As Queen Charlotte in Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton it’s hard to imagine anyone saying no to actress Golda Rosheuvel, but she says back in the late 90s opportunities for biracial women were often few and far between.
Born of British-Guyanese descent, the 52-year-old is very proud of her heritage, but remembers one casting decision that made her question herself.
The role in question was Mary Magdalene in hit musical Jesus Christ Superstar.
Despite having been the understudy for the role in a West End production and belted out the character’s signature song I Don’t Know How To Love Him daily during a nationwide tour, she got a surprising reaction when auditioning for a filmed theatrical production of the show.
"I didn’t get that role. I was told I was too exotic and my eyes were too close together and they gave me a role in the ensemble instead,” she recalled to Bustle. “I was hurt, but I had to sit down with myself and think, what am I going to do about this? It was the first time I had ever heard that. And I thought, what the hell does that even mean?
“I remember looking in the mirror, looking at myself knowing I was beautiful. But also knowing that I couldn’t do anything about the way I looked,” she continued.
“How are you going to deny me a role that I had been playing for two years just because I look ‘exotic’?
Not knowing at the time that she would later land roles in Death In Paradise, Silent Witness, Luther, Coronation Street and not to mention Bridgerton, she accepted the part in the ensemble figuring she might not get another opportunity to appear on screen.
The last laugh was on her however, with her performance going down so well that one of the directors conceded that they should have given her the other part.
Asked how that comment made her feel, she responded: “Empowered. I come from a school of making things work. And although the devastation of their initial comments made me feel low, I’m still standing. I get up every single time.”
On playing biracial Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton she said: "I’m overjoyed that I am able to speak out and represent biracial people and biracial artists because I don’t think we hear enough about that struggle, and the journey of coming to a whole. That took a lot of working out, a lot of mistakes, a lot of drugs and alcohol to numb the pain."
