Meet Preeti Dhanda

We had the good fortune of connecting with Preeti Dhanda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Preeti, can you tell us about an impactful book you’ve read and why you liked it or what impact it had on you?
Michael Caine’s book Blowing the Bloody Doors Off because he provides his own experience in Hollywood, his journey as a performer, and the life lessons he learned along the way. One can learn a lot from someone’s life experiences: their wins and failures. The life lessons from someone who has lived. He is a master craftsman and legendary artist with philosophical and practical advice.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I grew up doing theatre as a kid. Most kids when I was seven played sports. In Grade 3, my first role was as a tree, and I joined the school choir. Every year after that, I did community theatre at my school. I took drama every year after Grade 3 until high school. I enjoyed performing. My sister and I grew up performing Kirtan and singing classical hymns at Sikh gurdwaras on the weekends.

I MC’d school events, did the school announcements, and even ran the video club. I learned to do stage lighting and sound for theatre. In Grade 11, I learned to shoot my short films, understand camera shots, create storyboards, write stories, and edit. Everything from pre-production to shooting to post.

I still didn’t know at this point that acting was a real industry or career. I thought rich white folks did it for free and fun because they had all the time and money in the world. Can’t blame me—I didn’t see anyone who looked like me except in Bollywood films. So, when I did background work on The Love Guru and realized it was a real business, I dived right in.

I started out wanting to do Bollywood films, taught myself Hindi, learned Kathak (classical Indian dance), and tried modeling, only to be disappointed in Mumbai. It was a closed-off industry with too many casting-couch stories. Plus, they said I was too short and dark. So, I decided to focus only on Hollywood, where I knew it would be harder and a much bigger grind because no one who looked like me was in any leading or supporting roles.

I grew up watching white people act. Brown and Black leads were rare. Times have changed, but I still don’t see a lot of brown leads anywhere. Asians are still very much underrepresented in Hollywood. We may make up 3 billion of the world, but we still aren’t leading faces in LA.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Depends where and when. If they came to Toronto, I would take them to the Distillery District to see a Soulpepper play, grab some drinks and snacks. Kensington Market is hip and fun. Bloor Street has tons of indie comedy shows, but more so the diversity of Toronto.

We have all the world’s cuisine on our streets. I would share the cultural cuisine of Toronto—from Greek food on the Danforth to Chinese food, to Little Korea, Little India, Little Portugal, and even Little Italy. We have so many indie cafes with their own culture. Toronto is a city of flavours and colours from the whole world.

In Los Angeles, I am not a native, but I like Manhattan Beach because it’s a hidden gem. It’s otherworldly because it’s so far from the LA vibe. It’s a community nestled along beautiful beaches, cafes, and bars with so many activities to do in the area.

Malibu is cool to visit but very expensive. I would say anyone who’s visited LA and done all the touristy things should drive up to Sequoia National Park, see other national parks, and drive along the PCH. I have yet to do San Francisco, but I have driven from Sequoia National Park along the PCH to San Diego and stopped in every little surf town along the way. San Luis Obispo was one of my favorite small towns.

Having lived in Toronto, Vancouver, Mumbai, New York, and Los Angeles, I would say the West Coast is my favorite. Anywhere the ocean kisses the sands and I can walk along nature. I love fitness and outdoors with good food.

Portugal has become one of my favorite countries because it has everything you want in a country: affordability, great food, amazing wine, nature, ocean, lifestyle, culture, history, plus fresh orange juice and shopping. The weather is fantastic, but they do need gyms. Cascais is definitely my favorite city there so far.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My inner circle of friends who support me in any capacity they can—from auditions, self-tapes, and movie nights to just conversations about life. My talent agent, who has believed in my career and talent since I signed with him. My parents, who may not understand the career in acting but support me in whatever capacity they can and have put up with the ups and downs of the grind of a very demanding industry.

My acting coach, for being patient and teaching me to find my voice in my craft by simply being and doing. Earl Nanhu was the only acting coach that guides you to “working directly from one’s own instruments on a moment-to-moment basis. It emphasizes that being truthful to the resulting impulses is the most important step in mastering the art of acting for the camera.”

When I first started, a different acting school told me to find a different career. EVN Studios teaches the craft of acting with patience and practice. With persistence, anyone can hone their skills.

Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3310945/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasdhanda

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/preetidhanda

Image Credits
LV Imagers, Denise Grant Photography, Randy Singh, and Megan Vincent