Freida Pinto: Finding fame at 23 was like being Alice in Wonderland

Freida Pinto says that finding fame so young was like “being Alice in Wonderland.”

The 37-year-old actress was an unknown model when she was chosen by Danny Boyle to star as Latika in his multi-Academy Award-winning drama film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and admitted she could only deal with the sudden fame by deciding that she was “chosen” for it.

She said: “When you get plucked out of obscurity and get thrown into this completely new world, like an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ effect – you don’t what you’re doing there and you don’t even know why you’re there but you are there and you’re going to make the most of it. Life ios all about grabbing those moments and having fun with them. When I think about myself back then, I was 23 years old walking down the red carpet and Meryl Streep walked by, I was like ‘What happened?!’ You just kind of go ‘There must be a reason why I’m here. I was chosen to do this and I am going to embrace this moment and own it because it could happen to someone else but it’s not someone else. It’s me.'”

Freida – who has since gone on to star in a slew of blockbusters including the likes of ‘Desert Dancer’ and most recently ‘Mr. Malcolm’s List’ and ‘Intrusion’ – went on to explain that her sudden “confidence” was the “only thing” that kept her going in the early days of her career as she prepared herself to fight for roles as a South Asian actress.

Speaking on the Jess Cagle Podcast with Julia Cunningham, she added: “That confidence, that was the only thing that kept me going. Otherwise, I would have been stuck in the Alice in Wonderland effect for too long. It became very clear to me that it was my destiny to e there and I wanted to make something meaningful out of it. There weren’t many South Asians on the scene at that pojnt because executives did not know where to place me. Really, it took a lot of convincing, getting rejected, having low moments and high moments, and having the right supporters in the industry to land where I am today. I can truly say I’m having a lot of fun.”