‘Bridgerton’ star hurt by friends claiming she nabbed role ‘because she is brown’

nypost.com:

“Bridgerton” star Charithra Chandran claimed her friends cruelly stated she was a diversity hire after she was cast in the wildly popular period drama.

The British actress, 25, made the shocking revelation in an interview with the Telegraph on Sunday, describing the comments as “harmful.”“I’ve had friends say to me, ‘Oh you got that because you’re brown,’ and that really hurts,” Chandran stated. “[And] What’s really scary is that you can start believing it.”The starlet, who’s of Indian descent, has been cast as debutante Edwina Sharma in the second season of the steamy series, set to hit Netflix Friday. “Bridgerton” is based on the best-selling novels by Julia Quinn, in which the character of Sharma is white.

However, the TV adaptation has diversified the source material, with the series casting stars of various races, despite being set in Regency-era England.

Some critics have complained about the “historical inaccuracy” of the multiracial cast, while others have praised the series for its inclusivity. “I think that ‘Bridgerton’ has done for TV what ‘Hamilton’ did for theatre,” Chandran told the Telegraph. “It encouraged a totally different audience to watch period drama and romances.