She wasn’t saying these things to perpetuate stereotypes. She was doing it because she wanted us to know that in the industry, everything is in a box. Casting is putting pegs into holes. At a casting session, the director is looking for a specific peg for the specific slot. The black friend, the Indian cabdriver, the over-the-top gay guy. No matter how creative a pilot or movie is on its first draft, scripts have a way of becoming homogenized as they go through a network or studio process. The movie “Deadpool” broke a lot of norms (and a box office record) and still had an Indian cabdriver.

We see these characters all the time. The showcase director was trying to ready us for those roles. She was speaking to us in the language of the business. This led to the most flattering yet unsettling compliment I have ever been given.

One day while rehearsing, she singled me out as the “black Seth Rogen.” The phenomenon of classifying something as the “black ____” is not new. “Empire” is the black “Dynasty.” “The Wiz” is the black “Wizard of Oz.” I had heard it before, but never about me personally.

On one hand, how dare she? I’m not the black Seth Rogen. I’m the brown Colton Dunn. On the other hand, I like Seth Rogen. He’s great. Extremely successful. He writes, produces and stars in his own movies. He seems like a supernice guy. To be compared to him, even slightly, is an honor. But something still felt off.

So what’s a minority actor to do? Go nuts? Storm out of the rehearsal and call Al Sharpton? Or be gracious and happy the director didn’t tell me to lose weight? I went middle of the road. I thanked her, but made it clear it was an inappropriate label.