Kharmel Cochrane: “I feel like I’m just exactly what I am”
The casting director on food and family as identity, asking ‘why not’ and the foundations of loving herself
Hi, welcome back to Mixed Messages! This week I’m speaking to casting director Kharmel Cochrane, who is of mixed Indian and Dominican heritage. Kharmel’s impressive CV includes Saltburn, Rye Lane, the upcoming Bob Marley: One Love biopic and 2021’s Anne Boleyn starring Jodie Turner-Smith. I was excited to speak to Kharmel about her sense of self, and to bring you her story as someone who doesn’t have white in their mix – something we strive to showcase with Mixed Messages. Hear what Kharmel had to share below.
How do you define your ethnicity?
My mum is Indian and my dad is Dominican – the Caribbean country, not the republic. I just say that [when asked to define my heritage.] People assume ‘mixed-race’ means mixed with white, and I’m not. I once had a call once where people were trying to be good, but getting it so wrong. They said to me “we don’t want anyone with white heritage.” I said “that’s fine, I’m not.” You could see them looking [at me.]
Did you have a connection to both of those cultures growing up?
I did. I grew up eating Asian and West Indian food. I can’t speak [the languages,] but I know how to swear very loosely. I feel like I’m just exactly what I am. If anything, my dad grew up saying “you guys are Black” while my mum said “you guys are Indian.” Our family on both sides were really embracing, we didn’t have any of those weird comments that I remember. We’re a very close family, even though my parents are separated we just mix in.
The most interesting thing is my daughters, who are quarter Indian, quarter Dominican and half white. When they were kids I didn't want to highlight race because they weren't aware of it. They went to a really multicultural school in St John’s Wood and they genuinely didn’t see colour. Then my daughter started reading about Rosa Parks and asked me that night if I had been on the bus, would I have had to sit at the back. I thought okay, we need to speak about it now.
It’s really interesting how they pick up on things – I’m kind of navigating my own identity through theirs.
Did you ever speak to your parents about being mixed?
No, never. I’ve only recently started asking them questions. I think my dad’s at that age now where he’s a fully-fledged adult – they had me when they were quite young.
He’s at a reflective point in his life and I’ve been asking them how they met because I didn’t know. My mum grew up in suburban Pinner and my dad was from White City estate, so I wondered how their worlds collided. I think my mum’s mum wasn’t initially that keen, but then loved my dad. I‘ve never experienced anything other than them loving each other. I guess I’ve just had the best of both worlds.
Speaking of seeing things through our children, my daughter wanted to do our family tree. I explained that it’s slightly tricky because grandpa on daddy’s side were descended from slaves, so records only allow us to get to a certain point.
That’s one thing that really gets to me – we live in the country now and there are people who can trace their family back 500, 600 years. I wish we had that. I’d love to have seen photos or paintings or a bit of furniture that sat in my great grandad’s house. Basically, Black generational wealth! My grandma on my mum’s side always said that we’re princesses – show me the money!
It sounds like you’ve always been quite stable in your identity – is that the case?
My exploration hasn’t been so much race but class. We grew up poor, not really poor but poor enough that sometimes there’d be electricity, sometimes there’d be food. But I got a scholarship to a private school, so I had one foot in one world, one in another.
I had people who looked like me on TV, it was the Sister Sister days. So I never wanted to be blonde. I remember one girl at school was putting on foundation in the loos, and she handed it to me. I went to put it on, then I was like “oh you’re white.” I don't know how I saw myself but I didn't see myself as anything.
You’ve mentioned not wanting to be defined by your race in your career – has it influenced your approach to casting at all?
You’ve got to recognise mixed-race privilege. I was doing a list for something recently and there’s a small pool of Black female actors. It was interesting watching the difference between a Black actress who I think is the most amazing actor and has been around for a few years and a mixed-race actress who hasn’t. One has campaigns, the other hasn’t. It is all heavily linked, it's just how we change it and move forward.
I was on a commercial and we were trying to cast this Asian family. The mum was Indian, and the dad I wanted to cast was Pakistani. The producer was like “that doesn’t happen.” I was like, “you’re talking to someone who is half-Indian and half-Dominican” and she asked “is that allowed?” I said “well it’s not rape or incest so…” Get a grip. My whole thing has always been, ‘why not,’ pushing casting so that someone has to tell me why not.
Another thing – when we cast Farleigh in Saltburn, we cast the two footmen as mixed-race with similar hair – the idea was that he wasn’t that far away from them. At any point, he could have been them.
We often speak on Mixed Messages about how being mixed can make people more open and curious – do you think being mixed has affected your personality?
In my fibre, I’ve had influences from the whole gaggle of Irish Indians who are a mad box of hatters but I’ve learned Irish culture through them. They’ve got Irish Greek in them, so it’s just this melting pot. You’re not in a closed community. Do you then have easy access to everything in life because you are accepted? Are you more palatable?
Do you think there are any stereotypes around being mixed?
On professional calls, I’ll get a lot of “they’re mixed-race and beautiful like you.” When you’re working in film, there are 100 people more beautiful. When I first started doing commercials and music videos, there was also somebody who said that I get all the jobs because I'm sleeping with all the directors.
What’s the best thing about being mixed for you?
Food. I can have a chicken curry with some plantain on the side. Growing up, I was really quite fussy. For years, I'd only eat really plain food. I must have driven my parents mad. When I moved in with my West Indian grandma, she was not having any of it. I had to eat what I was given.
I had about 40 of my closest family here for a reunion and I made brown stew chicken and goat curry and rice and peas. That’s identity to me, family. It’s important to me for my children to see that side of my family as well and understand where they come from.
Can you sum up your mixed experience in one word?
Free. I’ve been very fortunate in the way that I was raised. Not everything has to be trauma. I’ve had challenges in other ways, but in terms of identity, I think I was set really early on with the foundations of loving myself.
Stream Saltburn on Prime Video. Next week I’ll be speaking to actress Harmony Rose Bremner, who is currently treading the boards in Protest. 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.