Theatre Australia

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FRUSTRATED! WHERE'S THE COLOUR-BLIND CASTING IN THIS BLOODY COUNTRY!!!

Tue, 2 May 2006, 01:52 pm
MichelleZ31 posts in thread
Just want to vent, so I apologise in advance. Ha, ha, ha, so much for Australia priding itself on being a multicultural society! HA! Where the hell is all the multi-cultural actors on our stages and screens then? I think I'm as good or on par, in regard to talent, with many actresses in their early 20s, but being of Asian appearance, I rarely get called in - and I'm a NIDA grad! (Not that that means a lot these days). I know this industry is primarily based on what you look like, but come on!!! Give us a chance to even audition for you, for christ's sakes! When are producers gonna open their eyes and realise that the Australian population is not entirely Anglo. Has anyone else experienced this frustration?! This sounds dramatic (but hey, we're actors!!), but I'm going to devote my life to changing this in the industry. I realise that even Asian actors in England and USA find it difficult to break into the industry, so I really hope to change this.

From a civilian

Wed, 5 July 2006, 09:23 am
Hi y'all – This is my first forum entry and I’m not sure if I’m eligible to comment cos I have absolutely nothing to do with the industry except as an interested bystander – one of those people who “likes to watch”…ahem. But it is from this perspective I would like to comment on Michelle’s vent about the difficulty she is facing as an actor who is Asian. I find this appalling but unfortunately not surprising As a dedicated watcher of TV and film, I have to say that I find that the face of Australia represented in these mediums quite bland. I do not see the multicultural society I participate in every day represented on the screen except in the form of tokenism or as an “issue”. I also see too much of a certain type of Anglo Australian – pretty to the eye but kind of forgettable. In comparison, I find that the characters from English TV and film are not as pretty in general – but are much more believable and representative of their diverse country. I’d love to see that in Australia.

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