And Just Like That… Sarita Choudhury Became Seema Patel

0:29This is The Run Through. I'm Chloe Mal. She was so hot in that film. I love that movie. She plays Denzel's love interest, which we know is something many women would love to be. And we talked about that. We talked about her relationship with director Mira Nair and how Seema's metallic leopard print fabulous frocks and looks translate into her real life wardrobe, which is a little more muted. It would be hard not to be. But before we get into that, headlines for today. Choma, I have to say, I'm seated, as the youth say, for this season of In Just Like That. I've sort of just let it wash over me and accepted that it's not going to be what Sex and the City was for me.

1:15And you're learning this now? Well, I didn't watch the first season. You didn't watch the first season and just like that? I watched the first episode and I was like, oof, I can't do this. How am I just learning this now? I pretended. I feel betrayed. I feel betrayed. I just like, I watched one or two episodes and I was like, I don't know if this is for me. I need to preserve in Amber the true Sex and the City. But then the second season, it was, you know, you, Jessie, everyone really convinced me that I needed to get on board for this journey. And I'm very happy to be here. It's just a very different journey than Sex and the City.

1:54So I will say I was delighted to see that the Simone Rocha dress with the roses sewn into the tulle, which is one of my favorite dresses I've ever worn and wore to the pre-met party for the Garden of Time. Garden of Time. Anyway, Sarah Jessica Parker wore that Simone Rocha dress and the matching duster jacket. I mean, I'm sure she was like going to the post office the way that she likes to go out with a bang. But that was exciting to me. I also am obsessed with Rosie O'Donnell as a nun and Mary and Miranda, their M &Ms in Times Square. What a delightful curveball. Yeah, you're right. That opening look was just so just just reminded me just like how amazing Sarah Jessica Parker is as a style icon and that she still got it.

2:50I've I've also I've worn I've worn the dress. I wore it to the Men of the Year Awards a while ago, and I've worn the top. So I think that collection is just like a fan favorite. If you're a fan of Simone Rochard, you will know and recognize that instantly. And I think it was like she knew. She knows how to sort of drop the Easter eggs. It was kind of the equivalent of that. It was a very fashion insider, if you know, you know. Yeah. I mean, similarly to the pigeon, the pigeon bag, which I think had everyone. for me like that they come they came out the gate swinging to have simone rochard and be that moment so i thought it was kind of brilliant and then the gorgeous i think nobody wears hats the way that oh my god what was that hat yes i was it was it was a there's a hat maker who hold on miriam kahani yeah i think actually and it's called the cloud hat yes and miriam posted about it i think i discovered miriam through actually our dear colleague uh laird uh borelli pearson so it was yeah i do think hats are actually having a moment they're really they're really back and nobody wears them like sarah jessica parker oh certainly not yes um so i was very i was very pleased with the fashion in this episode from even the the kind of at home some looks that because obviously during the episode spoiler alert uh there is a moment in the episode where where uh carrie's alarm goes off repeatedly in her house and each time she's wearing some really kind of cool version of like a house dress or like a pajama and you're just like who goes to bed looking this good or who like like who wanders around their house and like this beautiful kind of like pale pink and white striped ensemble.

4:44I was very impressed. Speaking of fashion news of the week, the FDA Vogue Fashion Fund finalists, it's like Sally sells seashells on social media, announced this year's finalists, 10 designers. It was very exciting. There was a whole process, well, you know, panel to be of judges who are deciding on the 10 finalists. And it's always a fun moment. It feels like a nice way to sort of elevate designers who we're passionate about or that we don't know as well. It was also fun because all of the judges came to the Vogue offices. So Paloma was here and Aurora James and Ricky DeSole. And it was fun to sort of have some lively, familiar faces in the office.

5:33But yeah, some of the more well-known designers of the group are Ashlyn's, Ashlyn Park, Obero's, Julianne Louis, Bak Mai, Don't Let Disco, Erloam, Jamie Okuma, Mert Toligan, and Peter Doe. This year's winner will receive$300 ,000, and the two runner-ups will each take home$100 ,000, which is not nothing, along with business mentorships. But yeah, I always look forward to this sort of summer rollout of the fashion fund. Well, I want to know, Choma, are there any of the CVFF finalists that you are excited about? Yeah, I'm so excited to see Jamie Akuma on here. I think it might be the first time that we've had a Native American designer in the competition.

6:26Jamie was a designer who actually Christian Allaire introduced me to. Yeah, I agree. I know. I saw Jamie's name and I was like, oh, Christian's a stalwart because Christian wears Jamie a lot too and wore Jamie a lot for his book tour. Yeah, I'm super excited about Jamie. I'm super excited that Peter Doe is finally one of the finalists. I think he had perhaps not applied in recent years, but he's super talented and someone I think people are excited about. He was anonymous before. I don't want to get the facts wrong, but I do know that he's been very resistant to be in the spotlight. And initially, there were very few photos of him on the internet, and he would very rarely step forward to be the face of Peter Doe, which is very Margiela-like.

7:12So I think his participation of this much more forward-facing competition is like a really good sign because I think people want to get to know him more. I understand, obviously, you want to have an allure and a mystique. But I think in today's world, people want to get to know who the designer is. You know, I think they want to get to know who's behind a brand, how they work, their process. And this is really a step in that direction. Is there anything sort of from behind the scenes of being a judge? Because I know you were a judge for a few years and really leaned into that role. Anything that you feel like people should know about that that makes it a unique process?

7:51I think the conversations are always here. Do you have different perspectives in the room? You have a perspective of buyers. You have this perspective of editors. You have a model like Paloma who's weighing in. So I think it's always food for thought. And it's something that the decision isn't ever taken lightly. And there's lots of debate. And there are a lot of emotions involved. And there are people campaigning for one particular designer. And there can be a conversation that happened that sways the judges. So it's really interesting. And I think it's one of the biggest privileges I've ever had working at Vogue was to be able to be part of it because you are giving, I mean, it's such a huge honor.

8:28It's obviously an amazing financial endorsement, but beyond that, you're sort of anointed as the next big thing in American fashion. So I think being part of that process is just kind of why I do what I do, being able to sort of celebrate new designers. And it's very exciting. Choma, as you know, we here at American Vogue are extremely passionate about the Tonys. There's a lot of fun, exciting performances planned that people are excited about, like Hamilton, the original cast, is reuniting and is going to do a performance. There's a lot of shows that people loved this year that are nominated.

9:08Oh, Choma, what did you think about the announcement of Jonathan taking over the reins of all of Dior? Finally, long last, this announcement came out. It was such big news in the UK because, honestly, he's not a British designer, actually. He is a UK designer because he's from Northern Ireland, and that was interesting to me. We'll be right back with Sarita Chowdhury in just a minute. Thank you.

10:07Vanity Fair has everything you need to know about this year's Oscar race. Follow and listen to Little Gold Men wherever you get your podcasts.

10:27Sarita, congratulations on season three. Thank you. I feel like you're in a press whirlwind right now. You know, I am, and just yesterday I thought I'm enjoying it. I don't know what that means. What is the sort of marathon strategy? I just make sure I sleep wherever, in cars. The more you do it, the better you get at it. You take yourself less seriously. If I look at some early interviews, I've got perfect posture, and it's so embarrassing. And now I'm like, oh, okay. It can be normal. Yes. Okay, straight first time we see you in this season. Yeah. You look, Seema, first time we see Seema. Yeah, I remember.

11:07She looks amazing. I was scared. She's in lingerie. She's on a bed. She's getting ready for what is supposed to be like a spicy Zoom call. Was that the first scene that you filmed? No, thank God. Okay. Thank God. But when I watched that episode, you know, so I'm like on my bed. I'm just like, you're nervous always because you don't know how they're going to edit. You don't know. But I did not expect that. When I saw it, I was like, whoa. It felt like I was, it was too much. All right. Well, how do you prepare for that? How do you prepare for a scene like that mentally? Well, no, mentally you don't know.

11:46I looked in the mirror straight. It looked normal. I mean, it was a bustier and, you know, you're just like, oh, it looks great. I didn't know that when I lay that way and that way, this like Fellini-esque moments were happening. so I didn't know I didn't prepare for it I will next time I sort of love that you're waiting for our dear Ravi who's really not stepping up to the challenge thank you but you're in a long distance relationship with this very slick but sleazy maybe or not available maybe not sleazy wait what were the two words I like but you were like slick but sleazy slick but sleazy but not really yeah I like that I get that And have you ever been in a long-distance relationship?

12:31Well, I'm very trained in them. So I can imagine that it could be quite difficult coming into a show with a just like that, where there's this, like, established cast and all these actors who are, like, beloved and have history together. So what was it like filming season three as opposed to when you first started? Oh, my God. I love that question because I've been feeling that a lot. season one joining was it was like I wish I could go back to that girl and be like it's gonna be fine because it really is you don't and I mean this you don't want to ruin the show big Manolo's to fill big Manolo's to fill I mean seriously and a character like Seema because you've just seen a script there's no image of her in your head yet or whatever And so you also want to be like, I got to be a little careful not to, you know, because she walks into scenes and just starts talking.

13:35Yeah, yeah. But I'm meeting the cast for the first time and I'm trying to be a little like well behaved. And so just finding how to temper, but also enjoy Seema. It was tricky. It was tricky. But now I love it. Good. Did you have a Sex and the City era in New York City? when you were drinking Cosmos around town? Ironically, with Nicole, who plays LTW, so we were very close, we are very close friends. And we used to go out, I remember we had like 20 bucks in our pocket and we thought that was great. We knew we could get two drinks back then and just have enough in case you were a little hungry at the end.

14:20How did you and Nicole Ari Parker meet? We auditioned for a play and we both ended up in it. And then we auditioned for a film and we ended up in it. So I think in the waiting room, she was, I'll never forget, she was wearing a white t-shirt and white jeans. And I thought, what color eyes are those? And also, she was very quiet. Something about her, I was just like, I want to become friends with her. And then by chance, you guys were cast together for those? Yes. No, that's crazy. Sorry, I didn't mean to ask her. Like, mm-hmm. What is it like working with her? She and I guess we were cast, but she called me and she was like, did I hear right?

15:02And I had just found out. So I was like, I didn't know what she meant. How could she know about me getting this job? And why would she care the minute I just got it? It was because she had just got it. Wow. Yeah. Did you know you were both in talks for it? No. Wow. No, no, because you don't know anything. yeah no it was crazy like I'm meeting her after this today and where are you guys what are you up to I don't know we meet we usually just we haven't even what I do is I text her and then we pick a corner because you know we don't she's the only one who understands if I'm late because I don't know how long an interview goes or she's the only one who can forgive me at this point I've lost all my friends and I hope she has too so she can just be there for me that's what I hope and what is it like working with her, working with one of your best friends?

15:56I don't work with her. I don't have scenes. It's true, you don't really have scenes with her. Okay. Nope. So we see each other in the hallway. Yeah, I was about to say, do you ever cross paths? Oh yeah, we run two, sure. Okay. Seema, she's such a fab character. She has such a strong sense of self, but also very real, grounded. How much of that, do you identify with that? Do you think that your life influences the character at all? How much Seema is informed by Sarita? Do you know what's interesting? Don't you find, and I'm sure maybe you guys find this about yourself, who we think we are, we also get a sense that other people don't see us that way.

16:34Yes. So other people will say, oh, sweetie, you're so strong and you're so relaxed. Meantime, I'm thinking, I go home and I'll ponder over the one thing until it feels better and call my best friend and be like, did they really mean that? So on one hand, I think I do have a certain assuredness, but it's like, that's why I related to Carrie. It's full of quirks of mind that I don't think Seema has, you know? Yeah. But I do, I relate to her steadiness. She'll listen and she'll speak in the same proportions. Like she's not an overtalker and she's not a bad listener. I think like her desirability and her openness is also obviously just like a huge part of her character.

17:31And oftentimes when you see that with characters over 50, it's like, oh, they're sexy in spite of the fact that they're this age. But with Seema, that's just who she is. When you guys were developing this character, were there conversations about that? Sorry, I'm trying to understand. So you're saying that was a very intelligent four senses for someone who's tired. You said, so when you're in your 50s, sometimes... Sometimes it's like, oh, even though she's 50, she's still sexy. But Seema, it's like she's sexy because she's sort of confident in her age and who she is. That's so, I love that. Were there conversations about that and how to portray that on screen?

18:14No. Okay. But I like that that's what you see. What's interesting about the conversations is we get a script, right, with just lines. So you're just thinking of the scene, and it's usually situational comedy. So you're trying to figure out what that is. and then you get put in these clothes, like whether it's the bustier or a tiger or panther patterned tight suit and high heels and bags and bags I can't even open and everything's encrusted in a gold or a lock or something. And because she's a smoker, I have to open them and I have to open the cigarette pack and I have to light it as I'm saying my one line as I'm walking out.

18:59Like it's all very, it took me a lot to get to figure out. So I think the work goes there and if you're lucky the whatever that quality you're talking about is I think depending how how much you pull that off then that quality comes in. I feel like Seema was maybe judged too harshly in season one about how much she loved exotic prints. But I wonder if you feel like you've brought any of your own fashion into SEMA's wardrobe or vice versa? Like, are you wearing more prints now post-SEMA? I brought, so I don't, so I haven't brought any of my fashion really into, Molly and Danny are so specific and good at what they do.

19:48And you start to. Yeah, the costume designers. You start to learn that when you see an episode, because sometimes you're in something and you're like, really? Is that right? And then you see the episode and you're like, oh my God, thank God. Like there's an episode where I walk into a hair salon and I've got a scarf on and the scarf moves behind me. But I realized watching it, the scarf doing that kind of creates a momentum for me as a character, which I can't create as an actress. You know what I mean? The movement of something. Yes. So that's when I get, I understand their job. Yeah. That's not, I don't have that talent.

20:26And I know because I play Seema in my own life, I think I've gone the, I already was kind of like this, like jeans. And I always like one thing, like a red lip or a shoe, but I'll never do something too much. Seema, I think, doesn't do too much, but she, because she could. She does a lot. Yeah, she does a lot. Yeah, she does. I was seeing about it the other day, like she could almost be, too much and like tasteless. But somehow it's in the Danny and Molly world of, no, it has to be that earring if we're wearing, you know, somehow balance it a little. Do you have a favorite SEMA look? This season?

21:12Yeah. I have the first one, one in episode one. It's a, I've talked about it before. It's a beautiful rope. It's made of rope and it's handmade for weeks by these wonderful people in Colombia. This designer works with all these women. That was amazing. And then there's this simple, I think it was probably Fendi, so simple, nothing, dark brown, skirt and top. But you know when you walk and you feel good in something? You can't put your finger on it. You don't know if it's because of the weight of the material and it's your thing. Yeah. What is the wardrobe process with the show? It's so much fun.

21:56Tell us everything. And I say that because it's not that fun on other projects. You think it would be, but it can be. It isn't always. It isn't always. It's fun because you arrive, you're in your whatever daily wear, and they greet you. And you can see they've pulled up your stuff and it's on this rack. And you can see the other characters. And you can't help but compare a little. like but it becomes pretty obvious what your character is like if i'm next to charlotte's it's definitely like a huge divide of what it is um there's a delta and so there's this huge pink shaylong that we all collapse onto oh and because we're in heels all the time in the fitting you get tired you know because you're also you can't be bothered to take off the heel to then So you're just always in heels.

22:46And so we collapse onto this pink couch, and they know, oh, she doesn't want to get up yet. So they pretend to be looking for something. The whole thing is, it's exquisite. Molly's got a great sense of humor. So does Dani. It's like, it's their show in that moment. And it's my break. Have you ever taken anything from set? Yes. One thing I got, I don't even know what to do with it. I almost need to buy a house in Sicily to wear it. I wore it in one scene just sitting on a bed. It's see-through-ish, mermaid-y green. It's so impractical, and it's long, and it's nothing. You both would love it. Like, you wear it, and you're just like, oh, my God.

23:29But you can't wear it out because it's see-through. It's a dress? I guess a dress, but it also feels like a... It's a house frock. Yeah, that's why the Sicilian house, you know those tiles where you're just walking, and you're like, who is out there? and you're just standing and they just see you lit with the backlight. And MPK would be like, oh, I love that, Sarita. And I was like, oh, he doesn't know it's because I'm a smoker. My acting is just amazing, finally. Only in those moments. So I was just so grateful that, yeah, it was fine. We are going to take a short break. We'll be back in a moment.

24:11You come to the New Yorker Radio Hour for conversations that go deeper with people you really want to hear from, whether it's Bruce Springsteen or Questlove or Olivia Rodrigo, Liz Cheney, or the godfather of artificial intelligence, Jeffrey Hinton, or some of my extraordinarily well-informed colleagues at The New Yorker. So join us every week on the New Yorker Radio Hour, wherever you listen to podcasts.

24:43You're quite the citizen of the world. I'm going to get this correct. So you were born in England, grew up in Italy and Jamaica. Yes. Went to college in Canada. And now have lived in New York. Yes. For many years. So that sounds like a lot, but actually what it really felt like was Jamaica and Italy for like at least till I left home. Okay. Nice. And how is that? Why each of those places? Because Jamaica was, oh, why were we there? Yeah. My dad left India to go, he got a job in a school in Jamaica. Interesting. In those days, they were like, you got a job, you go. Okay. And you take the boats and the plane.

25:25And my mother got a job in the same school and she was in England. And so they both traveled. It was the same year they were joining this school. And they fell in love. And so then we stayed there. And then my dad was working on an experiment for his PhD. And the Rome, how Rome happened was the UN has a branch that was like, oh, we like that project. Can you come and live here? Interesting. What was his PhD? It was on shrimp. It was how to breed shrimp in murky waters with a certain algae. That meant you could grow them in a lot more places, in places they thought were not. Fascinating. And so it was so strange.

26:16Moving as a family to Rome, like Jamaican Rome are so different. And I was 11, 12. I was brown, did not speak Italian, did not have the clothes. Wow. I was like, whoa. But then at that age, you learn Italian. You learn any language so quickly. Right, yeah. And that's it. That's amazing. It's great. Does anywhere feel like home? No. What about New York? I started crying. Yeah. Where does feel like home? I guess where my parents are feels like home definitely. They're still in Italy. No, they retired back to India. Oh, you said that. I'm sorry. So they're in India. Italy is definitely, I think, when I land there, the most like, ah.

27:08Because imagine from 11 to 18. Yeah. Those are very big pivotal years. And the food, it's where you become interested in different kinds of food. Like when you're a kid, less so. The coffee. everything, my whole body is like, yes. So maybe Italy. New York is everyone's home. Do you know what I mean? I can't claim it because, yeah. When I watched the premiere, I watched it with one of my friends, and immediately she was like, wait, have you seen Mississippi Masala? And she was one of many people who has asked me that recently or who I've heard a lot of people talking about it. I do feel like it's having a renaissance.

27:44Like people really, like young people, because I love that movie because I love Mira Neyer's work, But I feel like I'm an old person. But young people are really... I think, first of all, Criterion. Yes, it did come out. It came out there. But still, you're right. There's still a lot of people who I don't even know if they see it on Criterion. I don't know. Yeah. What do you think? And so this movie is about a young couple. You're navigating like an interracial relationship in the South. Not any relationship. Denzel's relationship. You're playing opposite this unknown actor, Denzel Washington.

28:18Yeah. Oddly, at that time, he was known. He had just won the Oscar for Glory. But he was relatively, I mean, he hadn't done the big movies yet. Let's put it this way. Tickets for Othello were not$900. They were not. They were not. Why do you think it's resonating right now, all these years later? Well, there's also a bad reason. I saw it recently, and I was like, wait, why does this make sense still? Because racism hasn't frigging changed. is why, like, you know, which is not, I wish it didn't make sense. It should be looked at as, oh, I can't believe, but no, that's the problem. I also think any love story that is culturally so many boundaries, like there is Uganda, there is Mississippi, there is what is racism in Mississippi versus in Uganda?

29:08What is Black American, Black African? It's so undone with comedy and love, but mainly a love story, which we all love to chase. It's kind of unusual as a, so political. I don't know how she got that much in a movie, like in one movie. I'm very invested. Even for me, it's been a very exciting next chapter of my Mira Neir fandom that Zorian Momdami, her son, is running for mayor. Amazing. So telegenic and charming and has become sort of. Like, you could actually, you know, some people you're like, why do I trust them? You meet him and you're like, I trust you. Yeah. Such a rare quality. Do you, apparently he was sort of playing and around on the set of the film.

29:54I babysat Zoran all the time. Yeah, I was like, get out of my room, Zoran. I gotta work. Yeah. And I love that Mira has been like canvassing for him and sort of handing out. Well, she has to. Can you imagine? Yeah. I love it too. I love watching that. She's so great. She's such a talent. Do you still keep in touch with her? Yeah, completely. That's it. It's family, though. Imagine doing a film like that, and then I did Kama Sutra. There's no way I wasn't, yeah. We're all embedded. You are also a real film buff, and you love watching classic movies. What's the last movie you saw in a movie theater?

30:31Wow. In a movie theater? I think I went to Wong Kar Wai's Chunking Express at IFC. I took my daughter. Yeah, she had the same reaction I had when I first saw it. I think it's the best love story I've ever seen. Not love story, but whatever love story is. Is it with yourself or is it with someone else? It really gets me. I love it. I would like to know about the skincare routine I heard that you have, which consists of oil at nighttime to sleep in? Only oil. Okay, anything else involved? Your skin is glowing. It looks bad. Yes. Oh, my God. No, acupuncture. Oh, okay. I learned, you know what I realized?