The Lunchbox actress Nimrat Kaur has joined the cast of American drama Wayward Pines, and she says her casting was colour-blind.
The first season of the show revolved around a secret agent’s investigation into the disappearance of two former agents in a small Idaho town called Wayward Pines.
Kaur, who had a successful stint on another hit American show, Homeland, will play a character called Rebecca.
“It’s really wonderful to play this part as an Indian. It’s not an ethnic casting. It’s colour-blind casting. It’s really good that they are not bothered about where Rebecca comes from or what her roots are,” Kaur said.
“Obviously, I am going to appear Indian but there’s no explaining done about where she comes from or who she is. I feel this is a glorious time for actors to be working across the world. I feel fortunate to be a part of the show and I am looking forward to how this season fares,” the actress added.
Kaur, 34, says this kind of casting will eventually become a norm in the industry.
“It’s happening more and more now. I watched a play called Hamilton some months ago. There were siblings who came from different cultural background. I could not understand it for a while but then I realised that the message was that you have to be blind to colour and ethnicity. People are moving in that direction,” she said.
The focus this season is on the town’s new resident, Dr Theo. Kaur will play his architect wife.
The offer for the show came to Kaur when she was busy with her sister’s marriage.
“I took an instant liking to the way the first episode read. I had an idea about the show but it was a genre that I had never attempted before,” Kaur said.
“[A show] depends a lot on the writing. It is so much about the writers that they are also the producers of the shows. The popularity of your show depends a lot on how astute the writing is. There is so much happening that you have to keep your audience invested in your characters and story,” she added.
