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Anjali Bhimani Opens Up About the Pressure to Be Perfect
“When I was in high school, I felt this incredible pressure to be perfect. To get perfect grades, to be the perfect student, to look a certain way. . .To do all of these things that were outside of me.”
Anjali Bhimani
In honor of May Mental Health Awareness month, Anjali Bhimani opens up about feeling the pressure to be perfect during her high school years. Anjali shares her personal struggle with the need to get perfect grades, look a certain way, and be the perfect student. She thought that this pressure was coming from other people, and that meeting these expectations would make her worthy of love. However, she later realized that she was putting this pressure on herself. Anjali encourages her viewers to seek help and resources if they or someone they know is struggling with mental health issues.
About the You Got This Campaign
Battling mental health issues can sometimes feel isolating and overwhelming. The You Got This campaign strives to assure you that you’re never alone. Celebrities and influencers share their stories and provide tips on how they got through the hardships of both their past and present, reinforcing the empowering message that while things may be hard now, #YouGotThis.
About Anjali Bhimani
Anjali Bhimani is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Symmetra in the video game Overwatch and Rampart in the video game Apex Legends.
Anjali was born in Cleveland, OH, and raised in Orange County, CA, by Drs. Ela and Bharat Bhimani. After performing in school and community theatre for most of her young life, she went on to earn a degree in theatre from Northwestern University’s highly acclaimed theatre school, with a certificate in musical theatre. After leaving Northwestern, she went on to perform at several regional theatre companies including the Goodman, the Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and others, and to collaborate extensively with director Mary Zimmerman, eventually moving to New York when Mary’s Metamorphoses moved to Second Stage off-Broadway and Circle in the Square on Broadway, earning the play a Tony nomination for Best Play.
Anjali continued performing on Broadway when she joined the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bombay Dreams, going on to take over the role of Bollywood diva Rani in the hit musical. Other collaborations include working with Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak on their production of Comedy on the Bridge/Brundibar, the world premiere of The Existents, starring and with music by Ty Taylor, A Widow of No Importance by Shane Shakrani, and as Safia Das in playwright D. Tucker Smith’s epic adventure romance, Roof of the World, among many more.
On television and film, Anjali is well-known as the “Illuminauntie” Auntie Ruby on Ms. Marvel on Disney Plus, and has been seen as Dr. Hashmani, Dead to Me, Bina on Netflix’s Special, Joya on Alex Inc, and tiger mom Nina Patel on ABC’s hit comedy, Modern Family. Other notable appearances include 9-1-1: Lone Star, Law and Order: SVU, Marvel’s Runaways, S.W.A.T., Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Grace and Frankie, The Neighborhood Miss India America, Silicon Valley, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Fosters, Necessary Roughness, The Sopranos, and many more.
