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Suhail recalls chilling on set with Armie
It’s not every day that a young actor gets a chance to rub shoulders with Hollywood stars. Suhail Nayyar feels lucky to share screen with American actor Armie Hammer in the international project, Hotel Mumbai. Suhail says that during the shooting of the film, he and the Call Me by Your Name (2017) star would hang out together and discuss each other’s work.
“I have scenes with Armie in the film and we bonded a lot. After shooting our scenes, we would sit down and interact. He would ask me about my work and about India, and chill with me. He has no airs and was so warm and welcoming towards me. We even celebrated his birthday during the shoot,” shares Suhail, who made his film debut with Udta Punjab (2016).
Hotel Mumbai, which is based on the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008, also stars Indian-origin British star Dev Patel. Suhail is all praise for him as well, calling him “the nicest human being” he has ever met. “Dev is such a fine actor and that is because he is a great human being. People who know him and interact with him will immediately fall in love with him,” he says.
Suhail has now joined a long list of Indian actors working in international films. He says this is a very good time for actors from India to work in Hollywood, as the industry is opening up to diversity and writing “solid” Indian characters. “Slowly, they are casting Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern actors. They’ve stopped stereotyping Indians as characters with funny accent and taxi drivers. Actors from our country are now given solid roles,” says Suhail, whose film, Hotel Mumbai, premiered at a reputed film festival in Toronto, recently.