Petina Gappah Quotes

I haven't gotten labeled as a Hispanic actor.

I do have a Mexican accent, but that doesn't mean that I'm a Latin vamp.

Coming in and out of Hollywood for pilot season, I may have to thicken my accent or hear that, physically, I'm not Latino. I not only am, but there's another 50,000 people who look exactly like me.

It didn't matter that I wore clothes from Sears; I was still different. I looked different. My name was different. I wanted to pull away from the things that marked my parents as being different.

To call somebody a Jewish composer is obviously redundant.

If people are going to complain about stereotyping, it's as likely to be Italian-Americans as gay people.

It's interesting: I think, as a Latino actor, the biggest challenge is being called 'Latino' because immediately, the world has a perception of what that means.

I was too Jewish for 'Flashdance.'

They just think I'm a white dude. Every once in a while someone thinks I'm Jewish. I get a lot of stuff, but never Latino.

Somebody told me once I wasn't Latin enough, and that made me laugh.

Being Latino and being an actor has been a unique struggle and opportunity. When you don't fit into what may be a more stereotypical vision of somebody whose name is Pedro is, it can be a little bit harder to navigate.

I was always typecast as a Latina.

I am not defined as a black writer in the Caribbean, but as soon as I go to America or the U.K., my place becomes black theatre. It's a little ridiculous.

I've been told that I wasn't Latino enough, which was code for 'street' enough.

I don't often get Indian girl roles because I'm 'not Indian enough.' Which is true - I'm from Texas.

I've lived 16, 17 years of my life in Asia, and that's most of my life. I was born in Asia - I've lived cultures that are synonymous with Asian culture - but it's still not Asian enough for some people.

With the first novel, I was concerned I would be pigeon-holed as an Asian-American writer, and the book would be labeled for Asian-Americans only.

Does a black person make them an African American? No. There are Hispanics that are very, very dark skinned so the word has lost its meaning, it's not a very concise or proper word to use even today and it wasn't then.

I'd like it if people thought I was Jewish looking.

I'm a little bit of everything. Sometimes people think I'm not Puerto Rican, because my name doesn't sound Spanish.

I don't think that because I am Hispanic I should therefore do Hispanic work.

People would write me hate letters. How dare I try to represent Hispanics when I was so white? I tried to make them see it was racism.

I am Ecuadorian but people felt so safe passing me off as a skinny, blue-eyed white girl.

Watching 'Girls,' it was really angering for me at first, because I really had spent decades hiding unlikable, unattractive Jewish girls in likable, attractive, non-Jewish actors and characters.

Other people have a nationality. The Irish and the Jews have a psychosis.