At the 16th GLAMOUR Women of the Year Awards, in partnership with Samsung, we’re honouring those women who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo and reshape the world. From activism to acting, our winners are working across a variety of industries to make the world a better, more equal place.
Taking home the Samsung Rising Star award is Charithra Chandran, who as Bridgerton’s Edwina, received Queen Charlotte’s diamond approval, broke down stereotypes of South Asian representation and emerged as a talent not to be missed. Here, she reflects on her own breakthrough moments…
Just two years ago, Charithra Chandran, fresh from graduating from Oxford University with a degree in philosophy and politics, sat with a job offer from BCG, one of the world’s three largest and most prestigious management-consultancy firms. But during lockdown, she had the time to consider what she truly wanted from life – and that was to pursue a career in acting. Changing your path? Now that takes guts.
Fast forward to season two of Netflix’s smash hit period drama Bridgerton, and Charithra’s character Edwina has been crowned the ‘diamond of the season’ at The Queen’s Ball. She’s embroiled in one of the greatest love triangles of all time with her sister Kate (Simone Ashley), and Lord Bridgerton himself (Jonathan Bailey). It was the definition of a breakout role, but it was more than that – it changed the game in terms of representation of South Asian women. Not only did Bridgerton show the traditional side of the characters’ lives – including a Haldi ceremony, which showed Edwina, Kate and their mother covering themselves in turmeric, oil and water to bestow blessings upon the fateful marriage – but Edwina was a fleshed-out, multifaceted, multidimensional representation that we have long needed on our screens.
Now fresh from filming her first movie How To Date Billy Wash (alongside Cobra Kai star Tanner Buchanan and Heartstopper’s Sebastian Croft), and with three TV shows in the works, Charithra reflects on her own breakthrough moments as she is awarded the Samsung Rising Star Award at the GLAMOUR Women of the Year Awards 2022…
My mindset breakthrough: ‘Being professionally successful helped me accept myself physically as well’
“A lot of young women out there are looking for reasons why they’re not happy or not successful. I always used to say, ‘It’s because I’m not a size zero and I’m not 6ft.’ Then when Bridgerton happened and I kept getting cast in more things, and brands wanted to work with me, it was one of those breakthrough moments where I realised, ‘Oh my goodness. All the things that I thought were holding me back in life, clearly don’t.’ Weirdly, although this industry can (often rightfully) get a bad reputation for enforcing its stringent beauty standards, for me, gaining traction has helped me feel more confident about myself. I just realised that all of the mental barriers I’d put up – ‘I’d be booking roles if I was skinnier; I’d be booking roles if I was 6ft’ – clearly weren’t true. Being professionally successful helped me accept myself physically.
That mindset took hold when I was around 13 or 14 years old. I went to a girls’ school and I was surrounded by all young women going through very similar things. Ten years ago, I couldn’t help but compare myself to others, and we didn’t have the kind of representation we have now. I saw one race, one body type and one specific aesthetic.
That’s why when people disparage our industry by saying, ‘Oh, you’re not saving lives, or it’s not that important,’ I’m like, ‘Actually, we kind of do. We influence the way people feel about themselves. We influence the way people think. We influence their opinion on moral issues.’ It’s a very important industry and it is really important to also set a good example.
Now I can love myself, I can love my body, and acknowledge that actually, anything that would require me to change who I am or the way that I look isn’t right for me and isn’t deserving of my time and attention.”
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The breakthrough moment when I felt represented: ‘I got sick and tired of being embarrassed about who I was and who my family was’
“Two examples really stand out in my head. One was when I was around 13 years old and I came across rapper and musician MIA, because she’s Tamil, too. It wasn’t even just seeing someone who looked like me – that in itself was so novel and amazing – but when she was blowing up, it was a time where I rejected everything that made me different. I rejected my culture because I felt like it was embarrassing. I didn’t want to ‘other’ myself. I wanted to be invisible. Then there was this woman who not only had the same skin tone as me, but was actually repping her culture. She would wear South Asian clothes, use South Asian beats, South Asian visual art. She was so loud and proud about who she was. I just thought, ‘Wow, that is so impressive,’ but I was magnanimous in a way that I wasn’t there yet. That was a frustration for me because here’s this badass woman who totally owns who she is and who looks so cool doing it. I desperately wanted that for myself.
And then it was Bend It Like Beckham. What I really loved about that, is a lot of the time when you have things that are so brown and Indian, often the audience tends to be just that community. But Bend It Like Beckham was a universal hit. Everyone loved it. It was not only the representation of seeing people like me and my family on screen, but it was also a feeling of being accepted, because the film was accepted.
I started embracing who I was when I was about 17 years old, simply because I just couldn’t ignore it any more. You can only pretend for so long. Our true personality always comes out. I got sick and tired of being embarrassed about who I was and who my family was. Slowly, I started introducing my identity more publicly in sixth form. We’d bring our own food in and I’d start bringing Indian food for lunch. I’d start posting about wearing traditional clothing. I’d start sharing my holidays in India and what we did there. And you know what? The response from my friends was amazing. They loved being able to kind of share my culture through me and learn more about it. I started to embrace it and it made me feel so confident and comfortable being who I am.
Now, I’d say to the younger me, who was struggling to accept myself, ‘Go on your own journey. Your journey is really valuable.’ I’m so loud and proud about being Indian now. I think of it as a privilege to get to be Indian and have this culture. But it was a journey to get here.
I think having on-screen representation like Bridgerton would’ve helped when I was younger. Neither my character (Edwina) nor Simone’s (Ashley, who plays Kate) character fit into any stereotype. We weren’t cliches. We weren’t playing caricatures. We were playing thoughtful young women who happened to be brown, Indian immigrants – and you see us celebrating our Indian culture. But we also existed as individuals outside of that. I love that it managed to incorporate my culture and my heritage because it is so important to who I am, but also, that’s not only who I am. Sometimes these conversations can lack nuance, where people are like, ‘Oh, you want to be seen, but not too seen.’ And it’s like, ‘Absolutely, in the same way that I think any kind of minority would.’ I’m a proud Indian woman, but I’m also more than that. Our characters in Bridgerton really encapsulated that – by making our culture, our heritage and our identity so significant, but also allowing us to be unique individuals with our own set of benefits and flaws.”
My breakthrough moment when I realised this is what I should be doing: ‘What is the point of life unless you go for what you love?’
“I’ve always known I wanted to be an actor. I was just so scared to admit it. It was during Covid where I just thought to myself, ‘OK. I have to give it a go and I have to go for it. This is what I love, and what is the point of life unless you go for what you love?’ I knew I’d made the right decision when we were on a night shoot for Bridgerton, which is when we often filmed the balls. I remember being so tired after every night shoot, I’d go to bed so exhausted I was barely able to move, but I’d go to bed so happy.
The ball scenes were peak Bridgerton. You have the whole group of people, the dances, the sets, all the costumes. I will always remember filming the scene where I get named the diamond, it was so cute. Our director just referred to me as, ‘My diamond.’ So, if she’d be looking for me on set, she’d just go, ‘Where’s my diamond?’ I just was like, ‘Oh, my God. I feel so special.’ It was really, really sweet.
One of my greatest flaws in life is that I’m a hard person to satisfy internally. I’m always seeking more. I’m always seeking more success. But I remember, while filming, enjoying the hard work, enjoying being busy, enjoying even the bad experiences of staying up all night or being too cold – being too soggy and thinking, ‘I am so happy.’ This is clearly what I’m meant to be doing because even the ‘bad days’ are amazing.”
The breakthrough I am yet to have with contentment: ‘I constantly feel like I’m a failure’
“I would really love a breakthrough in this feeling of contentment. I really hope I achieve it. Some people I talk to, who are much older and much more experienced, are like, ‘You may never get it, but I really hope you do.’ I remember when I booked Bridgerton – and I’m being really honest right now – I loved filming, I loved it coming out, I’m so proud of the show, but in terms of feeling fulfilled and feeling proud of myself, it probably lasted about an hour. Immediately, I was like, OK. So, Bridgerton. We film until this day. I need to secure my next job.’ I am the same about everything. Truthfully, I just booked a movie – I literally found out a couple of days – and immediately, I was like, OK, this movie shoots until then. What am I doing after that?’
I would love to be able to just sit, enjoy my life, feel content and feel really grateful for everything I had, instead of trying to seek more, trying to achieve more and reach a higher goal. But it’s a difficult balance between finding contentment and still staying ambitious. I definitely veer too much towards staying ambitious and not being happy with the life that I have.
My agents are banging their heads against a wall saying, ‘Charithra, enjoy it. You’re doing so well.’ Can I be really honest? Even when they told me, ‘GLAMOUR really wants to give you the Samsung Rising Star Award for breakthrough performers,’ I was like, ‘Why? I haven’t broken through anything! There are so many more people that are so much more successful, who’ve achieved so much more than I have. I don’t think I deserve this.’ And they were like, ‘Charithra, can you please just be a normal human being for once in your life?’ I just didn’t feel worthy of it.
I constantly feel like I’m a failure. I think even accepting the award and being like, ‘Do you know what? I have had a good year,’ and even accepting that has been a journey. It’s learning to be able to pat yourself on the back and go, ‘Wow. You’ve come so far.’ It’s about congratulating yourself and being proud of how far you’ve come, but also realising that there’s still a way to go, and it’s finding that balance. That is the biggest breakthrough that I dream of.
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