Suraj Sharma created a storm on the big screen with his role as Pi Patel in his debut film Life of Pi released in 2012. The actor showed that he is a rising star, indeed with his role where he co-starred with a tiger named Richard Parker. Now nearly after a decade, Suraj has starred in multiple films namely Million Dollar Arm as well as TV shows like Homeland. His latest release The Illegal is streaming currently on Amazon Prime Video and the hard-hitting subject has caught everyone’s attention.

In an exclusive interview with DNA, Suraj spoke at length if he faced racism in the US, his parents support to join films. Suraj also dropped hints if he will be starring in another Bollywood film after Phillauri. Apart from that, the actor talked about brown representation in Hollywood.

Excerpts…

What was your reaction when you were offered the script of ‘The Illegal‘?

I was very excited, I found the script to be very insightful and timely. I wanted to be part of the story, partly because, obviously, Hassan the character I’m playing he is from Delhi and comes to the US to study film and make movies, I did the same thing. But also, because during my time in New York, I met a lot of people in similar situations, at the Indian restaurants. I found people who weren’t necessarily needed there. Over time, I may build relationships with these people, and they told me their struggles, their hopes and the things they deal with. So, here, I found myself in a situation where I can help tell a story about certain people that I even know in my own life. So obviously, I wanted to be a part of it.

The film shows how your relatives are not so keen on you joining the film school. Did you ever receive any kind of response when you decided to join films as an actor?

No, actually, my family was very supportive partly because probably they also thought that ‘yeh nahi karega toh kya karega?‘ They were always very supportive when I went to film school when I did Life of Pi before that. Even now they’ve always supported me and encouraged me, my siblings, to pursue creative fields. It’s been great for us to have this support like that.

The film shows how immigrants are treated in the US. Have you as an immigrant faced any kind of racism there?

Well, of course, there have been moments where it’s clear that a certain thing is happening because I am, for example, a person of colour or South Asian or something like that. But luckily for me, most of the time, my life in the US has been good. I’ve met mostly Good people, positive people, people without that prejudice, obviously that exists and sometimes you see it, but I’ve never been overtly negatively affected by it. Obviously, there are some subtle things you know that you notice. Sometimes you’re the only brown person in a room, for example, little things like that sometimes get to you feel a little bit like an outsider. But then there are times where people embrace you with open arms and are good to you, kind to you too. So I feel like it’s been a wholesome experience of anything.

Recently Priyanka Chopra Jonas spoke about brown representation in Hollywood. There are have been many South Asian actors in the West over the years for example Kal Penn, Kumail Ninjiani, Mindy Kaling and others. So where do you think brown representation stand right now in Hollywood?

My opinion is compared to eight years ago, it has grown leaps and bounds, is evolved so much. Of course, it’s not where it should be or can be, will be hopefully. There’s a lot to do, it’s a long journey before this comes to full fruition, but we’ve come a long way, honestly, I feel. But one thing I do notice and I feel like people sometimes miss out on is, yes, having South Asians in front of the screen is important, but it is mostly just a symptom that there isn’t as many. I feel the real change is behind the camera with the writers, the directors. We want South Asians in the writers’ room, we want them coming up with ideas, we want their experience to be taken into consideration when telling the story. We want directors, want producers we want South Asians to put their money into these movies to make the project like that way. That is how you tell the story. What I mean, to a degree having a South Asian, playing a South Asian that is born from a Western perspective is not necessarily understanding what that experience is like, there’s not much of a point to it. Yes, it’s important and yes, it’s a positive step. But we need South Asians in the writing room, the producers, the directors, we need that happening. That is happening, so the more that happens, the better for everybody.

The only Bollywood film you did is Phillauri, were you offered any part in Hindi movies post that?

Yeah, of course. I’ve done two, did another one called Umrika but Phillauri was I guess more commercial. There have been offers, there have been conversations, but for whatever reason, like mostly just circumstantial stuff, like scheduling problems, it’s not worked out so far. Obviously, the doors are open. I’m really looking forward to working in India again, doing some stuff because I miss it. I Miss India, I miss the industry, I miss people. Hopefully, that’ll happen sometime soon. Maybe next year, this year, sometime soon. But I’m looking forward to it.

It’s been nearly a decade since you started acting. Starting from Life of Pi to The Illegal how has been your journey until now?

For me personally, I think it’s been amazing. I mean, I wouldn’t really have it any other way. I’ve learned so much I met so many incredible, inspiring, motivational people. And I’ve done so many different types of projects. So I have learned a lot, I’ve grown a lot. Obviously, everybody’s lives have ups and downs and struggles they need to deal with. On the other front, accomplishments under their belt that they need to acknowledge and learn from. So, it’s been like that. But on the whole, I feel like it’s been a very good journey. I’ve learned so much and I have accrued so many people that I know now that I can rely on and learn from so. No complaints.