Freida Pinto didn't think she'd ever star in period drama

Freida Pinto “never thought it was possible” for her to star in a period drama.

The 37-year-old actress stars in ‘Mr Malcolm’s List’ as Selina Dalton, a young woman in 1800s England who helps her friend to get revenge on a suitor when she fails to meet his requirements for a potential bride and she attributes the success of Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ to allow people to “broaden their minds” to diversity in casting.

Speaking about the film – which she first saw a script for four years ago – she said: “I thought, ‘You don’t see brown people falling in love in period movies – what’s the catch?’

“I’ve always dreamed of being a part of a project like this, but I never thought it was actually going to be possible in my lifetime, or even next…. [but then] ‘Bridgerton’ came along and immediately gave people almost permission to broaden their minds.”

The movie is influenced by more modern romantic films, including Freida’s favourite movie, ‘Notting Hill’.

She told Britain’s Marie Claire magazine: “It was all of the ’90s rom-coms: ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, ‘Notting Hill’.

“Everything about [‘Notting Hill’] is just perfect, in my opinion.”

The ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ star is thankful things have changed since the early days of her career, when women of colour felt in competition with one another and so Freida’s early success was “very lonely”.

She said: “I had to be ever so grateful that I was even cast in those movies, because where were the South Asian brown girls getting lead roles in commercial hits back in the day? It was a very lonely time.

“There were so few parts for us that we were made to feel we were competing with each other. Or we just thought that there was only this much for all of us to have.

“Now it doesn’t feel so lonely. I’m so happy that the generation of actresses of colour coming up today are not feeling that much anymore.”