Meet Shalini Peiris, The First Brown Character On The White Lotus

We have great news for all of us in India who are obsessed with The White Lotus, a dark hilarious black comedy that dives into the messy lives of rich Americans on holiday—the third season just came out on February 16 and it feels closer than ever.

The White Lotus is set only a little from India on the dreamy beaches of Thailand (Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, to be more specific). And what is just south of Thailand? Sri Lanka—home to The White Lotus' first brown character, Shalini Peiris. And let’s be real, by the time season 3 ends, Indians are definitely going to be claiming her as their own.

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A post shared by Shalini Peiris (ශලිනි/ஷலினி) (@i.am.shalini.p)

Who is Shalini Peiris, and What is Her Story?

Shalini Peiris, who is currently based in London and was born in the Sri Lankan hill town of Kandy, admits that she will always remember the day she got to know that she had been cast. After filming in Serbia, the star had just arrived in the British capital when she got on a call with her manager.

“I called back thinking he was going to tell me the audition hadn’t gone my way but instead he said he had good news. I was surrounded by people getting off the plane so I had to keep it together but as soon as I got off, I ran to the nearest bathroom, locked myself inside and screamed at the top of my lungs," she says.

For Shalini, being cast in The White Lotus is the result of a journey that started over 15 years ago when she told her parents that she wanted to be an actor. Back then, she was working at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong as a recent anthropology graduate.

She tried hard to whisk away her dream of becoming an actor under the carpet of "unattainable childhood fantasies," but her long-held dream never really went away.

Peiris then decided to move to London, got herself enrolled in a one-year acting program and began looking for whatever work she could get her hands on while also working several part-time jobs.

“It was a very different industry back then. There weren’t that many brown faces, and conversations about representation were still in their infancy,” she says.

Her Ray of Hope

Peiris was on the verge of quitting acting when finally she landed a role in a play called Lions and Tigers, a true story about a Bengali freedom fighter taking on the British Raj, which was an astounding success and had a lasting impact on the audience. One of the audience, who is now her current manager, took it upon himself to sign her on and give her the platform she deserved.

Her first TV role followed soon after and since then the roles have kept coming.

Her Role in The White Lotus 

In The White Lotus, the 39-year-old actor will be seen as Amrita, throughout the third season, who is a meditation teacher and spiritual counsellor working at the resort’s spa. She has a significant storyline with one of the guests.

She loves the show so much, that she’s seen both seasons twice and was happy just to be able to audition for the new season.

“It’s so rare for a show to balance humour and darkness so well, and to give each character their moment to leap off the screen,” she says, smiling. 

Watch the official trailer of The White Lotus Season 3 here: