JC
Nirali Magazine highlights Navi Rawat, an up and coming actress in her 20s. She is recently getting a lot of attention for her ability to play a diversity of roles (the New York Daily News just named her a “Hot Face to Watch” in its January issue). In this article, she discusses her mixed heritage (German and Indian) and how it has positively affected her acting career. Another “Generation Ethnically Ambiguous” success story (tongue in cheek of course)! Thanks to Renu for the heads up on this article!

…Rawat initially felt self-conscious about her ethnicity. “I definitely struggled with that when I was younger, trying to fit in. I went to a school where all the kids were Caucasian and made fun of me for my skin color.” Rawat would have the last laugh, though, as she soon found a way to use her distinctive appearance to her advantage. Relying on a family friend’s connections, Rawat moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and quickly found a manager. “It was different when I was growing up, but it’s all fine now. Since I first started acting, I’ve found [my ethnicity] to be beneficial instead of something to overcome.”

Indeed, Rawat’s exotic good looks make her something of a chameleon, helping her play characters from widely differing backgrounds. Her breakthrough role on the hit Fox television series, 24, was not specifically written for an ethnic actress, and she portrayed a Hispanic girl on the wildly popular teen soap The O.C. On CBS’ new crime drama Numb3rs, she plays an Indian graduate student studying mathematics. “They specifically wanted someone who was ethnic in that part. They were initially interested in an Indian actresses [to play] someone whose family was traditionally Indian but who grew up in the States. But I just did a movie where I was not [ethnic] at all. Yesterday, I was in an audition with all girls who were blonde. I’m not too worried about [typecasting] at this point.”