DIDIHOOD ~ Issue 51

Welcome to May! 

We were so overwhelmed with all the love last month celebrating our fourth birthday and with the weather getting better, we hope to host some in-person events very soon. In the meantime we do have exciting news. In honour of Asian Heritage Month, Didihood, along with South Asian Tamil Women’s Collective, and Tamil Women Rising will be launching The Didi Creative Fund.

This fund aims to bolster the creative sector in the Canadian South Asian community by encouraging and funding the work of new and tenured artists who self-identify as South Asian, Tamil women and gender diverse folks. For more details on the application process and details, please check out our website. 

Meet the Didi:
This month's Meet the Didi is Sarah DeSouza-Coelho, actor and creator of Back to One: The Web Series. 

Tell us about your acting journey so far.
As cliché as it is, I've loved performing in any capacity ever since I was a kid. After leaving theatre school in 2013, I decided to take my acting career into my own hands. I landed an agent, enrolled in on-camera acting classes and began auditioning for roles in commercials, shows and films. Over the years, I've met and worked with such talented artists and I'm fortunate enough to have been a part of award-winning projects. Just last year, I was featured in three national commercials! With everything I've learned in the span of my career so far, I'm so excited to finally build something of my own with my web series Back to One. 

Tell us about this new web series. 
Back to One stemmed from reflecting on the ebbs and flows of being a 20-something trying to pave my own path in my personal and professional life. The series follows an ambitious 25-year-old Guyanese-Canadian actress named Sarah Rampersaud living in Toronto. Over the course of five episodes, Sarah must find the strength within herself to face the repercussions of quitting her day job to pursue her career as an actor, trying to appease her very traditional West Indian mother and diving into a romance with someone that believes in her more than she knows. 

While Back to One will inspire young artists of colour to go after their dreams, a theme commonly used in shows, what separates it from other independent web series is that it highlights the dynamics of the often over-looked Indo-Caribbean community. 

In March, my team and I launched an Indiegogo campaign to spread awareness and raise funds to create the pilot episode. Through the campaign, it was touching to see the support from both my loved ones and individuals that genuinely believe in the essence and impact of the story. 

As a brown woman, have you faced any barriers in your career?
Absolutely. When a casting breakdown for an upcoming commercial, TV show or film is posted, there are requirements written in the descriptions for each character (age, ethnicity, personality traits, etc.). Nowadays, there are a lot more roles that are labelled as "open ethnicity," which is amazing. But I can't tell you how many times I've gone out for roles that are labelled as "East Indian" or under the umbrella term "South Asian." As someone with brown skin, I get put into these boxes and because of the intricacies of my Indo-Caribbean identity, I'm left feeling like I'm not "South Asian" enough to embody these characters.  

The reason I still pursue these roles is because ethnic-specific roles for someone like myself are still very slim. In fact, out of all my years in the industry, there has been only one opportunity where I've gotten to audition for a Guyanese character. 

Why was it important for you to make this series now?
I think for so long I felt really stuck as an artist and actor of colour. Although I'm blessed with bigger auditions now more than ever before, the film industry still has a long way to go in terms of diverse casting and accurate representation. Throughout the course of my career, I've also been working endlessly to improve my craft and be a better artist. At the end of the day, I know the skills I have under my belt and I felt like I was lacking the opportunities to express them. 

The pandemic has been filled with so many ups and downs for a lot of us. Personally, I think the silver lining was that it really forced me to sit with the fact that there has never been a series that has explored the intricacies of the Indo-Caribbean/West Indian culture, which honestly breaks my heart. 

With all these factors in mind, I felt the need to take action. Not only did I want to give myself and other Caribbean artists the opportunity to showcase our gifts, but I wanted to shine a light on my heritage. These past couple years have shown me that time is fragile and there really is no better time than now. 

What's your advice to other Didis who want to make a web series as well?
Everyone you meet is a connection worth keeping. Don't be afraid to reach out to your peers or people you've worked with in the past for advice or help. One connection will lead to another. It took some trial and error, but if I didn't take that step, I wouldn't have such a well-versed team on Back to One!

What we're reading:
Changing The Narrative: These South Asian-Origin Women Are Forces To Reckon With in Elle magazine

An Online Platform Spans Millennia of South Asian Art by Jasmine Liu

Ms. Marvel Star Explains Why It's So 'Weird' Watching Herself In the MCU by The Direct

Upcoming events: 

— Arti Patel
Issue 51
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