Credit: fednajacquet.com
Pan Am has done something most primetime shows don’t do, and that is prominently feature Haiti in an episode. Fedna Jacquet, the actress who plays the young refugee named “Tasha”, talked exclusively to Moniqueblog about how featuring the country was very important to her.
Moniqueblog: How did you identify with your character? What do you have in common with her?
Fedna Jacquet: It was actually very easy to identify with Tasha. She is a young Haitian girl struggling to survive in Haiti. The 60’s were really tough for Haiti, and I have close knowledge of that since my parents were born right
in the middle of it. Being a Haitian American helped me not only know the history behind the episode, but
also it gave me an intimate sense of the terror Tasha faced.
M:What was the challenge about playing your character?
FJ: The main challenge with playing Tasha was the weather It was super cold while we were filming and my
dress had a huge hole in it…it was tough. Luckily everything else went extremely well. The script was
pretty clear, as well as the direction.
M: How did you feel about the angle of featuring Haiti in a show, especially since not many shows (if any)
actually mention Haiti?
FJ: I was super excited to actually have a prominent TV show feature Haiti as part of their main plot. Usually
Haiti is always featured in the news, which can get a little irritating. Haiti is such a vibrant country with an
extremely colorful culture…we have a lot to offer primetime TV.
M: Pan Am has touched on many cultural issues directly and indirectly, such as their Nisei Program [the smattering of Japanese flight attendants we see throughout the episodes], diversifying
the cabin crew with Sanjeev, the episodes about JFK’s “Ein Bin Ich Berliner” speech, racism, civil war,
etc. What cultural issues would you like to see the show tackle next?
FJ: The 60’s had so much going on! I’d love to watch some desegregation of schools, some Sinatra, some
Beatles, hell Woodstock. I’m interested to see how they are going to cover the assassination of MLK [Martin Luther King] Jr. and Vietnam; they’ve only began to scratch the surface.
M: What was it like to work with the cast?
FJ: The cast was amazing. Working with them was so much fun! They all seemed to get along, and were
really supportive. We even played a softball game against The Good Wife [cast] that following Saturday—for a
beginner to TV, that was pretty cool.
M: The last we see your character, Kate has told her CIA employer to work on giving her a green card. Do
you know if your character be recurring? (I’m interested to know how she turns out!) And, whether or not she is recurring, what would you like to see your character do later on?
M: To my knowledge Tasha is not a recurring character, though I would love for her to maybe learn some
English and come back next year as a stewardess. It would be interesting to investigate the color and
culture dynamics of having someone like Tasha on board Pan Am as a stewardess…hmm maybe we
should all write ABC some letters 
M: Any final thoughts?
FJ: Well I guess I want to repeat how impressed I was that Pan Am actually invested in an episode like this.
Watching it from home was such a surreal experience; I pray I continue to get these opportunities.
You can check out Jacquet’s acting website at fednajacquet.com.
I think Fedna did an excellent job on that episode of Pan Am. There were some who were angry that they felt Haiti was presented in a negative light, but as a person who specialized in Latin American/Caribbean studies in college, I was happy to see this episode but it seems most Americans know more about the Middle East/Russia (former USSR) than they do about their neighbors to the South. Pan Am was a very integral part of Latin American history and it’s good that is being put out there. I hope that Fedna’s character does get to return in a future episode, and it would be awesome if she became a stewardess!
fedna = skankitty skank