Freida Pinto accepted ‘stereotypical’ roles after Slumdog Millionaire success to gain exposure

Freida Pinto accepted "stereotypical" roles because she wanted more "exposure".

The 37-year-old actress shot to global stardom after appearing alongside Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire — but Freida admits to making some regrettable decisions after her breakthrough success.

She shared: "I think those roles that I played right after Slumdog Millionaire, I did not necessarily feel that I was given something to really play that was worth my time and I could really stretch my acting chops [with].

"I think those were all roles that I had to play in order to realise and recognise the kind of roles I don't want to play again. And there's no other way of knowing when you're a newcomer in the industry, you kind of have to do it all — especially when you're a newcomer and a minority at the same time, where people don't exactly know what to do with you, or what kind of role to place you in."

The Indian actress was inundated with "stereotypical, exotic roles".

But, at the time, she felt the "exposure" would serve her well in the long term.

She explained to Glamour.com: "They constantly send you the more stereotypical, exotic roles and you look at it and you barf and you go, okay, I guess I've got to do this one just because I've got to make money or, yeah, I've gotta do this one just because I want exposure. And I think everything in the end pays off.

"So I look back at those roles and I go, am I necessarily proud of my performance in this? Or, you know, am I proud of what I did? And I think the answer is that I'm not proud, but I'm really glad I did them because now, the work that I do, the pride that I feel and every little thing that I put in a big role or a small role is so huge because the choice was entirely mine."

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