Bridgerton's Charithra Chandran said friends told her she only got cast as Edwina because she's "brown"

24 March 2022, 18:15

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By Katie Louise Smith

"What's really scary is that you can start believing it and thinking, 'The only reason I got cast as Edwina is because they were looking for an Indian family.'"

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When Bridgerton season 2 drops on Friday March 25th, fans all over the world will be introduced to Charithra Chandran, the actress set to bring Edwina Sharma to life on-screen.

Back in April 2021, it was confirmed that Charithra would join the cast as Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley)'s younger sister. Bridgerton is now Charithra's biggest on-screen role to date, and fans are thrilled that Netflix found the perfect actress to portray the role.

But Charithra has now shared that some of her friends were not very supportive when she landed the life-changing job, as they claimed she was only cast "due to a diversity quota."

Charithra Chandran was cast as Edwina Sharma back in 2021. Picture: Alamy, Netflix

In an interview with The Telegraph, Charithra opened up about the negative comments that she experienced after landing a highly sought after role on the second biggest Netflix series of all time.

Charithra, who was born in Scotland and is of South Asian heritage, explained that some people – her 'friends' – dismissed her success and assumed her casting on the series was "due to a diversity quota".

The actress said: "I've even had friends say to me, 'Oh you got that because you're brown,' and that really hurts. What's really scary is that you can start believing it and thinking, 'The only reason I got cast as Edwina is because they were looking for an Indian family.'"

Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran play Kate and Edwina Sharma. Picture: Netflix

In the interview, Charithra also touched on the impact that Bridgerton's inclusive and diverse casting will have on TV industry – period dramas, in particular: "I think that Bridgerton has done for TV what Hamilton did for theatre. It encouraged a totally different audience to watch period drama and romances. And it made us feel seen on screen."

She added: "I've always wondered how we can accept aliens and superheroes, but, you know, it's a struggle to accept a brown or Black princess? Is that where you draw the line? Maybe a mermaid is OK. So I think as a society, we've just become more creative."

Charithra also stressed the importance of diversity behind the scenes too: “I would love to see more crew who are Black and brown. I think that’s really important. We should be careful about just sort of window dressing."