INTERVIEW: Cezera Critti-Schnaars Part 2

Part 2 continues from Part 1 of emerging Noongar and Greek actor Cezera Critti-Schnaars's interview. Continuing from chatting about her experience with Hecate, Cezera and Yoshika chat about the importance of representing normalcy, how Indigenous actors are often asked to act “more Black” and how Kadjin helps young and emerging Indigenous artists. 

Photo credit: Sarah Gelmi @ftografs.

What do you think of the current state of film and theatre? 

We’re so used to seeing white people on screen. Oh, so many white people. I’m like guys, please, just give us something a bit different. 

What I’ve seen slowly happening is more roles that aren’t specific to race, which means more people that look like me coming into the industry, which is interesting and really lovely. For example, Zendaya as MJ in Spiderman: Homecoming, there’s no mention that she’s African American, she just is.   

Whilst it’s important to have stories and film that focus on race and its experiences, what’s also important are stories and roles that don’t focus on our race. It's important to see the normalcy of individuals. 

Seeing people that look like you is so important. Often, you see people of colour being cast as one specific type and all with the same experiences. We need to see more. We don’t all look the same, but all these white people seem to think we do, and it’s like no, no, we do not. 

Another common thing is when they think you look exotic. I hate that word, like come on, why do people think that’s a compliment? We’re not an exotic bird. That word is used so much especially against females of colour. Please, please stop.    

What kind of world are we in where me being treated like a human being despite being Indigenous was lucky? When did that become lucky? What world are we in when I say I’m lucky that I don’t get racist treatment? What does that say about the world we live in? 

Photo credit: Sarah Gelmi @ftografs.

 What do you think about the current representation of Indigenous people in media? 

I think a lot of people, and especially white people have this image of what an Indigenous person looks like. I will very rarely go for a directly Indigenous role if I don’t know the casting director because I know that they’ll take one look at me and decide I’m not Black.  

There’s this one view of what an Indigenous person looks like but the thing is we don’t all look the same. We have never all looked the same. I think that’s one of the most frustrating things.  

Indigenous actors are often told to act or sound more Black, what does that even mean? It's a thing actors of colour get all the time, there’s always that thing of “Act more what we think you should act like”.  

Here’s the thing, the only people who can make jokes about Asian stereotypes or Indigenous jokes or whatever, are those in those groups. I crack wog jokes all the time, but that’s because I am a wog. But all these white people think that they can because they think they’re entitled, but no you’re not entitled to joke about our experiences.  

The same applies when people try to represent a certain experience. The first thing I ask is why are you taking someone else’s platform to tell a story that isn’t yours? If you want to give a certain group a voice or amplify their voice, unless you do it in collaboration, in complete and utter partnership, it’s not a proper collaboration nor an accurate representation.  

Let’s talk about Kadjin, how does something like Kadjin help young and emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists?  

Taking that first step into the industry is so important especially when first coming into the arts. In my experience, when I came into the arts industry I already knew a few people because of my dad. Even though I already knew some people, I was still scared. That’s something that Kadjin does, which is to connect young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to other people, as well as provide events and opportunities.   

The arts is one of those things where it has beautiful, beautiful sides but it also has an ugly side. When you’re an emerging artist or a young person, it’s hard to distinguish the appropriate opportunity for you because there are some really dodgy people out there. For example, there have been cases where young artists are exploited and aren’t paid fairly. So having something like Kadjin as a base point is really great because you get to learn about different opportunities.   

Photo credit: Cezera’s mum!

What do you want to do in the future? 

I want to be in action thing one day, I just want to be cool. Just one action thing, I just want to do some fun stage combat, play a cool character that does cool things, that’s my whole goal in life. But I guess in my real world I would be working in both film and theatre. I think theatre will always have a very special place in my heart, I never want to stop doing theatre. I want create my own work. I want to create work that not only makes me feel seen and makes others feel seen as well. I want to make people feel less alone. As I said to my mum, I want to be my own version of Betty White, I want to be like 95-years old or however old she is and stealing the show. 

To keep updated with Cezera’s work, follow her on Instagram. Find out more about our fundraiser for Kadjin - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Youth Arts Network , and donate today to double your impact.

INTERVIEW BY: YOSHIKA KON