The British-Indian actor is poised on the edge of superstardom with her role as Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin. She talks to Gurinder Chadha, the director of her all-time favourite movie, about everything that has brought her to the threshold of this whole new world.
When I heard that Disney’s live-action Aladdin was going to star a young, West London, British-Asian woman in the lead role, I was excited. And when I was told Naomi Scott was inspired by my film Bend It Like Beckham, I knew her Jasmine would be the kind of ballsy, strong-minded heroine my own tween daughter could be inspired by.
Gurinder Chadha: I heard you really liked Bend It Like Beckham…
Naomi Scott: Yes, absolutely!
GC: Thank you for saying such nice things about the film. How old were you when you watched it?
NS: Like, eight.
GC: Where did you grow up?
NS: In Hounslow. [laughs]
GC: Oh my God, where in Hounslow?
NS: Park Road. The park that you filmed at was one I used to go to all the time. Bend It Like Beckham was the first movie I watched that hit close to home on so many different levels. I think that’s what was so cool about it. I was like, “Oh my gosh—that could be my aunty!” I liked football, Jasminder was Indian... There were all these things I felt connected to. It’s shot in Hounslow where I grew up, an area that’s not this kind of fairy-tale world, and I think that is something that makes you feel such comfort…and having a laugh about funny cultural things.
GC: It’s very relatable.
NS: I guess it was also just that “English-Indian” thing. Being half Indian, there’s a part of me that feels disconnected. I think that as you get older, you begin to realise, “I am who I am”. I don’t need to pretend to be one thing or another.
GC: That’s the whole point of Bend It Like Beckham— that you can be all these mixtures of yourself.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2019 من Elle India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2019 من Elle India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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