Afghan-American actress looks back at her childhood in Afghanistan

Annet Mahendru is an Afghan-American actress who was born to an Afghan-Indian father and a Russian mother. Annet spent her early childhood learning six languages while living in Afghanistan, Russia, and Europe. Some of her work in the film industry includes: “The Walking Dead: World Beyond,” “The Americans,” “The X Files,” “Penguins of Madagascar.” Her role in “The Walking Dead: World Beyond,” has wrapped up and now she is taking part in an upcoming Afghan film. Despite Mahendru’s parents not being from Afghanistan, she said: “I feel my Afghan roots deeply in my temperament, as I do my Indian and Russian colours. I feel at home equally at an Afghan wedding as I do at Holi or Fourth of July. My dad's dad had a sweet shop in Kabul, Afghanistan. His mom was from Nepal originally. They married young as she was an orphan and together, they had 8 children in Afghanistan who then went off to India, Iran, Europe, the US, and Russia! My dad was studying to become a pilot when Kabul University shut down and top students were offered 5-year placements in Russia. There he went on to become a journalist. There he met my mother and together they started a thriving trade business between Afghanistan and Russia. Jewellery and clothes were a high commodity during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. I speak Dari to my relatives. Somehow, I have always found it much more direct than Hindi and hence easier to speak. I eat lots of Afghan food, my dad's Pulau and doogh are my favs! My aunt makes the best Ashak and Quroot! My stepmom and budding actress sister, Angelina Mahendru, observe Eid. I remember celebrating Nowruz in Kabul, my family was notorious for mixing traditions to the point where you didn't even know what it was exactly but joy!" Mahendru reminisces her childhood in Afghanistan: “I fondly remember walking the saturated bazaars in Afghanistan with mother in matching lebas. I'd stain my lips in aloo baloo and munch on kulcha. That’s what I mostly and fondly remember. Some of it was war of course, unbeknownst to me at the time. My mother sheltered me in an empty bathtub now and then during strikes and told me they were celebratory fireworks. Unfortunately, lots of people including us had to leave as refugees and find new livelihoods and now I live in the United States. Today, I attribute my ever-changing childhood to the comfort I feel transforming into all sorts of strangers at work.” Annet finished high school in New York and received a Bachelor of Arts in English at St. John's University. Drawn by her passion for acting, she started to take acting and dance classes in her own time. There were two key moments of Mahendru’s life where she decided she wanted to become an actress. She said: "When I was 11 years old, I was with my single mom in St. Petersburg, Russia, who was working in theatre and film production. She got me tickets to every performance in town from ballet to comedy which I left just beside myself leaping in inspiration. The other point was at age 26 when I realised I had to drop everything else if I ever wanted to be a professional artist. No more modelling, no more photographer assistant jobs, no more hostessing at Hemingway's in Hollywood, no more driving trucks and managing flower sales at university graduations.”