FARAH - SOUTH ASIAN

Name: Farah Merani
 

Ethnicity: South Asian
 

Role(s) in the industry: Actor, Creator, Activist, Educator

IG Handle: @fa_me, @screenwmn

What communities do you identify with: Women, South Asian, Canadian, Muslim, Ismaili, Pansexual

What are you stereotyped as: Stereotype 1: Muslim terrorist torn between honoring her family by seeking vengeance for her father killed by American soldiers and pursuing her academic career at Oxbridge- I turned down this offer on a big network episodic hour long and in doing so, my manager at the time subsequently dropped me.  Stereotype 2: The good Indian girl exploring her sexuality and gender identity while her family expectations of an arranged marriage weigh heavy on her, the weight of living two separate lives that eventually will collide.

What are you actually like (even the things people might not know about you!):  I'm a deep thinking goofball with a wicked sense of humor and sharp wit. My intellectual pursuits are pretty equally matched by my physical prowess and abilities, a positive relationship with my body that has evolved over years of struggle and dysmorphia. What I used to shy away from in my sexuality is now where I draw my divine feminine power. And I'm reclaiming the word Witch.

What's a role that spoke to you whether it represented your ethnicity in a positive way or your ethnicity did not define the role: Sandra Oh as Eve in Killing Eve.

What's a dream role for you: Lady M to Riz Ahmed's Macbeth. Anything on Star Trek!

What message would you like to send to the entertainment industry: Our screens should look like the streets of this country's biggest and busiest streets. True representation isn't just about the faces on the screen but about the stories those people get to tell.