EMBRACE THE MESS

Unplug with Ani

I speak to dynamic power couple Natalie and Hamza about their journeys from Acting to Writing/Directing, dismantling South Asian stereotypes and embracing the mess of who we are as people. Natalie Perera is British actor and writer. She trained in Classical Acting at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Natalie has written four short films, two of which have been award-winning, Arts Council-funded and selected for a BAFTA-qualifying festival. She has also written a feature film and is currently co-writing a sitcom. As an actor, Natalie played a major supporting role in Swiss-German feature, Der Koch and featured as the lead in hit Caribbean musical, Bazodee. Natalie has gone on to study Clowning and has featured in online comedies from Jack & Dean and Hot Pepper. Natalie co-created Sketchy Ones with an aim to play a range of bold, messy South Asian female characters - something rarely seen on British TV. Hamza Jeetooa is British actor, writer and filmmaker who trained in Screen Acting at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. He has played leading and supporting roles in TV shows including Zomboat!, Luther and Doctor Who. Hamza was nominated for an EE ACTA award for Best Actor for his leading role in BBC iPlayer romcom, My Jihad. As a filmmaker, he has been a part of producing and directing award-winning, Arts Council-funded and BAFTA-longlisted short films. Hamza’s love of performing began in secondary school where he would watch Goodness Gracious Me and then tirelessly reenact characters for his friends the next day.