering two post-secondary choices: International Relations, to chase my dream of working for the U.N. and help “save the world”, or pursue acting because I truly loved acting. I decided not to pursue acting - for several reasons (i.e. I’m quite risk-averse, I didn’t want to play those odds!), and one of them was most definitely race. I did not want an acting career where I could only play stereotypes, or play the 0.001% of roles written for Asian women, or where I would receive masked racist rejections (i.e. “you’re just not exactly what we’re looking for”). I could tell, even at the age of 18, that I would be driven mad by the boxes people would try to put me in, or the glass walls and ceilings into which I could easily be entrapped. (If you’ve watched Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, he hits the nail on the head re: typecasting and making it as a BIPOC actor).

I’m not saying I would have made it - I have no idea if I could’ve hacked theatre school or that incredibly competitive industry! But this is just a part of my story. I am so thrilled to see more racial diversity in the shows and movies I watch now - so another young coloured girl out there won’t feel so boxed in - she could even picture herself being a LEAD! It’s really so inspiring.

I was also so inspired to find out that the very talented Dianne Doan - someone I met in that wonderful high school theatre - a fellow Asian woman, no less - she did pursue acting and she’s had an absolutely amazing career. She broke through those walls and I seriously could not be more thrilled!

Here are some shows with racially diverse casts/leads that I've been enjoying:

Here are a few recent movies written & directed by BIPOC, starring BIPOC that I loved:

Here are some racially diverse children's shows my family watches: