Most of us are lucky if we find just one career in life that we’re passionate about – Jaspreet Sabrina Dosanjh has found two.
And she’s successful at both of them.
The Brit now living in Los Angeles has been able to combine her science work with an acting career. But her showbiz jobs stayed secret for the longest time.
“I felt I might be judged negatively and that no one in the science field or acting world would take me seriously again if they each knew of my other interests,” said Jaspreet. “It’s like I was Hannah Montana, living the best of both worlds.”
Then those two worlds suddenly collided out of the blue… “I received a text from someone I worked in the lab with asking ‘This may sound weird but did I just see you in a commercial on TV?”
Jaspreet admitted the truth and immediately got a text back saying, “Wow, that is so cool.” Days later her supervisor said she had seen Jaspreet’s picture on the Instagram page of David Beckham’s son, Brooklyn. “My first question was ‘What were you doing on that page?’ But soon I admitted my secret life, showed her the commercial Brooklyn Beckham had shared and it turned out she was incredibly excited and loved that I did acting too.”
Those experiences made her realize her fears were unfounded and the scientist decided to finally share with colleagues that her life wasn’t all about biochemical engineering and DNA amplification.
On learning she was also trained in acting and had been working on stage and screen, everyone at work was encouraging. The more she shared about herself, the more colleagues started to share the other side of their lives too. “We connected better as human beings and my work environment thrived.”
She has been similarly comfortable describing her work in science to acting friends and mentors.
“This has really taught me a lesson that it’s ok to embrace all sides of myself and whatever we want in life, there is no reason we can’t get it. We are our greatest power and limitation. I’d been listening to sentiments like that in songs by my favorite singer Pink and now I realize they are all true.”
After years of changing out of her lab coat at research and virology laboratories and sneaking off to auditions, her two passions are now out in the open and the scientist/actress has never been happier.
She also thinks that her scientific and acting experience in Britain and America go hand in hand and make her better in both fields. “Both need discipline, understanding, creativity and teamwork. When I have both in my life, my brain works more efficiently and I feel more free.”
Not surprisingly, she has been cast as quite a few scientists so far but longs to explore a range of roles, including in science fiction and comedy.
“I loved The Big Bang Theory and Star Trek shows and my favorite movie recently was Blinded by the Light. I’d love to do something as sweet, heartwarming and funny as that. It reminded me to be proud of every part of who I am.”
Jaspreet proves that lesson has been learned when she says, “People ask me now ‘Are you a scientist or an actress?’ and ‘Do you identify as British, American or Indian?’ I reply, ‘I am all of those things…and I love that.’”
