Naomi Scott - Shining, Shimmering Splendid

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.

- Gurinder Chadha

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.