Black/Asian actors are invisible

Published Tuesday 6 May 2008 at 12:45

I was motivated to write in response to the article (page 2, April 24) in regards to the search for black/Asian actors with the ‘right calibre and skills’ in drama.

I quite agree that youngsters from these ethnic groups may be deterred from joining a performing arts school because of financial reasons. However, the limited number of black/Asian actors in leading roles on television has a great deal more influence than it’s given credit for.

I speak from personal experience. I have been fortunate enough to have trained for eight years at a London drama school. This was not without financial hardship and sacrifice for my parents. Even though I have worked with many actors who have equally been trained to a high level of quality and skill, it seems virtually impossible to be seen by casting directors for television roles, even in light of what is termed ‘colour-blind casting’. Therefore, what is the motivation for black/Asian children to want to attend drama schools - and for adults to struggle to pay for their children to train at an academy - when the end result is invisibility?

To illustrate the point, the exhibition Underexposed, initiated by Fraser James at the National Portrait Gallery, demonstrates the cause to promote cultural diversity by celebrating the talents and achievements of black Britons. However, it is deplorable that ‘successful’ British black actors have headed for more welcoming opportunities and work in the United States. They too have trained for many years at British drama schools and have even worked for a number of years on British television. However, they have felt so dejected by the limitations and lack of recognition of their success in Britain that they have ultimately decided to uproot and turn to the United States in the pursuit of work.

For there to be a real agenda to support and encourage black/Asian drama students to train, there equally has to be an agenda for television programmers to open doors and sincerely invite black/Asian actors in, and for casting to be inclusive for all. Black actors should not want to only work in this profession but have the hope of excelling in their work, and to be cast in roles that warrant awards for their skills.

Sadly, just writing that seems laughable. I would propose that winning an award for one’s achievements is not even present in their thoughts. In this climate, just to be working is considered to be very fortunate. Winning an award should be an ambition, but the mere thought of it is alien for black actors, just as Strong says that “black communities, just don’t feel that drama school is for them, they think it is an alien nation”.

In order to excel in a profession as competitive as acting, ambitions and hopes for achievement and success have to equally be tangible for black/Asian actors, otherwise the motivation for excelling becomes misguided.

For more young people to want to pursue drama and to make a career out of it, they have to visibly see themselves being represented on television. As evident in the exhibition Underexposed, there is a generation of successful black actors who could be exposed as excellent role models for children. Until black communities are represented on television in a prolific and sustained way, I predict the search to find young black/Asian children wanting to pursue a career in acting will take more than just verbal persuasion.

Claudia Cadette

Central Park Garden

Chatham

Kent