interview with sujuta day by kate anderson-song

With her infectious personality and unique sense of humor, Pittsburgh native Sujata Day has established herself in Hollywood as a multi-hyphenate performer, creator, writer, and director. She honed her improv comedy and sketch-writing skills at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and regularly performs in UCB’s hit Asian AF show. Sujata is known for her starring role as CeCe in Issa Rae’s The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. She has recurred for three seasons on HBO’s Insecure. Sujata is a Sundance Lab screenwriting fellow, Sundance Film Festival influencer, and HBO Visionaries Ambassador. Her narrative short film, Cowboy and Indian, sold to a major studio for series development with Sujata writing, executive producing and starring.

Social profiles: @sujataday (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)

I (Sujata Day) am from a small town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I did plays and musicals starting in elementary school and throughout college. I got my engineering degree and moved to Los Angeles to work for a consulting firm. I took acting classes, got headshots, and found an agent. I booked three national commercials in a row after getting laid off from my consulting gig. I met Issa Rae on Twitter ten years ago and played her best friend on Awkward Black Girl. I continued to work with Issa on

HBO’s Insecure. And I’ve been creating my own content, both in film and television.

Definition Please follows a former spelling bee champ still struggling to make good on her childhood promise while contending with a complex family life. I won my fourth grade spelling bee, and went on to regionals to lose in the first round by misspelling radish. I spelled it with two d’s instead of one. The loss haunts me to this day, so I made a movie based on that premise.

lar hat I had to wear at the time. I approach everything similarly, methodically, and with 100 percent focus.

I’m inspired by Black women in entertainment who have paved the way for all womI grew up around many South Asian-Amer- en of color like Issa Rae, Tracy Oliver, Ava ican families and was very in touch with DuVernay, and more. Some I’ve worked my Indian heritage growing up. I went to with, some I haven’t. I’m inspired by their Hindu summer camp, took Bharatnatyam tenacity to stay in this business even after so classes, and had close Indian friends. I think much rejection. It inspires me to keep going it took me about a month to write the first and tell the stories I want to tell. draft and then, of course, many months of getting notes from trust- Is there anything you ed friends and family and “Don’t worry wish you knew when rewriting. The film is not autobiographical but still about perfecyou were beginning to perform and create? deeply personal to me. I wanted to convey a very tion. Just make Is there any piece of advice you’d want to American story with a fam- the thing and share with other aspirily who just happens to be South Asian-American. get your work ing young Asian artists just starting out? You are a multi-talented out there.” Don’t worry about perfection. Just make the thing artist (performer/cre- and get your work out ator/writer/director)— there.

I’m really good at time management. I have How have you been coping with this a planner that I write in where I make my time? list of things to do and cross them off as I I give myself a break, especially from socomplete them. I feel very accomplished cial media. I’m on text chats with different when I cross things off, no matter how groups of friends and we support each small. The key is to have a great team other. around you for support. My amazing cast and crew really made all the difference in In a similar vein, what does self-care allowing me to focus on whatever particu- mean to you? How do you take care of

I sleep a lot. I get at least 8 hours of sleep every night.

Iced green tea

My phone

The Larry Sanders Show

Pizza

My homemade chai

I have a TV series in development, and I’m pitching my second feature.

OM.