Star Of Peter Kosminsky TV Cyber-Thriller ‘The Undeclared War’ Reveals She Sent 1,000 Emails To Agents And Casting Directors That Went Unanswered
21.06.2022 - 02:29
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Hannah Khalique-Brown, the lead actor in director and writer Peter Kosminsky’s (Wolf Hall) highly anticipated, six-part,cyber-thriller The Undeclared War, —starts June 30th on Channel 4 and All 4 in U.K, Peacock in U.S. on August 18th—has revealed that she wrote 1000 emails over a period of two years “begging“ U.K. agents and casting directors to see her perform in fringe plays, “none of them replied,” she revealed to Deadline.
“Though, I would occasionally get an automated reply,” that still read no, said Khalique-Brown, who has been garnering attention from studios in London and Hollywood.
The 23-year-old said that she spent hours studying talent and casting agency websites. “I emailed 180 of them,three times a year, for two years.I wouldn’t blanket email them either. They were all individual emails. I would go on their roster and look at who they represented and I would write that, I think I would really fit in.“
However, if they already had Asian actors “who looked like me then I wouldn’t email them,” she explained.
Her plight highlights the difficulties would-be actors from diverse backgrounds, have in getting a foothold in the industry, certainly in the U.K.
Khalique-Brown’s sanguine about it now. “I understand a lot more about how the industry works. I can understand why nobody got back to me because they probably didn’t even see it in their in-box. If you didn’t have a headshot or showreel attached they have nothing to go on.”
Also, she didn’t attend drama school. Most drama colleges have a tried and tested method whereby agents are invited to attend end of year showcases to check out the new talent. However,drama school wasn’t an option she favoured having opted instead to read English Literature at