MONYA - INDIAN AMERICAN

Name: Monya De

Ethnicity: Indian-American

Role(s) in the industry: Actor, Screenwriter, Director, Medical Consultant

IG Handle: @drmonyade 

What communities do you identify with: Women, Bengali Indian

What are you stereotyped as: People think that I am *from* India and immediately switch to asking about my partner and whether he is a doctor. So at the same time I'm being put in a box of "not interesting" "only interested in being with a doctor" and "lets see if they are a wealthy couple". (Nothing could be farther from this, by the way). At one point I asked the Lyft driver "Can you just ask me the things you ask white people?" 

What are you actually like (even the things people might not know about you!):  Entrepreneurial, exacting, creative, daring.

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: I LOVED auditioning for Inspector Das in Red Notice. She speaks Italian fluently, she's smart, she opens the film, and she COULD have been played by a white woman but was written with an Indian name. Good job to writer Rawson Thurber, or whoever gave him the idea to do that! 

What's a dream role for you: I would love to play a rock musician so that learning to play guitar would be part of my job. And the costumes would be amazing.

What message would you like to send to the entertainment industry: *Cast*and*write*us*as*the*lead*not*the*sidekick.