Bhavna Limbachia was once told she was "too pale" to play an Asian character.
The ‘Coronation Street’ actress – who portrays Rana Nazir on the ITV soap – was surprised to be told she was too light in colour to take on a character from the continent, because she is "full Asian".
Bhavna – who is of Gujarati origin – said: "With costume, it’s about how good you are, how creative you are … with acting it was, ‘You’re too tall. You’re too short. You’re too fat. You’re too thin.’
"I once went to a job and was told I was too pale to play an Asian character and I said, ‘I’m full Asian.’ "
While Bhavna always harboured ambitions to be an actress, she started her career in costume design, but decided enough was enough when holding an umbrella for her former ‘Corrie’ co-star Connor McIntyre (Pat Phelan) in freezing conditions on the set of BBC Three comedy-drama ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’.
Speaking to A-Magazine, she added: "In a way, I did my plan B first.
"The more I was backstage or behind the camera, the more I wanted to be in front of the camera.
"The last costume job I did was ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ with Connor McIntyre for BBC Three … It was minus three degrees.
"I was holding Connor’s umbrella thinking, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I can’t regret something I didn’t do – it just doesn’t make sense."
Bhavna joined ‘Corrie’ as Rana – the soap’s first-ever gay Muslim character – in 2016, and she hopes her and Faye Brookes’ (Kate Connor) lesbian love affair storyline will help "educate" viewers on the struggles some gay people still face.
She recently said: "I felt such a huge responsibility to get the story right so I went away and did a lot of research, even though it was a big weight on my shoulders I just wanted to make sure I did the storyline justice.
"The storyline is there not to offend people, it’s to educate them, it’s to spark conversation so it’s there to make people aware that there is support available."
Bhavna Limbachia told she was ‘too pale’ for TV role
