Rashmi Rustagi

I started as an actor in India when I was just 9 years old, and I totally enjoyed it. When I moved to the U.S., I took a pause while raising my family, but then I went back to it and did a lot of theater in the San Francisco Bay Area. My biggest break came when I got a small part in the blockbuster film The Avengers, and that just hooked me. Acting gigs come few and far between, and then the pandemic hit. Just before that, I had made a short film which was a social impact film that made a lot of buzz and got awarded for the issues it was raising. It's now screening on Amazon Prime. During the pandemic, I wrote a feature film about domestic violence in the South Asian community, which has done extremely well in the festival circuit. Out of necessity, I became a writer and producer because I wanted to tell stories and there wasn't enough work as an actor. Making the feature film and producing it, I could write a book on how much experience I gained, and what not to do, mostly. Now I act, write, and produce, and I like to tell stories that empower women, primarily. What I love most about my work is bringing women's issues to the forefront and helping them. I want to leave a legacy for my three daughters, my son, and my daughter-in-law, so I really have four daughters. I want to leave a legacy for them for a better world for women.