Little Mosque's Carlo Rota a Chameleon
Source: By CHRIS JANCELEWICZ
Posted: 08/29/08 10:27AM
Filed Under: Television
Carlo Rota has the distinction of being the only actor ever to simultaneously play a Muslim and a man who is tortured by Muslims at the same time. For a London-born, non-Muslim actor who spent many years living in Toronto, this is indeed quite a feat. That's the beauty of Rota - his heritage and ethnicity are non-distinct. His skin is an olive tone and he has a strong British accent, but if his mouth were closed you could easily mistake him for someone of Middle Eastern origin. The ambiguity allows him to play whatever role is thrown at him, convincingly and commandingly.
On Little Mosque on the Prairie, he plays the practical Yasir Hamoudi, a contractor who runs his business out of an office at the mosque, and on the hit series 24, he plays Morris O'Brian, an arrogant but brilliant computer scientist who was held captive by a group of terrorists.
"I was lucky enough to be on a show where I was being tortured by Muslims, and also playing one," says a fresh-looking Rota, his voice incredibly deep and powerful. "People would come up to me on the street, and I found there were two extremes: there were the ones that said, 'Good for you for being so diverse in your career,' that you can actually do that. And others said, 'How could you possibly be on a show that shows us who our enemy is?'
Rota has been accused of being a hypocrite and a traitor for playing a Muslim, but it doesn't faze him one iota. In fact, he thinks it's a good thing that there's such a reaction to Little Mosque. His logic is simple: any press is good press. If people are upset about the depiction of Muslims on CBC, then they'll watch it to get more fuel for the fire, and if they're pleased with the show, they'll watch it too. And the end result, overall, is education - particularly in the racially-charged U.S., where the buzz for the show is nearly deafening.
Racially Contentious Movie Characters |
Canadian comedian Mike Myers' latest comedic character is Pitka, an American raised outside of his country by a cross-eyed Indian guru Tugginmypuddha. Hindu and East Indian groups have been vocal about this release - namely, how something of this nature can be released in 2008. Early reviews pan it, not the least of which is for an outdated racist theme. |
 1 of 7
PHOTOS |
"I think that as far as the nature of it goes, we in Canada have less of an issue with race, in many ways, or culture, or the differences in culture," says Rota. "Particularly at a time when the U.S. is engaged in armed conflict in Islamic countries, I think for many Americans, the word 'Muslim' equates with 'enemy'. This show can help dissipate that."
But Little Mosque isn't just a deflator of stereotypes. It's a comedy, first and foremost. It takes the usually serious depiction of Muslim activities and fluffs it up for the Wednesday night audience. And that, Rota claims, is the key to its success.
"I mean, it's a sitcom for heaven's sake," he says. "It's relatively fluffy. It gives you a peek into the culture. People don't want to be scared on a weekday night. They want to have a laugh. I'm hoping we're achieving that in the third season, which has a lot more heart, I think. I also think it's funnier. We've also added a bit more about Islam, too, to keep things interesting."
One of the unique things about Rota is his knowledge of Islam, a quality rare in big-time 'white' actors. He grew up with a few Muslim friends and one of his closest friends, in his mid-20s, decided he was going to choose the road of Islam. The two of them would have hours and hours of discussion about the religion.
"Sure, they dress differently, they talk differently, they’re a different colour, they do things we don’t know about it, and they have secretive societies," says Rota. "But even though there are Muslims who do that, there's also those that get up in the morning, have breakfast, and take their kids to school."
Rota's Muslim character, Yasir, enters season 3 with the same problems of season 2. The foremost in his mind is his daughter, who he's been trying to marry off to her long-time boyfriend. The results should be interesting.
If you miss Rota on Little Mosque or 24, he'll be starring in Saw V, due out in October 2009. And if you miss him in that too, there's no doubt this chameleon will be turning up in the most unexpected of places.
Little Mosque airs on Wednesday nights on CBC at 8 pm ET (8:30 NT).
91 %
9 %
