We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Mariasoosay. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.

Lauren, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I come from a mixed-race background, and in places like the theatre and film/tv industry, it always seems to be a struggle to find a way to fit in. My dad is South Indian and grew up in Malaysia, while my mom is German and grew up in Canada. But by looking at me, you could never actually guess i was Caucasian at all. I have almost entirely South Asian features, including my skin tone. But still, I was neither enough of one or the other to truly be accepted and recognized by either community. Which later on pigeon holed me into the “ethnically ambiguous” trope . I started dancing and acting at the age of 3, and was forever the only Indian kid in the room; sporting my bowlcut at the barre and pink tights that never matched my skin color. Once I got older, and decided to truly pursue the arts, the impending doom of talking to my father about it seemed to get nearer and nearer. Most Indian kids go into medicine, computer engineering, anything that was notable and would make you money. Thus began the long journey of my dad trying to support and come to terms with the fact his daughter wanted to dance and sing for a living. I really don’t blame him. Looking at the industry at the time, there didn’t seem to be a place for us except for Slumdog Millionaire, playing extras, dancing in the back, or being the weird, smart kid in the corner. Things really didn’t change for Indian actors until Bridgerton came along, highlighting people like Simone Ashley, and suddenly South Asians were finally seen as desirable. And suddenly I didn’t have to be mischaracterized as another race, put in the ethnically ambiguous box, or playing outwardly offensive stereotypes.

Lauren, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a working actress in the entertainment industry! I got my start as a principal vocalist and dance swing at the Disneyland Resort in Elena’s Musical Grand Arrival, Mickey and the Magical Map, and Frozen: Live at the Hyperion. I was 18 years old when I got that gig, and it helped me pay my rent, bills, groceries, and school costs! I had it all throughout my college experience. I went to community college first at Fullerton College; trying to find a way to catch up in the theatre world since I was a bit of a late bloomer in the vocal department. Then I transferred to the BFA Musical Theatre Program at CSU Fullerton! I am the hardest worker I know. If I couldn’t be the most talented in the room, I sure as hell would be the most determined. I went to every open call, every regional theatre call, waited for hours in the morning, and never stopped. Even when I was working at Disneyland full-time and going to school full-time, I showed up to everything I could. I got my agent and manager after I did a production of West Side Story in 2019, graduated in 2020, and booked my first National Tour, CATS the musical, in 2021. I then moved to the Aladdin North American Tour the following year, and in 2023 am now starting as Catherine Parr in SIX the Musical in Toronto! It’s been a long journey, it still is. What I’m most proud of is facing adversity head on. From college, to audition rooms, to on the job. I make it a goal to make each space I’ve been in easier to navigate for the people of color that come after me. Whether that’s advocating for my skin color, hair texture, or simply true inclusivity rather than tokenism, I make a point to take that stand. There aren’t a lot of people that look like me, so I had to make the space. I don’t want to be the last one coming through these doors, so I try to do as much outreach and work I can to prop the door open. Otherwise, what is it all for?

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The arts have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started dancing and acting when I was three years old; focusing mainly on ballet. I came into singing a-lot later in life but for as long as I can remember, I was consistently the only Indian girl in the room, at the barre, attending the summer intensives, in the cast. I had to work three times as hard to be seen just as an equal, wear the same pink tights as all the white girls, and try in some way to put my South Asian bowl cut into a slick back bun. From the minute I was thrust into public school, I knew I was seen as different, because no one would let me forget it. From my kindergarten crush telling me he didn’t like dark girls, to the intensives where girls scooted away from me at the barre, I was other’d from all the formative years and onward. Only now in my adulthood have I been able to unpack just how harmful that would come to be, but my younger self used it as a means to build a fire. My dad is South Indian and grew up in Malaysia. Most people from these cultures are expected to go into medicine, science, tech, or engineering. When I finally found the courage to tell my dad I wanted to be an actress for a living, it uprooted our relationship and challenged the way my dad thought about life and culture. It was the cause of many disagreements in the car on the way home from my hospital internship in high school. “But why can’t you just have a plan B, Lauren? You can still act on the side just go to school for something that supports you!” My dad didn’t understand that I had no intentions of a plan B, there was only plan A. Because I was going to make it. I became a work horse all throughout my adolescence and said, “If no one’s going to believe in me, then I will believe in me.” I went to community college for musical theatre, all the while working nearly full-time at Disneyland as a principal vocalist and dance swing to pay for school. I worked there while getting my BFA whilst attending every open call, regional audition, summerstock season call, everything. And here I am; 2 Broadway National tours and a Residency under my belt. Safe to say, my dad came around and hasn’t missed a show since my third year of university. I have an incredibly diverse circle of friends that believe in each other when we have trouble believing in ourselves. It gets better when we make the choice to support community rather than compete with one another.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I never saw anyone onstage that looked like me growing up. I would go watch shows at the Orpheum in San Francisco and see these incredible performances; but it all felt so far away. It felt almost unreachable because there was not a single person up there that represented me or my culture. My “why” has and always will be to provide outreach and representation to South Asian and mixed-race youth in the arts. I want them to know it’s possible and it’s real. That they have someone out there paving the way, having the difficult conversations, and leaving the door open for them to not just come after me but to JOIN ME. To let the industry now that our culture and identity is rich and filled with perspective to add to their stories. We deserve to be seen, we deserve to tell our stories, and we deserve to be here. Kids like me that come from cultural or mixed-race homes and/or low-income households most likely have little to no support at home from their families. To experience that on top of the isolation in public school systems, as well as colorism and racism, is crippling. Representation serves as the most important fuel to their fire. It lets them know that their dreams are possible.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @laurenmariasoosay

Image Credits
SIX – JOAN MARCUS CATS – RYAN MURPHY HEATHERS – JORDAN KUBAT