This was in the '70s and there was a lot of racism towards South Asians and there was a lot of hazing and bullying and racism that really probably shaped me in some way in terms of, like, wanting to get out of there.
Aasif MandviI'm Muslim the way many of my Jewish friends are Jewish: I avoid pork, and I take the big holidays off.
Aasif MandviPeople lament that there's no roles being written for South Asian or Muslim characters. But their parents don't want their children to go into the entertainment field. You don't get it both ways.
Aasif MandviEngland has an interesting relationship with the Indian subcontinent because the years of colonization and the history between the two places.
Aasif MandviThere's this existential crisis in America and in the West of, like - who am I? - based on this searching for individual fulfillment, which you don't necessarily have in the East in the same way because you're kind of told what to do. I'm not saying one is better than the other, I'm just saying that's just, like, the reality.
Aasif MandviIn some ways for many years I was off the hook.When my niece was born after that their attention was focused on that and she did that. You know, that was in our family that's what she did. I went off and chased this dream and this career that very other few people in our, you know, in my family, but even culturally were doing.
Aasif Mandvi