‘F—toys’ Mastermind Annapurna Sriram Was Sick of Being Pigeonholed in Hollywood, So She Channeled John Waters to Make Her Gonzo Sexual Fantasia Debuting at SXSW

variety.com:

William Earl Annapurna Sriram has a lengthy showbiz resume, acting in massive series like “The Blacklist” and “Billions,” indie films and other projects.

Yet, after a childhood obsessed with daring cinema from auteurs like John Waters, she didn’t feel she was living up to her creative potential. “As an actor who is ethnically ambiguous, I was getting pigeonholed into a lot of really boring, sort of racial stereotypes,” Sriram says. “‘You’re the brown girl with a headscarf whose parents have an arranged marriage.

You’re the doctor in this.’ So I felt like that didn’t excite me, and if I wanted to be a doctor, I’d just be a doctor. I’d make a lot more money, and my parents wouldn’t stress out so much.” So began the long genesis of “Fucktoys,” her debut feature which is set to premiere tonight at the SXSW TV & Film Festival.

Sriram wrote, directed, produced and starred in the film, which tells the story of AP, a sex worker in run-down Trashtown who is told by a local psychic that she has a dark curse on her and must make $1,000 to fund a ceremony to have it removed.