F L A U N T
Veda Baldota was born in India, but her life journey has led her on an unusual path to become an actor residing in New York City. Her career choice can be considered surprising because she was a dedicated, successful athlete throughout her childhood. Baldota was such an exemplary athlete that UC Berkeley recruited her to be on the track and cross country team.
While attending UC Berkeley during the last semester of her sophomore year, Baldota was reminded by her sister, Vaamaa, that she had yet to fulfill her arts requirement. Her sister suggested that she take an acting class. At first, Baldota was reluctant, but Vaamaa insisted that an acting class was a perfect fit. Baldota gave in and was genuinely surprised to discover that acting felt right.
“Why did I pursue it? The feeling in my gut, the feeling in my heart, the smile on my face, the tears in my eyes. By the time I graduated, I knew this was what I wanted to do as my career, so I went to grad school and got an MFA in acting from Columbia University,” Baldota explained.
The rigorous 3-year grad program was challenging, but no matter how taxing it was on her body and mind, Baldota knew she wanted to spend long, tiring hours performing. Even more alluring about pursuing a career in acting was that she would be constantly learning, something that she enjoys.
Throughout her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley and MFA studies at Columbia, Baldota acted in many plays and short films and is an assistant to the genius film maker, Mira Nair. Currently, she is working on a play called Samsara. Baldota will perform at the Artists Repertory Theater in Portland, Oregon, at the end of February. She will shoot a sketch comedy series in Los Angeles, California, at the end of March and plans to act in a feature film, produced by Clifton Powell". Baldota is excited about these opportunities. As a South Asian woman, there are not as many available for her because “roles for a brown girl being limited” can be an obstacle. Baldota isn’t deterred from pursuing her dreams. She’s grateful for her journey this far and excited for what the future holds for her as an actor.
Another challenge for Baldota has been her dyslexia. At one point, she regarded it as a negative and believed she had to do more work to be at the same level as other actors.
“It was not easy, and as a young, South Asian immigrant woman who is also dyslexic. I came across a number of challenges and still face them. But the lesson I learned and am still learning is: how do I make my challenges my strengths?” Baldota said.
Gradually, with practice, Baldota learned to let go of those feelings of insecurity and didn’t even think about her dyslexia anymore. Now, she uses her creativity from dyslexia in her performances.
The discipline Baldota learned from sports growing up has helped her on her acting journey. She is always curious and willing to learn new things. Most of all, she’s mastered being present, which she considers most important for acting, even when life is complicated.
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