In a world brimming with diverse stories, an accurate representation of the Queer Brown Community is still a rare sight to see- especially in Hollywood.

Sasha Bhasin breaks all bounds as she portrays the character of Praveena; an extroverted, cool, and passionate soul joining the XO, KITTY gang in Season 2 of the Netflix project. 

Embodying a character with such versatility, it is quite wonderful to witness how Indian-born Bhasin boldly and beautifully represents the South Asian Queer community; where being queer isn't the sole trait affiliated with her character's ever-growing arc.

For our latest Exclusive Feature, the talented Sasha Bhasin sits down with us to discuss her creative process behind portraying Praveena, the impact she believes of having such a realistic queer brown character finally on-screen within the landscape of entertainment, what it was like meeting her fellow co-stars for the first time, her acting rituals, even discussing a crazy fan theory she witnessed surfacing the internet regarding Praveena's parents, and all things XO, KITTY. 

First of all, thank you for joining me. Beginning this interview, I have to take you back to those early phases of you joining the cast of XO, KITTY.

I know you have talked a lot about your audition process but do you remember your first impressions of Praveena when you were initially offered the script? 

Yes, totally. When I first read the script, I only had a scene or two for the audition.  I was like, 'Wow, the creators wrote this character as a South Asian queer.'

My first impression of Praveena was also how she was so cool, effortlessly fun, so sarcastic, her parents were in the CIA, and she was also Kitty's love interest, which I thought was really cool and really powerful.

And what was your creative process like portraying Praveena. Like as you started to play her, did you have any specific acting ritual that helped you get into the mindset of your character?

I have a lot of acting rituals. I've studied at so many different studios in New York which was pretty much what I was doing during college at NYU. Instead of going to my politics classes, I was trying to learn. For instance- I learnt the Meisner technique and studied Stella Adler.
Now I'm currently getting into method acting, but for Praveena specifically, the process was a lot of movement of the body. I'm a very physical person. I try to stay very in touch with my body. So, before anything, I would stretch and move all my muscles, my fingers, all my toes.

It's so funny how we don't move anymore. If I could, I would sit in my bed all day. But, that's not useful to an actor because you want to be present, and want your body to be acting as well as your mind. 

And besides stretching, there was also script analysis. I'd write out all the scenes the night before and really just be repeating the lines in a very monotone way so that when I am working with Anna (Cathcart), I'm able to respond in a way that is truthful to the situation, not in a way that I've actually previously rehearsed it because she's so amazing and spontaneous with her acting. 

So, yes, those two were really big for Praveena. But Praveena is also kind of similar to myself. You could say, I was able to pull out and turn up the volume on her character when I would get onto set. 

Do you remember your experience meeting the XO, KITTY cast for the first time as well as your first day walking on set. How did that entire experience go for you?

Oh, gosh. I got to Seoul about a week and a half before XO, KITTY started filming. We were doing costume fittings and we had to get our nails done, as well as do makeup tests so meeting the cast members in that kind of semi-kill state was great because we were able to bond and really get to know each other without being exhausted; since there are long hours when you're working on a show, which I had no idea since I never worked on a show of this calibre. 

It was amazing just meeting everybody first and getting accustomed. 

And then the first day I was on set was during the assembly scene with Mr. Moon and the dancers where we had all these lights and cameras. That was where we were meeting Praveena's character for the first time because it was more or less shot in order. 

It was so funny. They would do a rehearsal before the cameras went up. I nailed it. I would get all my lines right. Everything would be great. And then the second the camera would go on Take One, I'd be completely frozen. 

Although, I was so lucky to be working with Anna. She was always like, 'We can just do it again. Not a big deal.' And I think that first day was probably the hardest for me trying to get comfortable and letting the stage fright go away but after then, it was more or less smooth sailing. 

As an Indian myself, watching Praveena was something actually very shocking for me because growing up I never witnessed a Queer brown character like this especially in Bollywood let alone on such a global scale.

One thing that struck me about this character was that her queerness wasn't the only trait she had and her character wasn't built solely around her being a queer. 

Like she has that vibe, she's this cool new addition to the OG friends circle. And also one of the most realistic representations of what a brown queer person is like. 

So, how does it make you feel knowing that your portrayal has probably changed the lives of a lot of queer folks in the South Asian community and the brown community now that they can finally see a piece of themselves onscreen? 

It's an honor. Just like how you were saying, I never grew up with an Indian character, let alone a Queer Indian character, where neither being queer nor being Indian is the defining trait of the character. 

And I hope the writers realize how big this is and how much of a paradigm shift Praveena is, especially because this is a young adult show and aimed towards younger folks. 

It is the honor of a lifetime to be able to allow a Young South-Asian kid to look on-screen and be like, 'Oh, I don't have to change myself or perform or put on anything or do anything. I'm just a person and that's okay. Whatever my sexual orientation is, whatever ethnicity I am, and wherever I come from, I'm just a person.' 

And that is so powerful and so amazing. I am just so blessed to have gotten this role. 

And speaking of all these amazing characteristics of Praveena, I'm very curious to know if there is any one trait that you wish you could take from Praveena if given an opportunity as well as one trait you wished Praveena had of yours from your real-life self. 

One trait I do wish I could have from Praveena is that it seems like she protects her peace a lot. The second things start getting a little dramatic, a little messy. She's like, 'I'm out of here, bye-bye.' (Laughs)

For me, I will let things fester and bother me for a very long time. I have grudges from kindergarten that I still think about every day. So, I wish I could have her unbothered nature. 

Praveena is way cooler than I am. I wish I was her.

And then in terms of one trait of mine that I wish Praveena had would probably be something related to picking better partners, but I do think Praveena got there in the end.

XO, Kitty has been out for a few weeks now so are you enjoying the reception and response you're currently garnering from your fans from around the world? 

It was amazing. I don't think this many people have seen my face before which is definitely interesting. I'm getting such nice messages and I believe people like Praveena from what I've seen. Nobody really hates her which was awesome.

That was definitely something that I wanted. But I was worried about it.

I wanted people to like my character since I put my heart into her. So, it's just been amazing. And this is exactly what I want to do forever. Just make cool stuff and have people like it.

Is there anything you can tell us about what next we can expect from Praveena's arc in the potential upcoming installment of XO, KITTY? 

I believe that's completely up to the writers and the producers. But what I would really like to see in my hopes and my dreamworld is maybe we learn a little bit more about Praveena's parents. 

And it's been so funny because I've been seeing a lot of comments- it was a whole fan theory.

There's this whole fan theory about Praveena's parents being Priyanka Chopra's 'Alex Parrish' and Jake McLaughlin's 'Ryan Booth' from "Quantico". And I'm like, that would be so iconic.

I don't think that would happen but expanding on her parents would be really cool. And seeing how she is in a really loving and happy relationship. 

I believe that coming from a representation standpoint- a happy queer couple onscreen who's still in high school, it can happen. It can be drama free and it can happen. And I'd love for that to really take a flight.

Ending Note:- Wrapping up our beautiful conversation, I have to ask you what's next for you, Sasha? Is there anything else you're currently working on that you'd like to tell us or your fans about? 

Right after XO, KITTY, I worked on this new medical drama streaming on Max called "The Pitt". It's a 15-episode series and I am going to be in two episodes. It's coming out in February so check that out on Max.

It's an amazing show with an amazing cast and it's just so different from XO, KITTY. 

I also have a film out currently in about 2000 theatres nationwide called "Brave the Dark". It's being distributed by Angel Studios. It's a true story that I worked on a few years ago when I was still in school but it's amazing so you should definitely watch it.

And as for me, I'm trying to book something else immediately. Luckily, I'm in the right circles so there are some really cool things coming. Just wait and see.