Champions
Georgina Naidu
Georgina Naidu is an Australian actor best known for her role as Phrani Gupta in the ABC's Seachange series. She has also written and produced an autobiographical play (Yellowfeather) about a girl's life long search for identity through popular culture.
People who know me and have worked with me,
see me as my ability rather than as an ethnic actor
Your play explores issues around "fitting in" and understanding cultural differences. What were your experiences of growing up in a predominantly white-Anglo society?
I never saw my family's culture represented on TV - there was the lady who used to do yoga and that was pretty much it, everyone else on TV was white. In primary school I used to get called names and at one point I even wanted to change schools. I had to deal with a lot of racism. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I actually realised that other people were having multicultural experiences as well, not just me and my family get-togethers on the weekend!
Any advice for people who are in similar situations now?
What helped me get through was learning the skills to deflect and to turn around my thinking from 'there's something wrong with me' to 'what are they frightened of?' Then I could start to feel compassion for them.
How did you come up with the title of the play?
When I was young I remember one day watching Daniel Boone on TV. My dad joked that the puncture in his arm was from a wound from an arrow. So from the age of 3, I thought I was an American Indian and I felt very strongly that I had been denied my traditional name and thought I should be named something like "Yellowfeather". And that's where the title came from. It represents the confusion I felt as a child about my identity.
What message were you hoping people would come away with from watching your play, "Yellowfeather"?
A lot of very intelligent, aware people don't seem to be aware of the way the media represents our culture. I wanted to open peoples eyes but in a way where people could see the funny side of how I dealt with things.
How do you think schools can contribute to intercultural understanding?
I think story telling is always a great starting point. Get a class of children and ask them where they are originally from. A lot of Anglo kids might say they are dinky di Aussies but if you get them to think of their true origins, unless they are indigenous Australians, their people would have come from somewhere. If you can get a roomful of kids together sharing a unique story of where their family came from - they start realising that essentially everyone is a boat person and has come from somewhere else. It's empowering to share and listen to people’s stories and it might even help them look with different eyes at people whom they perceive to be different.
Do you think the Arts in Australia is representative of the wider society?
No. Arts in Australia is moving so slowly compared to the UK and the US, where they actually have policies in place where non Anglo people have to be cast and the good thing is they don't need to make excuses for it. In Australia if I'm cast and the character is of neutral ethnic background, the director or producer will think "How can I justify casting Georgina? They just don't think colour blind casting.
How do you think we can change this?
I think by people who are aware telling their story, encouraging discussion, challenging the norm and most importantly doing really great work that speaks for itself! We also need to change policy and get legislation passed that requires a cast to have a certain percentage of people from non English speaking backgrounds - representative of the percentage in wider society.
What's next for you?
I'm in my second last semester of a law degree, studying to be a human rights lawyer. Not sure what's next artistically - trying to do a bit of everything, writing, and some guest roles. It's great to be studying and to be able to choose as opposed to being desperate for the work. It's much more relaxed this way.
What sparked your interest in human rights?
I became really passionate about the asylum seeker issues in Australia. I was doing some corporate work as an actor to educate people in the workplace about racism and one of the people who spoke each day was a guy who had been detained in a detention centre for 2 years. Everyday when he told his story I would get more and more upset and angry. I joined Actors for Refugees and I would go to rallies and give speeches and think 'Why isn't anyone doing anything about this?!' Then I thought 'I can't be angry at other people when I'm not really doing anything myself, so I'll go and study law!'
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