The entertainment industry still feels like (and frankly, is) a place where white people call all the shots. Certainly, creatives of color have put a spotlight on underrepresented voices under the mantle of the “representation matters” movement.
But with change remaining slow to come by, I find myself wondering if the creatives who cut their teeth in white Hollywood will be the ones to usher in the new era of equitable entertainment or whether it will take an outsider. Currently, it seems like neither holds the answer.
Speaking with South Asian Canadian actress, producer, and now podcaster Aliza Vellani gave me some more insight into my question—and provided some hope.
A Second Generation
Unlike other Asian actors who broke barriers under the wing of old Hollywood elites (think Ke Huy Quan) or by trampolining their international acclaim into North American entertainment (like Priyanka Chopra Jonas), Vellani came into the fold by an outsider.
Zarqa Nawaz, creator of the 2007 record-breaking Canadian sitcom Little Mosque on a Prairie, gave Vellani her acting start on Little Mosque and still serves as a strong mentor figure for her. The show surprised audiences with its faithful and unabashed portrayal of Muslim life in North America, especially given how the war on terror skewed the public perception of Islamic identity.
As an Ismaili woman, Vellani reflected on how she could not fully appreciate the impact of the show when it was first released.
“It’s only now that I see just how much diversity and inclusion was part of that show, and how really Zarqa Nawaz and CBC had pioneered diversity of storytelling in Canada,” said Vellani.
Vellani spent many of her formative teenage years in production, seeing the blueprint of “representation” in action and getting a hint of what it tastes like.
She said being on Little Mosque “set the stage for me at a very young age of what representation actually…
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