20 Feb 2017
Sacha Dhawan | Episode 66
This week we welcome Sacha Dhawan, successful actor across television, theatre and film. He is a close friend of Peter's and a very thoughtful guest who really tells us about the challenges (often seen at 'The Dark Side') of being a successful actor as well as the joys. He gives us some priceless stories and funny, juicy anecdotes about the stars he has worked with, such as Will Smith and Jeremy Piven.
Peter kicks off informally, and the guys randomly get onto the the topic of IMDB and its importance in the industry. Paul explain how he met the founder (Colin Needham) who will be joining us as a guest soon. Sacha jokes that IMDB is great, but his bio is incorrect.
The guys then get into the challenges between creative selectivity when choosing a job and the ever-growing practical challenges of life (mortgage, money, family) and how he personally manages that. He then opens up about getting into a role and dealing with repeat takes and the realities of working on set. Sacha talks about the power of 'saying no', trusting your gut, and the importance of having a good creative team that understands choices made for long term success rather than short term financial gain.
Sacha then hits us with a GREAT Will Smith story about Will no longer being the number one man in his family when his son Jayden came along. He also gives us some insight into Will's work ethic and what it's like to not only meet, but to work with one of your heroes. Very interesting stuff...
We also get a little heavier, taking a look at the loneliness of being on the road. Sacha shares his Hollywood story “when the cameras stop flashing”, going from super fame to not being able to get someone to take his picture within the space of 9 months.
Having continuity in an Actor’s life is a big theme of this week's show – an issue which many creatives struggle with. Relationships are built on incremental emotional investment, so moving and changing all the time reduces the likelihood of forming long term bonds. We look at this on a larger scale that could apply to anyone, not just artists.
We explore the perception of the famous actor vs the reality and how some actors might be happier not being at the very top and finding greater consistency in the middle echelons.
We finish with some more funny stories and then Sacha gets real about the cultural challenges of being a British Indian actor.
SHORT BIO: Sacha is an actor from Manchester, with successful careers in television, film and theatre in the UK and USA. He has worked and starred alongside Will Smith, James Corden, Jeremy Piven, Maggie Smith, and Brain Cox to name a few. He was in the original cast of the Broadway hit show The History Boys, and more recently starred in Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch as Jimmy, and in Mr Selfridge with Jeremy Piven.
He has been close friend with Diapers Off host, Peter, since they were children.
