Muslim Women’s Day Spotlight - Serena Rasoul
Muslim Women’s Day Spotlight -- Serena Rasoul, Actor and Founder of Muslim American Casting
Happy Muslim Women’s Day, MWPs! It is March 27, Muslim Women’s Day, and like every year, we’re swept up in the pride we have for the changemakers in our community. From excelling in fashion like Black Muslim, hijab-wearing model Halima Aden to space exploration like the first Muslim woman astronaut, Anousheh Ansari, Muslim women have always been smashing barriers.
But if there’s one thing many MWPs are trying to do in their respective industries, it’s changing the narrative. And we can’t forget where the narrative not only starts, but where it gets rewritten, over and over again: In the media. From the news, to TV, to film, Muslims have dealt with islamophobic or insensitive representation for decades. As we’ve learned time and time again, the depiction of our community has devastating consequences.
So on MWD, we’re highlighting changemaker Serena Rasoul, an actress, writer and founder of the first Muslim American casting agency, American Muslim Casting. As a Muslim woman actress herself, Rasoul is aware of the changes Hollywood has yet to make and the ones that have (barely, but thankfully) just begun. We sat down with Rasoul to talk about how she embraced acting and how she hopes with her agency and the Muslim creative community’s efforts, we can transform Muslim women’s, and overall Muslims’ narrative.
BE SURE TO FOLLOW MUSLIM AMERICAN CASTING ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM, @MUSLIMCASTING TO SEE WHERE THEY TAKE OUR COMMUNITY OF TALENT NEXT.
March 27, 2021
1. Tell us about yourself personally and professionally.
As any multi-hyphenated Muslim woman, a child of immigrants, I’ve taken on many roles. But my favorite is being a creative. I have always written and performed in my own right – for example, as a child I did impressions of everyone I met. I wrote poems, creative short stories, sang in the choir. I had a love for the stage. I am originally Palestinian – my parents came here after fleeing the 1967 war with the intention to live a better life.
For them, becoming a doctor, engineer, or lawyer is a transparent pathway to security. And although they knew I loved dabbling in the arts, to them, the creative world was mysterious and lacked the transparent pathway to success. Therefore, I went to a good university, obtained several degrees, all while maintaining my appreciation for the arts. I took drama courses on the side and performed in local shows. But it wasn't until after I graduated and started working that I knew I wanted more.
So I continued studying, taking classes at the DC Theater Lab and performing stand-up on occasion. In my pursuits, I started to see casting calls and decided to start submitting myself. That's how I started landing roles in shows such as Veep and House of Cards – where I got my first Screen Actors Guild (SAG) credits. However, the events of the last year had a profound effect on me creatively. I had a lot of time to read and reflect. I stumbled upon a study that traced 100 years of misrepresentation of Muslims in Hollywood. It led me to think about my own roles (or lack of roles) and experiences. I decided I wanted to do something about it, but what?
After extensive research and meetings with leaders in the space, I realized there was no mediator representing Muslim creatives in the industry. So I decided to found Muslim American Casting, a casting agency that would do just that. (To those who aren’t familiar, a casting agency is an entity that a producer, filmmaker, or director would hire to find the talent for their production.) I felt it was necessary to have a casting agency that understands diverse talent, especially Muslim talent. Of course, we are not a monolith: we practice differently, we look different, we’re very diverse ethnically, racially, linguistically. But when it comes to our representation in the industry, we seem to have the same stereotypes. So I wanted to start an agency that would support talent regardless of what they look like, what language they speak, or how they practice to push back against the misrepresentation.
2. What was it like training/building up your career as a Muslim woman, given our overall lack of representation in media? Were there any challenges and what were they?
Women in general are objectified in the media, but Muslim women, in particular, have gone from extreme exotization to being completely covered with no voice, for example. And it has to stop. But how? Let us tell our own stories. Muslim Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) and Middle Eastern North African (MENA) women are already incredible writers, actors, and creators – the talent is there and it is rich, but the industry does not seem interested in hearing our voices, and instead continues to perpetrate the same old tropes. As a Muslim creative myself, I have to consider a job a 100 times over before I take a role. I will not take a role that perpetuates stereotypes or pushes the bounds of my comfort level. And as you can imagine, those are few and far between.
3. What has it been like on pre-production and on set for the different projects you’ve been on? Were there spaces that were more welcoming than others?
There was a show where I was cast to wear a hijab, it was for a very benign scene. I got to set and it was me and two other women. When I arrived, I was surprised to find the wardrobe department did not have any scarves/hijabs. So I ran to my car and brought back what I had. When I got to set, I asked the wardrobe staff where these Muslim characters were supposed to be from – since that could influence how to style the hijab on them. They responded,“We don’t know, just make them look Muslim.” So I took a deep breath and styled them, even though that was not my responsibility.
Now, I don’t expect every set to know everything about every demographic. But I do encourage producers and filmmakers who are going to film about underrepresented communities, to hire producers, staff, directors from those communities so this doesn't happen again. If you’re going to spend the money, time and effort to film a scene about Muslims or Muslim-majority countries, do a little bit of research, hire folx from that community. And if necessary, Muslim American Casting is more than happy to provide the necessary consulting services.
4. What is Muslim American Casting’s goal and function?
Our goal is to build up our Talent Database so that when a big production approaches us, we can say we have an amazing database of talent; not only rich in talent but in diversity. We want enough people to properly represent the American Muslim population. I’ve been reaching out to various Muslim communties, including the Black, Asian, and SWANA/MENA communities to build a representative database. I want executives and filmmakers to know, I have the talent… I don’t want the excuse that you couldn’t find us. We’re here, we’re just one click away.
We have a few things coming down the pipeline; for individuals interested in acting we’re starting an acting incubator to give a general acting 101 series. We not only want to give them some acting techniques but teach about the business side, as well. We’re also building coalitions on boosting underrepresented communities’ representation. Lastly, to help the community at large, we’re hoping to feature some Muslim-owned businesses on our site in the coming months. I really wanna help support those folx who have been heavy-hit by the pandemic and if I can feature them on our site, I will do just that.
5. What are your expectations from the broader industry (casting directors, directors, producers, etc.) on bridging the gap in Muslim representation, especially of Muslim women (given many harmful tropes that have persisted)?
Until we have more shows written from our perspective, we won’t see much movement. We need to ensure we are in the writers rooms, producing, pitching shows, and ensuring they get bought. If we fall short of this, the misrepresentation will continue. And the harmful depictions will perpetuate anti-Islamic and SWANA sentiment, leading to political and social support for policies like the Muslim Ban.
6. Any advice any up and coming Muslim women actors, producers, filmmakers or anyone else connected wanting to connect to the film/TV industry?
This industry is not a kind industry and the best thing you can do is surround yourself with support, whether that’s in the community or out of it and take care of yourself. If you’re an actor, I highly encourage you to find other Muslim actors and start collaborating. One way to do that is to sign up for our database, it’s free to use, you just provide your information. You can find it on our site.
For aspiring filmmakers or writers, if you’re not seeing the roles you want to see, I highly encourage you to write those roles, write those stories. Make a short film and submit it to the festival circuit, lots of success stories have come from this route. As far as resources are concerned, I know how hard it can be starting out. The financial commitment can be steep, so I encourage folx check out what’s in their local library.
The New York Public Library is now renting out media kits for people to use; cameras, lights, whatever you’d need to film your own project. Our iPhone cameras can film high-quality content as well. So write, get a hold of some instruments that you need to film and put yourself or other Muslim actors on camera. Reach out and pull in other Muslim creatives.
