‘Do You Know Who Simone Ashley Had To Kill For Bridgerton?’ — Inside The Ruthless Audition Circuit For Women Of Colour

Over the last few years, we're finally starting to see more films and TV shows featuring more than one woman of colour. But despite the success of Never Have I Ever, Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther, this representation is still rare, and often felt hardest by culturally diverse actors on the audition circuit.

Sri Lankan Australian actor Menik Gooneratne is all too familiar with feeling limited when auditioning for roles. The former Neighbours star, who recently moved back to Melbourne after seven years in Los Angeles, says she's often been typecast or faced immense competition at auditions, because usually only one brown woman can get the gig. Her real-life experience has inspired her new short film, To The Death, co-created by and co-starring fellow South Asian Australian actor, Yasmin Kassim.

"Do you know who Simone Ashley had to kill for Bridgerton?" is one of the standout comical lines from the 10-minute satirical film, which follows two South Asian women in Los Angeles who must fight to the death for a role — because it's practically impossible to have more than one brown person on a TV show or in a film.

"Writing this and being part of it was very cathartic," Gooneratne tells Refinery29 Australia, explaining that she and Kassim drew on their similar experiences auditioning for roles in the United States, but also in Australia's far smaller acting industry.

"We both sort of knew each other when working in Australia previously," she says. "Because the industry was so small here and the roles were so sparse, it really did foster that idea of competitiveness and this other person being your competition."

Fast forward five years, and the pair bumped into each other at an improv class. "I was like, 'That's right, you're that bitch. You're that person where I wish the piano would fall on your head when we're in Australia,'" Gooneratne laughs.

Tokenism, typecasting, the limited number of roles for people of colour (POC), and the industry's overall ignorance, not only result in fewer women of colour on screen, but forces these actors to turn against one another. Gooneratne and Kassim eventually realised that they are stronger as allies, and can work together to draw attention to this issue and hopefully evoke change.

"The film came about from our talks and discussions about the misconceptions we had about each other or the industry at home, and this idea of coming together and how you can't ignore us if we're here," says Gooneratne.

The actor made history in 2011, when she debuted on Aussie soap Neighbours as part of the show's first-ever Indian family. Since leaving the program in 2013, she's starred in Hollywood films such as Mortal Engines and Lion. But Gooneratne is far from the only one to move overseas in the hopes of furthering her acting career.

Crazy Rich Asians star Chris Pang moved to LA in 2013, telling ABC's Stop Everything! podcast that "the industry in Australia, for me to be able to survive, especially at the time, there was very little work for ethnic actors".

Wedding Season star Pallavi Sharda previously moved to India to make her mark in acting, after being told by a teacher in Australia "that I couldn't dye my hair blonde, so I shouldn't bother sending it in to camera-facing networks".

Gooneratne naturally compares what the opportunities are like for POC actors in Australia compared to overseas, and says the American industry is more advanced, especially because there are more POC behind the camera.

"More often than not in America, if there's a storyline around family or a particular ethnicity, you will have a writer on staff [from that background]," she says. "It's not as rare anymore to see a South Asian casting director or associate producer, or to see that the writer of the episode that you're in is actually South Asian."

She also notes that she comes across some roles that don't necessarily revolve around ethnicity. "It's not just about being a brown person and talking about the fact that you're brown and the brown things that you do," she says.

But Hollywood is still far from perfect, and there's more work to be done.

To The Death isn't just about showing two brown women facing the still very true reality of fighting it out for one role. It's about getting the audience and film execs to think about what the industry could be if it achieved authentic representation over tokenism by hiring more people of colour in writing rooms and studios.

"It can't just be lip service. It's not just having a brown face and ticking a box," says Gooneratne. "You need the writers, the show runners and the director."

Until we see more of these changes, on-screen representation will continue to remain rather limited. Not only will talented actors miss out on roles, but diverse audiences will also miss out on seeing the representation they so desperately crave.