Sunita Mani On Trusting the Moment, Being Brave, Speaking Up and Her New Films
Sunita Mani is having an exciting fall with the release of two films—Save Yourselves! and Evil Eye—-which she plays the lead. I recently caught up with the Brooklyn-based actress, comedian and all- around stellar performer, who has held roles in Mr. Robot and Glow, to hear about how she started, how she learned to trust the moment and how she is being brave and letting her voice be heard.
Sunita was photographed and interviewed by Alison Engstrom; styled by Sarah Slutsky at Studio SES
It was so great to meet you! Thank you for spending some time in prospect park. Before we chat about Your career, how Have you been doing?
Time is passing very strangely. I am so used to going, going, going, being in many places at once and being a part of as many things as I can. It’s a much needed slow down in a lot of ways and also a very strange and existential one. I find my purpose in other people and collaborating. It’s weird to be a sad clown sometimes (laughs). I am trying to reconnect with my impulses of sitting, reading, drawing, listening to a podcast or making a playlist and going on a bike ride. I’m almost becoming that self-satisfied teenager again who is okay with being in their own private church and being locked up in their room (laughs). There is something pure about that.
I don’t know if I am necessarily creating any new habits; rather, I am refreshing ones that I have had in the past by trying to write more and not distract myself because there is so much to distract yourself with. It’s a constant impulse to pick up a phone, I am just trying to hold the pen onto the page a little bit for my sanity.
This experience has been chunked up for me. March through June I was in LA, when the stay at home orders were in place. I was working on Glow at the time. We were two episodes into shooting—New York was on the verge of a shutdown—and we were still on set. My husband was in New York and he was like, I think things are getting pretty bad and scary here, so he flew out to LA last minute. Then Glow shut down a week later, it happened all of a sudden. Then to avoid flying, we did a cross-country road trip the month of June. We totally felt like we were retired and living out some grandmother and grandfather dream (laughs). We wanted to also visit family because we didn’t know what the future would bring.
Sunita is wearing a coat by Brandon Maxwell; dress by Alejandra Alonso Rojas; boots by R13; ear cuffs by AURATE; neckpiece is stylist's own.
A cross-country road trip is definitely a bucket list, which way did you go?
Mine too—we drove up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas, close to Yosemite, but it wasn’t open yet, neither was Big Sur. We went to Lake Tahoe and through Nevada; we did Moab and the Arches then through Denver, where my husband’s family lives. Then we eventually made it to Nashville, where my family lives, then back to New York.
Before we chat about your projects, I‘d love to learn more about you! Growing up, were you always the kid performing, acting, dancing and making people laugh?
I was born just outside Nashville in a town called Dickson. My parents are still there so that is where I go home for the holidays. I was a punky little kid who was always in people’s business and trying to show off. I was a class clown, so I had that extroverted streak for sure. I am the youngest of three—I had older sisters. I was always trying to make people laugh. It was embedded in my upbringing that I needed to perform for somebody, for family or friends, but I also got a thrill being on stage. I took dance classes in the South Indian style of song and dance—it was part of my cultural identity that I could connect to. We grew up near a South Indian temple and we would go on Sunday. There was a wonderful group of Indians there, who were my parent’s friends, and all of the kids became friends. During the week, I would go back home to my other life—it felt like living two lives. I wasn’t in theater or acting classes or anything like that I just loved doing SNL skits with my friends and quoting funny movies.
How would you sum up the road to landing your roles on Glow and Mr.Robot?
Totally exciting! I left the Nashville area for Boston where I went to Emerson College—it was a whole new world. I went for writing, it was a bit arbitrary, I didn’t have the guts to audition for the acting program, it felt too far-fetched. I didn’t know what to label myself as, but I did writing. I’d sum up my journey by meeting my best friends in the comedy scene there. We were so excited to be around one another—making things up together was so great. We had a talent show like energy. I had a strong support system in this dreamy nature of things, it was like the real world didn’t matter as long as we have this bubble. The delusion was very nurtured (laughs).
Were you more pulled into the comedic aspect of it all at first?
I always wanted to be on SNL growing up. I just thought that was where I belonged. It made sense at some point, even though I couldn’t say it outloud as a goal, it was just like, I get these people. It was real thrill to get on the comedy troupes at Emerson College, to audition and actually get to be part of that scene was great, they were a bunch of weirdos like me (laughs). It was something I can’t quite explain that has followed me around for a long time, just shying away from labels and not trying to explain things too much, rather, just doing and being a part of this great hive energy. That brought me to New York and then brought me to the comedy stages doing all kinds of things like improv, sketch and comedy dancing. I formed the Cocoon Central Dance Team, which is this comedic dance group that I perform with. It comes from the spirit of dancing with your best friends and being a teenager and making up a dance to Mariah Carey’s Fantasy.
I love that! Now to talk about the film Save Yourselves! I know that it Was written for you to star as the lead by your friends, Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson—that must be a cool feeling!
It was so cool; it was super elevating to be thought of as a lead and someone who can carry a project out from the script to embodying the flesh of the person—it was such a gift. I was very honored that Alex and Eleanor thought I could do it and they believed in me. I feel like I can attribute a lot of my success to my friends for seeing me in a new light or seeing me in a higher light than I see myself.
That’s so great! Sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to see ourselves in a different way.
Yeah and especially the mentality as an actor of, well, I should be doing it this way or this is working for a lot of people and having friends tap you on the shoulder and say, no, just do it your way.
As i was PREPping to chat with you, i came across an interview in Vulture. You said you were initially quite nervous to play the lead. When it comes to facing your fears head on, what do you have to tell yourself to get over that feeling?
It’s that performers sort of adrenaline and zone—it kicks in. There is the preparation of understanding where you are going as a character and knowing the script. Then there is all of the anxiety and hoping that something doesn’t sound stupid or I hope I do it,the way I want to do it. But then once the camera turns on and you are in a scene with another person, it’s really beautiful how a lot of that does fall away. You are in the scene and you are exposed. You don’t want to expose your tricks, you just want to let the vulnerability guide the moment. I hadn’t had that opportunity before, especially as a lead, so it was learning to trust the moment. It’s actually what we, as actors, live for in a way. It was important for me to feel the moment, more and more, as we kept shooting.
You joined the Upright Citizen Brigade, where you did improv training for three years. I would think doing improv would be a tad scarier, or is that where you feel more comfortable?
It’s funny, I think I am trading places. I feel like if you asked me that maybe a year ago, I would have said, definitely, I am more comfortable as a comedic improviser—that’s what I am good for (laughs). But now I feel like I am a little out of practice with that because of other acting opportunities and seeing the moment differently. I feel like it’s such a great thing to have in my back pocket because I can feel comfortable in on the fly moments. I’m happy when directors or producing partners fit that into the process. I am trying to stretch my limbs in this acting thing more than the improvising thing now.
Back to the Film, Can you share more about the premise of It?
It’s about a good intentioned Brooklyn couple who flee the city and their technology in hopes to reconnect with themselves and each other. They escape to a cabin Upstate and as soon as they unplug and turn their phones off—and when you see them drive away—you witness the alien apocalypse descend on the skyline behind them. They are blissfully unaware of it and they try to work on themselves in this funny and self-important ways, but they are more superficial than they are deep, which is the comedy of it. Eventually, the end of the world catches up with them. They are fumbling hipsters who don’t have skills (laughs), which is also very relatable.
It makes light of people’s addiction to social media. How do you balance social media?
I am spending way too much time on these platforms. I was talking about this with a friend, in the context of Save Yourselves. Before the pandemic, there was this sort of virtue of not looking at your phone or texting as much. Being away from your phone meant something sort of noble I guess? But now in this pandemic and in this social climate, I feel a personal responsibility where something shifted and I use these platforms for when I have something to say, so there is also some virtue in that—I think, or not? We are in echo chambers and hopefully people are seeking sources outside of just social media platforms. I used to be one of those virtuous people but now it’s like, this is my community and this is my positive messaging, and now I really want to connect with people.
I want to acknowledge you for raising your voice and talking about your time on Glow. Would you call it both your duty and being brave to call out a network like Netflix and hold them accountable for their actions, or rather INACTIONS, when it came bipoc on set?
It felt momentous. It felt like it had to be done because it had been brewing. The thing is that I think we all had experiences, in our industry and in our lives, where this moment and these protests, allowed us to use our voice in a way that we were protecting, thinking about, or waiting for the right moment. It was like no, it’s now or never. It is a duty but it was very scary. I can’t believe we shared some of these things because they were so personal. I have been hearing a lot from people and it’s so helpful to hear because it is a bigger conversation. It’s about wanting to hold Netflix accountable but also at the same time, it’s happening across a lot of industries in a lot of situations.
It’s like the Me Too Movement, brave women raised their voices and certain behaviors are not tolerated anymore.
Yeah and with the Me Too Movement, so many people just saying, yeah, me too, just the resounding support of wow, this is unfortunately universal. There is strength in that collective.
Where do you think the industry needs to change? I think change can come from the bottom, top and all sides.
You are right, I think it happens at all levels, it’s not about just the on-camera representation, it’s also about the producers, who’s in the writers room or behind the camera. It’s a team effort and coming from the top is one level for sure. I feel like it is also happening on the ground level, a lot of people are trying to find their communities because the things you want to say and are experiencing are better amplified with those voices; you can experience parts of the story together. I think what’s really amazing, from our show creators, is that they were a bit nervous to be in this situation publicly. It required them to admit something really scary, but they are also insanely cool and brave for being like, oh yes, I did it wrong and now I am learning. I learned and I am not going to do that again. It’s a huge thing for those in power to admit they were wrong and there needs to be a change. I think that’s huge to admit, I am limited in my experience.
Very Well said—Giving people that rooM to make the necessary changes is Important. To conclude, can you share What’s next for you?
I am looking forward to recalibrating, writing and envisioning the kinds of things that I want to put out into the world. These movies were so anticipated personally, I had never been a lead before and now there are two versions of that out there. It’s like, what’s going to happen now? I was so personally proud of the work and that they now exist. It’s kind of nice to just pause for a moment.