Dia Mirza Quotes

I lived in L.A. for seven years, and if you're a German actor, they always throw the Nazi parts at you.

It's nice to be thought of as attractive and all of that. On the other hand, it curtails you somewhat, too. They won't let me read for 'West Wing,' just to play, you know, a normal person. Or 'ER,' to play a doctor - the things I'm actually good at. I mean, I'm pretty good on foreign policy - they won't even let me come read for that.

People figure because I'm blonde and was a model, I just waltzed into Los Angeles and got major roles in major films.

No, the type-casting didn't happen until after Star Trek. I don't think that you get typecast until you've been cast!

Yeah, there's a tendency to get pigeonholed in Hollywood.

I was sick and tired of being an English actor who did a lot of American movies because I was cheap and good.

After that, I was offered lots of lesbian roles, but I didn't want them because I'd already played the best there was.

After I got to Hollywood, I resented that I didn't get a crack at more dramatic roles because I photographed so beautifully.

When I got to Hollywood, at first I couldn't get a lot of jobs. So I grew a beard and look like a really bad Arab, and I started to get a lot of work because that's what they want.

I'm fighting the label of 'Black' actress simply because it's very limiting in people's eyes, especially people who are making movies.

People attach too much to the idea of being a model, that you can only be a certain way to have done it. You will always be dealing with it. You're an actor who used to be a model who never trained; there are not many directors queuing up.

It's harder in the States. I'm much more inclined to get offered things that are a lot straighter and heavier and dramatic. And they go by looks, too. If you look like a leading man, then that's what they will consider you for.

People ask if I'm concerned about getting pigeonholed. No one asks, 'Ellen, you've done seven straight roles in a row. Shouldn't you shake it up, do something queer?' There's still that double standard.

I was victimized by the old Hollywood typecasting thing. I had to really fight to get out of it, so I was uncomfortable with it.

If you were in Clint Eastwood movies, you were in the Clint Eastwood movie business. You weren't in the movie business. You weren't part of Hollywood. This became clear early on; people stopped calling. They automatically assumed I was working exclusively with Clint.

I've witnessed racism all my life. And of course there's racism and discrimination in Hollywood. You go for a part and they say, 'Oh, we really liked her, she's amazing, but we wanted to go with something more traditional'. As if I'm not a traditional American!

A lot of times in Hollywood, when casting directors find out you're of Middle Eastern descent, they go, 'Oh, you're Iranian? Great. Can you say, 'I will kill you in the name of Allah?'' I could say that, but what if I were to say, 'Hello, I'm your doctor.'

In the last 'Batman' movie, they told me that I couldn't get an audition for a small role they were casting because they weren't 'going urban.' It was like, 'What does that have to do with anything?'

I thought, 'Oh, acting is going to be great - I get to play different parts.' And then these auditions started coming up for terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, and I'm going, 'Whoa, what's this about?'

I was lucky to get into drama school and become a professional actor. No-one ever mentioned the colour of my skin. It's only when I came out of RADA - the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art - that I suddenly realised people started to refer to me as a black actor.

It's a good thing to be typecast, isn't it?

Before I latched onto the concept of stereotypes, not once did I reckon with the fact that I would never be a 'Hollywood starlet.'

I think I've been cast as toughs as far as I can remember always, always.

I get the opportunity to play all different ethnicities and not get stereotyped or locked into one. It's been a tremendous advantage, I think.

The problem with the film industry is that once one starts out as a villain, subsequent offers are those of similar roles.