Charithra Chandran’s Parents Aren’t Happy With Her Career Choice

• Charithra Chandran postponed a consulting job offer to pursue acting ahead of “Bridgerton.”
• She told Teen Vogue that her parents viewed acting as something she does “until the job starts.”
• While they’re not “happy” about her career choice, Chandran said they are “supportive” and “proud.”

“Bridgerton” actress Charithra Chandran has a pending job offer in consulting, and the 25-year-old told Teen Vogue that her parents might still be holding out hope that she takes it.

“They’re happy that I’m happy and they’re proud of what I achieved. Are they happy about my career choice? Truthfully, no,” Chandran told the publication on Tuesday.

She continued: “And I wouldn’t expect them to be. That doesn’t mean they’re not good parents, that doesn’t mean they’re not supportive.”

Chandran, who stepped into the global spotlight as Edwina Sharma on the

Netflix

romance’s sophomore season, interned at Boston Consulting Group, a global consulting firm, during her time studying at Oxford University. She graduated in 2019 with a degree in politics, philosophy, and economics, along with a full-time offer from the firm.

The Scottish-born actress postponed her start date a year to pursue acting and “get it out of her system” before diving into 70+ hour work weeks (it was postponed even further due to the pandemic).

To Chandran’s parents, who are both doctors that immigrated from India, acting was something their sole child was going to do “until the job starts.”

“I was always sort of naturally academic. It wasn’t that they were supportive or not supportive [of acting at a young age], they didn’t care or mind — [theater] was something I loved, it didn’t affect my academics,” explained Chandran, who trained at the National Youth Theatre.

BCG’s offer doesn’t expire until December 2022, and Chandran told Teen Vogue that her mother and father might still be holding onto the possibility that she opts for a more stable, secure corporate position instead of a full-time creative career.

When Chandran first auditioned for “Bridgerton” in November 2020, she read lines for Kate Sharma, Edwina’s older sister. It wasn’t a fit, and the role went to Simone Ashley.

“I had a few auditions for that and decided it just didn’t work out. And that was fine. By then, I’d had another offer for a TV show. So, in the new year I was like, ‘Okay, one door closes; another opens. It just wasn’t meant to be. Oh, well,'” Chandran told Shondaland.

Chandran and her mother are longtime fans of the period genre. The actress told Bustle she’s read “all of Jane Austen’s novels” and watches BBC1’s 1995 “Pride & Prejudice” adaptation with her mother “once every two months.”

Even though she was busy filming “Alex Rider,” her first TV series, and was initially turned away by the “Bridgerton” casting team, Chandran’s mother had an inkling that her daughter was destined to be a part of the Regency drama series.

“My mom had said — and she’s never said this before — ‘I think you’re going to get this. You’re going to be a part of this show.’ It was just, like, thanks for being a supportive mom. But she kept saying it, even in the new year,” she recalled to Shondaland, adding, “I had to tell her it was over, done.”

Chandran’s agent called her in February 2021 to tell her that the “Bridgerton” team wanted her to audition again. This time, they wanted to see her as the diamond of the 1814 season: Edwina.

She told Shondaland that she took some time to consider the opportunity and reread Julia Quinn’s novel “The Viscount Who Loved Me” before agreeing to audition, explaining that she wanted to feel “passionate” about the role and didn’t want to accept it as a “consolation prize.”

“I heard what they had planned for Edwina, and I thought that, actually, this is a very important story to be told because so many young women across the world, particularly brown women, are in Edwina’s situation,” Chandran said.

“And I thought that I could make a difference with this character and with this story line. So, I auditioned and got the part!”

“Bridgerton” season two is currently available to stream on Netflix.