AT 21, Suraj Sharma – looking every inch the intellectual with his spectacles – has a distinctive confidence. He is solid with his comments during the interview; his poker face never giving away more than he wants to. And, going by the intermittent jokes, has quite the sense of humour.
Cast as Aayan Ibrahim, a Pakistani medical student who becomes Carrie Mathison’s unsuspecting pawn, he says: “In general, Aayan is smart. He works hard. Essentially, he is a good person caught up in a very bad situation. “Though he does have control over why he is in this situation – whichever situation that may be (not wanting to give the plot away and, in so doing, attracting chortles for his clever manoeuvring). It is familiar.
“Looking at what is happening to him, there is more to this than simply political views and religion…”
On bagging this role, he offers: “This is the first TV show that I’m doing and the shooting process is completely different from a movie. You have a vague outline of what is going to happen, but you don’t really know. And that helps where my character is concerned because he lives in that state.”
He has also had to adapt on the set of Homeland.
Sharma explains: “Obviously with Life of Pi, that situation was different. What I’m talking about here is how fast things are shot, how it is continuously developing. When you read the script of a movie, you know what is going to happen in the end. I have no idea, with this, so, for me, the challenge is to keep the situation alive even though you don’t know what’s coming at you.”
Unlike his debut role, this character demanded more psychological depth than a physical transformation.
“Everybody knows that movies are going down and TV is coming up. I’m an actor who doesn’t have training, as such. So doing different kind of things, like Homeland, is pretty much the only way I can get training. It helps me to grow and push on as an actor.
“This particular role, I’m very fortunate to get. This is what an actor would look for, I think – a role that is complex as hell.”
Interestingly, he is enrolled at NYU as a film student. And it didn’t hurt to have Ang Lee’s movie on his resume – although Sharma is more about merit than brown-nosing.
He says: “I wanted to get in only if I deserved it. But I put it (the movie) on the CV and he is an alumni.” (smiles)
The actor continues: “We live in a strange age where, sadly enough, when something is looked up to too much, it looks what you are looking up to. I don’t like that word ‘celebrity’. I’m normal. We are all just working. The fact that it hits people and affects them in a positive or negative way – it’s the only thing I’m trying to do.”
Whether the offers stream in from Bollywood or Hollywood’s big and small screen, he says: “As an actor, you can’t relegate yourself to one thing. That would be a mistake. I would be open to whatever comes!”
Meanwhile, Rupert Friend, who looks like he should be the poster boy for Tom Ford, went from a recurring actor in season two to a main character since the third instalment.
He proved to be quite the wild card character, too.
When asked how he plans to top last season, in which he shot Nicholas Brody, he jokes, “Now it’s what I’m going to do to Saul (Berenson)…”
Friend continues: “The writers have outdone themselves this season. I think it is superlative. I’m excited about where they are taking Quinn. He is definitely supportive of what Carrie is doing, but with far more conflict.”
Commenting on the tone of the show, he reveals: “There’s a lot of unrest. It’s very troubling and conflicted times. And you start to see a man who goes through the worst experiences and the toll that that is taking psychologically and how that manifests itself. For me, it’s about someone who has been pushed too far.”
On the trend of British actors bagging more American roles, he offers: “I don’t think English actors are better than American actors. I think there are brilliant actors all over the world. The tragedy is that a lot of us don’t work. It is a hugely lucky thing to be in a show that people respond to and like to watch. And to be working with people who are passionate on every level.”
For him, it is more about the craft than the fame.
He explains: “Again, I don’t feel qualified to talk about stardom. But Jack Nicholson said something that struck true to me: ‘You don’t choose to become a star – it chooses you.’”
That he also prefers to do most of his own stunts just heightens his action-hero appeal on some Daniel Craig (Skyfall) meets Jason Statham (The Transporter) level.
• Homeland airs on M-Net on Thursdays at 9.30pm.