by Reuben Stojanovic-Rowe
No one understands the combative nature of actors fighting over a role more than Menik Gooneratne and Yasmin Kassim. “We’d constantly take roles from each other,” Yasmin admits with a laugh. “We would constantly see each other in audition rooms and nod. And over the years, that became an evil glare. I secretly hated her.”
Menik admits that early in her career, the entertainment industry “really did encourage that sense of competition and that person next to you getting that role was not your equal and you shouldn’t be friends.”
Rivalries aside, the two actresses now form an unstoppable creative force and friendship; co-writing and starring in the short film To the Death, directed by fellow actor Rose McIver, executive produced by funny guy Luke McGregor (Rosehaven), with fight choreography by celebrity trainer Rashad El Amin [below with the actresses on the set of To the Death].
Shot in Los Angeles, the film is an action-heavy romp about two South-Asian Australian actors who have to fight to the death because it’s physically impossible to have more than one brown person on a show.
“They meet in the waiting room for an audition, and they get to know each other and when they get called in, they’re pitted against each other,” Menik details. “To literally fight to the death for the role… And we try to turn the tables on them.”
This film clearly holds a deep connection for both actors, who experienced first-hand the limitations that the entertainment industry brings to people of South-Asian background; providing more role opportunities on one hand, but in the other playing heavily into stereotypes, restricted to supporting parts and not embracing a diverse range of characters.
Menik states that they came together on this project with the same troubled experience of navigating the audition circuit in Australia and the US. “We wrote it as a sort-of cathartic release of all the anxiety and stress of being an actor.”
Yasmin promises that the film will be relatable to anyone… “who understands competition in the workplace and the entertainment industry, when being brown sometimes means that you’re the one person just filling a spot.”
To the Death is their comical critique of this problem and the good news is that it has been embraced by the film festival circuit. Recently nominated for the Atlanta Short Film Festival for Best Comedy and now, accepted into the prestigious LA Shorts International Film Festival, which qualifies it for the BAFTAs and Oscars race.
“We didn’t imagine it would lead to how it’s being received now. It’s gone beyond our expectations,” says Menik.
“It means a lot that people are feeling the message, because we put our whole hearts and souls into it. Even sometimes when I watch it, I get a little emotional because it’s so real,” adds Yasmin.
What started as a rivalry between the two actors slowly turned into a level of respect and trust for each other. “We were in an improv class in LA,” Yasmin reflects. “Just like in this film, we kind of pretended not to know each other. Then I saw her improvise and I thought she was just amazing. And we actually got on so well and that’s when we thought, ‘we should actually work together. Let’s stop feeling like we don’t have a voice. Let’s team up and we can share our story’.”
They each brought so many things to the table creatively, it only made sense to continue the partnership. “Menik and I have a whole catalogue of projects that we’ve been taking meetings for and it’s crazy,” Yasmin proudly admits. “I feel like I’ve been doing this with Menik for 15 years.
“It’s been so nice for people to watch this and just see how different Menik and I are. We just have such different energies. We’re totally different girls. We’re not the ‘same South-Asian Australian girl.”
Menik is Sri-Lankan Australian, born in England, travelling to developing countries due to her father’s UN connections battling climate change, before finally settling in Melbourne. Yasmin is Indian, Malay Australian who was born in Perth and was discovered when she was 6 years old to be a performer in the Michael Jackson ‘HIStory Tour’.
Menik burst onto the acting scene by being a regular on the iconic Australian soap Neighbours as the character Priya – the first time in the show’s 30-year history that South-Asian characters were featured in the main cast. However, Menik felt the opportunities in Australia were growing thin. “I couldn’t see myself getting out of that box to play certain types of characters.”
Hence, when she heard the bells of Los Angeles calling, she took the plunge.
“I was so happy to have had the opportunity to go to LA. It was an escape from being in a box that I had been in Melbourne. Opening up to an industry that is so huge, has such variety of roles… That was really liberating.”
This led to her being cast alongside Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman in the Oscar-nominated Lion and later, working with Oscar-winning New Zealand director Peter Jackson on the sci-fi blockbuster Mortal Engines. “It was an insane experience. Everyone was so approachable. And it was a real collaborative effort. It made me want to do more science-fiction/fantasy as well.”
After spending 7 years in LA and getting a taste of the creative possibilities and freedom in the entertainment industry, Menik decided to return to Melbourne. “It’s wonderful to be back. All my family is here. It’s great to be around grandmothers, grandpas, uncles and aunties. That’s really important.
“The idea that you can work hard to achieve what you want to achieve. How confident writers and directors are… I really want to bring that here.”
After appearances in Neighbours and opposite Daniel Radcliffe in Jungle, Yasmin also headed overseas.
“I was at improv school, and I was told by someone that I should audition for this comedy showcase where you create characters,” she says about one of her earliest LA experiences. “You had to have 10-20 characters prepared and ready to go and it was such an amazing experience.”
This led to her becoming the first Australian to be part of the Ten Performers/Writers in the CBS Comedy Diversity Showcase.
“It’s a very high energy, creative group. As an Australian, it was an insane experience. CBS really encouraged me to do stand-up and take everything I feel that has disempowered me in my life and just flip it and make it funny.”
This led her to performing stand-up comedy around Los Angeles. “I just got booked for the (Los Angeles) Comedy Store in a couple of weeks. And it’s something to do here especially with the (Writer’s) Strike going on. It’s a way to stay creative and keep performing. I would love to come back in Australia and explore that avenue too.”
With their solo careers going gangbusters, Menik and Yasmin are especially excited about the opportunities when bringing their energies together. “We’re really learning both here and when we were in LA, that as part of the South-Asian culture in the entertainment industry, we are so much stronger together when we elevate each other.”
And with To the Death, they want the short to open doors to authentic representation of other cultures. “There was something so empowering about writing and creating what we wanted to see,” Menik explains. “You can’t be what you can’t see right? You can write your own thing. You can be funny. You can be a Marvel superhero. You can be nuanced and be a remarkable thing that sells. I’m fulfilling 15-year-old Menik’s dreams of playing all those types of different characters.”
Speaking to Menik and Yasmin about their future plans, one of the projects early in development on Prawn Curry Christmas, a romcom which is a combination of their experience with a white Christmas in America and the scorching summers of Australian Christmas. “Heavy on the coms!” according to Yasmin. “We’ve been sending each other ideas all day and night. We believe in mutual inconvenience.”
“We’re both out for world domination. Few can do what Mindy Kaling did for America. I think we’d be so happy to do that for Australia,” says Menik.
