Brown, Black... What's the difference?

 As a brown man whose an aspiring actor, I've found myself been used as the Joker card in casting for stage and screen. I am referring to the concept of the racial politics of casting. I had played characters such as Reschard, Sarj, Aaron, Tyronne Jackson, Rodregriuz and more so when the Cliff Curtis analogy was brought up its something I resonated with quite strongly. 

The thing that always bothered me the most is the idea that I only got the role because of my skin colour. In high school, we had Senior Shakespeare, who was a big thing for those interested in performing and lead roles typically only went out to year 13s. I was one of the few people in the history of Senior Shakespeare who had managed to get a longer lead role being in Year 12. From my friends this was a sign of hard work and talent, from the group of people not so supportive of me there was the talk I only got the role of Aaron who is a Black Shakespearian character because I was the only brown or 'coloured student who auditioned. It reminds me of the genetic arguments that are made and the subtle racism we see in sports commentators. When my white friends got lead roles and did well, it was from hard work, but when I did well, there were some people who murmured amongst themselves, it was all to do with race.

I do, however, want to consider the benefits I've found with this. There are many roles I simply won't be allowed to play because I am not white: classic characters or period pieces. I can recall one such audition where I auditioned for a period piece drama, and the director was, for lack of a better word, blown away. He sat there still taking in the performance, and I stood there quite pleased that the long nights and hard work had paid off. Then he said: "Yeah... Wow, that was... That was really good; it's just..." I waited for the rest as his words failed him momentarily. " The play is... There's not really a role for you because it's a historical piece and... you know..."  I smiled and said I understood waiting for the chance to leave. This is important to mention because it helps frame why there are benefits to the politics of casting. While there are roles I can't play being brown does give me access to a plethora of roles that others cannot. It means that as long as I have a look, I can play a Mexican, an Indian, an islander, a Black man and so on. I, of course, agree with the theory around why this is problematic and the notion of West vs the Rest with The Other as an unidentifiable horde of people of colour, but I ask this. If I couldn't play other 'coloured' roles, what could I play? How many Indians are in Shakespeare? Or the current modern plays? There are only so many open race roles.