AMNA NAWAZ: As the first Asian and only# South Asian actress to be nominated for## a best actress Oscar, Merle Oberon's place in# the pantheon of cinema is historic, but it came## with enormous sacrifice.

For decades, Oberon# had to hide her race to stay working in film.

I recently spoke with writer Mayukh# Sen whose new book, "Love, Queenie:## Merle Oberon, Hollywood's First South Asian# Star," chronicles Oberon's rise to fame,## her groundbreaking career, and# eventual fade from the spotlight.

It's part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

Mayukh, welcome to the "News# Hour."

Thanks for being here.

MAYUKH SEN, Author, "Love, Queenie: Merle Ober... First South Asian Star": Thank you for having me, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So before we dive into the details# of Mer.. came to be.

I mean, what was it about her# and her story that made you want to dig in?

MAYUKH SEN: So I have always been fascinated by# Merle Oberon ever since I first encountered her,## which was all the way back in the summer of 2009.

I was a rising senior in high school and# I was obsessed with the Oscars.

And I## learned that she had been the first# Asian actress who was nominated for## an Academy Award for acting all the way# back in 1936.

And then I learned that she## had grown up in the city of Kolkata,# which is where my father was from.

And so, ever since then, I have really wanted to## tell her story.

And there hasn't been a# proper biography of her in over 40 years.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

MAYUKH SEN: So I told myself, you## know what, I think it's time for me to just take# this project o.. AMNA NAWAZ: And the story that most people# knew about her as she was making her way## through Hollywood was that she was a British# actress, that she was born in Tasmania,## that she was raised in India, then brought# to England.

That's the story she told people.

What was the truth about her life?

MAYUKH SEN: So something that emerged in the years# after her death in.. despite posturing before the public# eye as this white Tasmanian-born woman,## was in fact born into poverty in the# city that was then known as Bombay,## now Mumbai, India, to a South# Asian mother and a white father.

And she spent the first 18 years of her# life in India living through poverty.## And it was only after she went to England in# 1929 that this fictitious backstory was created## for her by studios that she was actually# a white woman born in Tasmania.

And that## is a lie that would stick with her throughout# the entirety of her life, at least publicly.

AMNA NAWAZ: What did it mean to grow up# mixed-race in India in the early 1900s?

MAYUKH SEN: Yes.

So Merle Oberon, she was born as Queenie#Thomson in India, right?

And many Anglo-Indians,## Merle Oberon included, grew up having to deal# with intense social discrimination because the## fact that they were essentially neither here nor# there.

They didn't easily assimilate into the## wider South Asian population and they were also# almost always rejected by white British folks.

AMNA NAWAZ: And the context for# when she comes to the United States,## as you point out in the book, is, again, one of# real overt racism towards South Asians, right?

There was an immigration act that barred# South Asians from entry.

Hollywood had a## code in place that barred any# interracial romance on screen.## You write in the book that her identity# was a secret she guarded with her life.

What would have happened if people had found out?

MAYUKH SEN: So her career would have# been completely destroyed had people## known that she was in fact a mixed-race# girl who was born into poverty in India.

The Hays Code, which was instituted in# 1934, which is coincidentally the same## year that Merle Oberon first arrives in# America, for example, one of its edicts## barred the depiction of interracial romance,# which was defined in the text as being between## black and white races, but produced such# a chilling effect that it also affected## the opportunities for non-Black people# of color, including Merle Oberon.

So had people known that she was# actually mixed race and South Asian,## she would not have been able# to play any leading roles.

AMNA NAWAZ: And she does land some roles, right?# She stars opposite of Laurence Olivier as Cathy## in "Wuthering Heights," as Anne Boleyn# in "The Private Life of Henry VIII."

How does she hide her identity?# What does she have to do?

MAYUKH SEN: I mean, it requires enormous# sacrifice.

First, she's armed with this## backstory that was created for her all the way# back in 1932 by a company called London Films.## They're the ones that, you know what, we're going# to give you this fictitious backstory that will## essentially deflect any sort of curiosity# or speculation about your heritage, right?

And alongside that, she has to endure# so many terrible and torturous, frankly,## beauty regimens.

When she was making the# 1935 film "The Dark Angel," which is the## film for which she received her historic# best actress nomination, she had to undergo## an entire day of skin bleaching because studio# crew essentially thought that she was too dark.

And this is something that she had to go through# routinely as she was making films in Hollywood.

AMNA NAWAZ: What kind of# impact did that take on her,## not just on her career, but her# personally, psychologically?

MAYUKH SEN: I mean, I think that it really# incurred such a deep psychological cost on her.

And what I found as I was writing my# book and really spending a lot of time## with the archives and her personal# papers is that she was essentially## in this dance between having to# deny who she was in public while## in private still keeping in touch# with her family members from India.

And that sort of tension, I think, really# reached a boiling point later in her life.

AMNA NAWAZ: You write also in the book that the## words forgotten and overlooked get thrown# around rather indiscriminately these days.. but they apply to Merle.

Why do you say# that?

What do you think her legacy is today?

MAYUKH SEN: When it comes to conversations# about Asian identity in America,## so often I find people fixate on East# Asian or Southeast Asian identity,## not necessarily South Asian identity,# which is what Merle's story represents.

Alongside that, I would say the fact# that she's mixed race has sometimes## disqualified her from these conversations# about representation.

And then, of course,## you add to the fact that she passed as# white and she had to deny her heritage.

But I do find that, in terms of Merle's legacy,# what she was really fighting for, whether she## was conscious of it or not, was an entertainment# ecosystem in which people, especially performers## of color, did not have the roles that were# available to them dictated purely by their race.

This was a South Asian woman# who grew up in poverty,## who went on to play Cathy in "Wuthering# Heights," this canonically white role.

MERLE OBERON, Actress: Heathcliff,# make the world stop right here.

MAYUKH SEN: She was a leading lady and# a box office draw and a total star in## the '30s and '40s.

And I do think that# there's so many South Asian performers## working today who are indebted to# her, whether they realize it or not.

AMNA NAWAZ: The book is "Love,# Queenie."

The author is Mayukh Sen.

Thank you so much for being here.

It's# such a pleasure to speak with you.

MAYUKH SEN: Thank you, Amna.