Interview: Parvesh Cheena is "Outsourced" and Out
Parvesh Cheena
When NBC’s new work place comedy Outsourced, about a call center in India, debuts
on September 23rd, it won’t be breaking any new ground in terms of
GLBT characters. But it will be groundbreaking in one important way: the cast
includes Parvesh Cheena who might be the first out Indian actor on network
television.
While the 31-year-old Parvesh will be playing an Indian man named Gupta,
he’s actually a native of Elk Grove, Illinois, attended the University
of Illinois and considers himself a
theater baby from Chicago.
AfterElton.com recently caught up with Cheena to discuss the role of Gupta,
being a gay man of color and finally getting his first apartment.
AfterElton.com: Tell me about your
character.
Parvesh Cheena: Gupta is the guy
you do not want to be stuck in the
office with. I'm the guy with the part in his hair, the one with no social
boundaries, you know? I just go up to people and keep talking. I kind of love
it because I'm getting paid to annoy people. It's all under the auspices of
politeness and kindness and everything.
AE: I have to say, you're nothing
like your character.
PC: Thank you. But I can be. I
really can, ask my friends.
AE: I assume there's going to be more
to Gupta than just being annoying.
PC: I don't know. We've only done
the pilot. There's a lot of pressure being on Thursday night. “Must see
TV" was the network block that I watched as a kid. I didn't always
understand Seinfeld when I was younger, but now, having gone through Curb
and going back to watch Seinfeld reruns, I'm like ... that show was
brilliant. And we're in that time slot. We're in the Seinfeld time slot.
The cast of Outsourced
AfterElton: You're actually a
stand-up comedian, right?
Parvesh Cheena: I improvise. I'm
a theater baby from Chicago.
I went to the city for college, Roosevelt
University theater major,
and I started working during school. I was jealous of my friends who were
acting and had an agent. I wanted an agent, so I moved to the city and started
acting.
I got my first agent and I did the Barbershop movies, 1 and 2, during
college. When the second one was coming out – right before it came out, I
auditioned for Big Dreams. I didn't get it, and I'm like, "All right,
you're not gonna be in the Indian Broadway musical, let's take this as a sign
to maybe go out west with your movie that's coming out." So I've been there
since '04. Lots of auditions for recurring roles on some pilots, but Outsourced
is my first series regular.
AE: How many other pilots have you
done?
PC: I would have been recurring
on two pilots before: Beyond and then The Thick of It, which was
a Mitch Hurwitz pilot that Christopher Guest directed with John Michael Higgins,
Oliver Platt, Alex Borstein. It was like West Wing meets Arrested
Development. I'm thinking, "This is gonna go!"
ABC didn't pick it up so I was like, okay, there's no guarantee. You can be
directing a Mitch Hurwitz pilot after Arrested Development is off the
air, directed by Christopher Guest, with that name talent- Michael McKean – and
it'll not go. So for this to go, to actually shoot it, and for it to be picked
up, is like, this is lottery and I've got my ticket to redeem.
Parvesh Cheena as "Gupta" in a scene from Outsourced.
AE: It must be kind of surreal
waiting for it to finally air.
PC: It is surreal. My parents, my
family – everyone is so proud. Everyone back home in Chicago. My Facebook is like, "We're so
proud!" and at the moment I can't get back to everyone because it's just
been constant congratulations. It's very humbling. I don't want to take that
tone – like some people are "Yeah, I deserve it!" – and I think I do,
but I'm very grateful for this moment. I don't think I'll ever get tired of
this because there are so many of my friends who are [not] in this position, so
I'll always remember that. All the struggle and, like, living with three
people, you know?
I'm just getting my first one-bedroom by myself out of six and a half years.
It's tough. I mean, there are a lot of worse things happening in the world.
AE: Have you always been out as an
actor?
PC: I haven't always been out
because in a sense it wasn't always a priority. For the work I do as a
character Indian actor, Indian-American actor, it hasn't been at the forefront.
This is the character actor’s ...not lament, but an aspect of it. I'm never
gonna be a guy who's gonna be the love interest. In typical Hollywood
fare, I'm not gonna be that guy.
And I like playing the clown. I like being that guy who is quirky and
everything. It's a lot more fun to play, and I can eat more and not worry about
the gym. My gym is The Improv. That's my comedy gym. So, it's been a non-issue.
No one's ever asked me before.
AE: You're kind of a role model now. Even
in 2010 television is a scarily white place.
PC: I'm grateful to NBC. Having
friends on other shows, Danny Pudi, a friend from Chicago who's on Community, Sendhil Ramamurthy,
who I've known for years, is on Heroes. It's like wow, look at NBC-
they've got Community, Parks and Rec, The Office, 30
Rock. I joke it's the Indian network.
AE: Has it ever occurred to you that
by getting this role, you might be the first out Indian actor on U.S. television?
PC: No. I don't need a Time
Magazine coming out story like Ellen had, because that was the 90s and
things were a lot different in that respect. For me also, it's like, I'm an
actor first and foremost. I don't think my personal life is anything that needs
to be fully discussed and out in the open, but I understand the respect and how
it does help, and can hinder, but I'm an actor first. If I'm going to play a
villager in India
for my next role, I think that is always the focus.
AE: So what was your coming out like?
PC: Well, in college all my
friends knew and then 21 is when I told my family. I'm in a relationship right
now, very new. He is a script coordinator.
AE: How did you meet?
PC: On Facebook.
AE: I watched the pilot and there
were times I didn't laugh because I thought, if this were a gay version of that
joke, as a gay man I'd kind of sit back going, okay, that's a little
stereotypical. Do you worry about that at all, or is it just not your job to
worry about it?
PC: You know, I don't want to
keep commenting about humor as, like, offensive because I find some offensive
things humorous. I'm a big fan of Sasha Baron Cohen and having a friend work as
a field producer on Bruno, and that has a lot of people yay for it and
nay for it in the gay community. He was a full-on character 24/7, and I think
he showed more homophobic aspects of society in playing that flamboyant of a
character.
AE: You’re happy with your show,
which is good.
PC: I am. I'm very proud. I think
there's a humanity and heart to it, which in the first four minutes of a
preview you're not necessarily going to get. I think the pilot does the
thankless job of any pilot – introduce every character. But there are nuggets
there for everybody.
I'm doing my best. I think our cast is such a family, Anisha's like little
sis, Rizwad is like my older bro, Sacha reminds me of my cousins back in India, let alone London. It's just like instant family. We
call each other, we text each other, we email constantly. We're kind of
excited.
Parvesh Cheena (center) surrounded by Outsourced castmates.
AE: It's really nice to say look at
show and see some diversity. Gay men come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Our
culture doesn't always reflect that. It's great you get to be that guy.
PC: I haven't really thought of
it because for me, I don't know if it'll hurt the roles that I do. I understand
the view – even Rupert Everett just said it. It might be a roll your eyes
thing, but that bridge we haven't crossed, like the leading man types.
Character actors are going to be funny and believable in anything. Then people
who have set the bar high in terms of acceptance – Neil Patrick Harris and
everything– we've known him since we were all kids when he was Doogie. We were
all gonna be doctors like Doogie.
Outsourced airs Thursdays at 9:30 PM on NBC