Disgraced Standout Hari Dhillon on His Accidental Acting Career & Childhood in India

Age: 45

Hometown: “In and around the San Francisco Bay Area.”

Current Role: An impassioned Broadway debut as Amir Kapoor, a New York City corporate lawyer who grapples with his Pakistani heritage and Muslim upbringing in Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Disgraced.

Stage & Screen Cred: Before starring in the 2013 London production of Disgraced, Dhillon appeared in A Perfect Wedding in Los Angeles and Mother Teresa is Dead at the Royal Court Theatre. Since 2007, Dhillon has played surgeon Michael Spence on BBC One’s Holby City.

“My family was pretty traditional, but when my father first moved to the States, he was adamant that we didn’t live in a solely Indian community, but in places that had a mix of cultures. He said, ‘If we’re gonna be in America, we should be in America.’”

“Moving to India was a complete culture shock. From five to six, I was there for about nine months. I had no idea about outdoor toilets, and at that time there wasn’t a lot of electricity. But by the time I left, I loved it. I had the hardest time out of any of our family going back.”

“Amir is a complicated guy, but I identify with changing your name [to assimilate in another culture]. When I was younger, no one could get their head around Hari. It was either changed to Harry or Hank.”

“Getting into acting was accidental. I was going to Berkeley for English and Political Science—I needed to fulfill an art credit, and I was too late to register for a sculpture class, which is what I really wanted. I was pretty naïve! I found a scene from Death of a Salesman, memorized it and got into the acting class.”

“I needed to make some money when I was just leaving school, so for Kaiser, I taught an AIDS education program at juvenile detention centers. I did that all throughout Northern California and Hawaii.”

“With Broadway audiences, I've noticed some nights they laugh more, while other nights they listen quite intently. In Disgraced, the audience becomes the sixth cast member.”