Albert Magashi: “I am Black and I am Eastern European. I can be both”
The actor on finding his place, feeling unworthy and mixed fuckboys
Hi, welcome back to Mixed Messages! This week I’m speaking to actor Albert Magashi, who is of mixed Tanzanian and Bulgarian heritage. Albert is in the new cast of For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy, which recently returned to the West End after three sold out runs. Seeing six young Black men meet for group therapy, this show is hilarious, heartbreaking, healing and without doubt the best play I have seen in years – maybe ever. I urge you to get tickets before this run sells out too. Before then, read Albert’s story below.
How do you define your background?
I see myself as mixed-race Black. I’m half-Bulgarian, half-Tanzanian. I was born in Bulgaria and spent the first five years of my life there before my family moved over to the UK. It’s weird having Eastern European and African heritage, I’ve had two polar different cultures in my house.
I started doing some research into how my dad ended up in Eastern Europe during communism, and it turns out that a lot of East African countries got scholarships to study in Europe.
What was it like to grow up with those cultural influences?
My dad is the chef of the house, so I grew up with a lot of traditional Tanzanian foods, lots of meats, lamb, rice, all of that. My mother tongue was Bulgarian, which connects me back to my Bulgarian roots.
I can still speak Bulgarian, but if you don’t practise it enough it kind of goes. I understand everything, I just sometimes struggle articulating myself. I can be conscious of that when I’m around my Bulgarian friends from back home.
Has your sense of self changed over time?
I’m still figuring a lot of it out to be honest with you. As a kid, everyone around me was white. At an early age, I realised I was slightly different. The George Floyd thing definitely awakened me to have a lot more pride and ownership of my identity.
When you’re mixed, I think you can view it as either ‘oh my god, I’ve got the best of both worlds’ which is a blessing, or sometimes it can feel like ‘wow, I’m actually neither’ and like you can never fully embrace either culture because you might be considered too light for one and too dark for the other. It’s something I’m still working through and understanding where I sit with it all.
You kind of have to remind yourself to not feel unworthy to claim that, ‘I am Black and I am Eastern European. I can be both.’
Do you feel Eastern European, as well as feeling Black?
I don't to be honest with you. When I first came to the UK and didn’t speak English, I think people in primary school thought ‘who is this Black kid speaking Polish?!’ They didn’t know where I was from. As I’ve grown up, I’ve kind of erased my accent to fit in.
For a long time I used to say I was just Black, but I think I’m coming to terms with being quite comfortable and saying “I’m also Eastern European – I know I don’t look it!”
Was being mixed something you spoke about with your family?
We didn’t, it wasn’t really a topic. To them, it was just who we are. We’re way more conscious of it now. Growing up, my parents would tell me that I was mixed-race and both though.
As I’ve grown up, I feel like I see mixed people everywhere. When I was a kid, I felt like there weren’t any of us. It’s great to see, we’re taking over clearly. It’s definitely something people are becoming more conscious of. Growing up I was always put in the Black [box] and it was assumed I understood certain things, but there’s slight nuances I might not understand that someone that’s dark-skinned would.
As an actor, how have you found working in this industry?
If I’m being honest, maybe I’ve been shielded from finding out some truths. I think we’ve still got a long way to go in regards to representation, but it’s probably the best time to be an artist or actor of colour. I've been relatively fortunate with the opportunities I've been given and I’ve had great agents who really believe in me and push me out, asking people for valid reasons why they won’t see me for certain roles.
Sable is the only mixed-race slash lightskin character in For Black Boys… It’s definitely a conversation. We had a week of table work breaking down the script and we had a lot of discussions on what it means to be Black, and for Sable I had to wonder, ‘does he feel Black? Is this the first time he’s in a room of just Black people?’
It’s such an honour to play this role, I remember watching the original iteration and relating to it so much. This is someone who looks like me, speaks like me… this play is so important, not only because of the themes we touch on, but showing six young Black men being vulnerable on stage. It’s very rare.
Do you feel comfortable playing other ethnicities?
My first job was on Sherlock, and I played a Moroccan character. If I had a good Latino accent, I could probably play a Dominican character too, but there’s the conversation of, should you? It’s a sticky conversation to navigate.
I remember speaking to a friend of mine in New York in Juilliard, we were talking about Black British actors playing American roles. He didn’t think we should because we ‘wouldn’t understand some of the cultural trauma and underlying tension,’ but I think, what if we were both in an audition and I happened to do the scene better even though I’m not necessarily from the culture?
In an ideal world, some stories should be reserved for someone of that particular background, but I think acting is an art form, and you can’t always find someone who’s got the exact same experience and is an actor.
Have you noticed any stereotypes around mixedness? How do you want the conversation to develop?
Most people assume mixed-Black and white, or Jamaican and English or African and English. Then the stereotype for mixed-race guys is that they’re like…
…fuckboys?
Exactly that. There are some, of course, but we should move past that, that would be a good place to start!
What’s the best thing about being mixed for you?
I've really grown to appreciate these two rich cultures that are part of me and embrace them in my own way.
I also view myself as British and relate to London culture, so in a way I have three identities or cultures I am part of. My life has essentially been shaped by London, all the things I love, the music, my friends, the way I dress… But also a lot of the food I love, the sun, I relate back to my dad and so it’s this weird amalgamation of cultures.
I’m still figuring a lot out and coming to terms with understanding more of myself as time goes on. I think it’ll be a lifelong journey.
Can you sum up your mixed identity in one word?
Enriching. The more time goes on, the more positives I see.
Book tickets for For Black Boys… here, at London’s Garrick Theatre until May 4th. Next week, I’ll be speaking to author Diana Evans. Subscribe to get Mixed Messages in your inbox on Monday.
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Mixed Messages is a weekly exploration of the mixed-race experience, from me, Isabella Silvers. My mom is Punjabi (by way of East Africa) and my dad is white British, but finding my place between these two cultures hasn’t always been easy. That’s why I started Mixed Messages, where each week I’ll speak to a prominent mixed voice to delve into what it really feels like to be mixed.