Anjana Vasan likes surprises. The Olivier-winning actor is drawn to characters who do the things you least expect. In the Channel 4 sitcom We Are Lady Parts, she played a nerd who forms a punk band with a group of Muslim women. To land the part, she bit the head off a flower in the audition – and ended up with a Bafta nomination. In A Streetcar Named Desire, which recently finished its West End transfer, she starred as Stella – a character often perceived as passive and feeble but who actually holds considerable power and sway over her sister and husband. And now, in Black Mirror, she portrays a meek shoe shop assistant who starts bludgeoning people to death with bricks and hammers.
“There is a pattern,” the 36-year-old says, looking quite pleased at the connection. “They are characters where you maybe underestimate what they’re capable of, or there’s something that doesn’t match who they are.” She’s speaking over video call from her north London home; a black tail belonging to her cat, Pirate, flicks near the corner of the screen. Vasan pauses as she thinks about why she chooses these roles. “I am someone who people have maybe underestimated,” she says. “Being someone who’s quite small, you know, and brown and foreign – in many situations I have felt that feeling of being underestimated. And I do take some relish in proving people wrong.”
