Freida Pinto thinks it would have been "easier" for her to be successful if she was starting her career now.
Freida Pinto reflects on Hollywood diversity
The 37-year-old actress - who got her big break in Danny Boyle's 2008 movie 'Slumdog Millionaire' - thinks there are more opportunities now for people of colour, but she isn't upset her "journey" has been different.
She reflected: “Maybe I could’ve done it differently. If I entered the industry now, with all the movies and TV shows that have opened the doors for people of colour it would be a lot easier for me. But I think not. No. The journey that I was on was exactly the journey I needed to be on.”
Freida praised 'Bridgerton' for helping change perceptions and doesn't think her new movie, 19th century rom-com 'Mr. Malcolm's List' would have been greenlit without the Netflix drama being so successful.
She told The Times' Saturday Review: “That took a long time to get off the ground because it seemed like a novel concept, casting everyone against type. But then Bridgerton happened and suddenly everyone thought, ‘Oh yeah! You can cast a non-white in the lead role of a period project!’ And that helped ours to get green-lit.”
And the actress admitted some of her early movies, such as playing a Palestinian in 'Miral' and an Iranian in 'Desert Dancer', would be deemed problematic now.
She said: "That shouldn’t have been allowed then, and it wouldn’t be allowed today. But back then there wasn’t a bigger name Palestinian actress to get 'Miral' off the ground, and it was only my second movie, I wasn’t going to be able to change the system by saying no, and it was my bread and butter.”
Tagged in Danny Boyle Freida Pinto