‘We Were Liars’ Put Breakout Star Shubham Maheshwari Through a Four-Month Film School

In E. Lockhart’s “We Were Liars,” Gatwick Patil is an outsider. He and his uncle are nan only group connected Beechwood Island not descended from nan illustrious Sinclairs (“old money Democrats,” Lockhart calls them), a mismatched puzzle portion successful their privileged, achromatic world.

The aforesaid could beryllium said of Shubham Maheshwari, who brings nan beloved characteristic to life successful Prime Video’s eight-episode adaptation; an economics awesome from Dubai who auditioned via Zoom aft an unfastened casting telephone and past ended up successful Nova Scotia for an absolute clang people successful TV production.

But arsenic a in installments to nan series, Maheshwari ne'er felt for illustration an outsider. He surely felt for illustration nan babe and nan caller kid, but he besides felt empowered by Lockhart, by showrunners Carina Adly MacKenzie and Julie Plec, by Rahul Kohli (who plays Gat’s uncle Ed), and by knowledgeable contemporaries Emily Alyn Lind, Esther McGregor, and Joseph Zada (in a formed that includes David Morse, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Mamie Gummer, and more).

“That intimidation was location arsenic I was flying out,” Maheshwari told IndieWire up of nan show’s June 18 release. “Do I beryllium here? I’ve not done thing before. What if I’m not capable to match? There were a batch of those benignant of thoughts, but it went distant erstwhile I met them. Thank God for that, because they were truthful lovely.”

“I learned truthful overmuch from each those actors, watching them, that process, their approach,” he added, describing nan sprout arsenic a compressed movie school. “They made maine consciousness very welcome, very comfortable. And past it was for illustration I forgot that this is my first job. It conscionable became, ‘I emotion this story, I emotion this character. I cognize they do, too. I conscionable want to activity together and do nan champion we can, and we’ll conscionable thief bring this to life.’”

Maheshwari is an economics awesome and a testament to nan powerfulness of Backstage, a level he turned to whenever his schedule opened up aliases his courseload lightened. He’s very alert that if moreover 1 mini point had gone otherwise — a self-tape, a wifi connection, a delayed formation — he mightiness not beryllium here. He hadn’t publication “We Were Liars” earlier nan first audition, but afterward he recovered it successful a mini airdrome bookstore and took it arsenic a sign.

Emily Alyn Lind, Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada, and Shubham Maheshwari successful ‘We Were Liars’Jessie Redmond/Prime

“I don’t usually decorativeness a book successful 1 sitting, but this was conscionable specified a captivating book. You want to cognize nan end, you want to support turning nan page,” he said. “I don’t deliberation we spot excessively galore shows aliases films wherever nan antheral lead is Indian successful a show that is predominantly achromatic characters.”

Gat was written to beryllium of Indian descent, arsenic opposed to a “Bridgerton” aliases “One Day” reimagining (or scholar misunderstanding, for illustration pinch “The Hunger Games”). Maheshwari was taken aback by nan positive instrumentality consequence to his casting, which confirmed really overmuch readers emotion nan book and nan civilization of Lockhart’s fanbase.

“They didn’t moreover spot america execute yet,” he said pinch a laugh. “But they were truthful kind, and they expressed really happy they were. I was instantly like, ‘Man, this is simply a responsibility. I don’t want to fto these guys down.’ They’ve already fixed america truthful overmuch emotion and fixed nan book truthful overmuch love, truthful they merit a bully show. If anything, it was an other motivating factor.”

A batch of “We Were Liars” puts Maheshwari and Lind unsocial successful scenes together, responsible for nan show’s main romanticist arc. But extracurricular of that, Maheshwari loved nan large family scenes because he sewage to “sit backmost and watch these group do their thing.”

Shubham Maheshwari, Emily Alyn Lind, and Mamie Gummer successful ‘We Were Liars’Jessie Redmond

Without overmuch acting experience, Maheshwari trained for illustration truthful galore fans of nan craft: by watching a shit-ton of movies. His family mostly watched Indian films arsenic he grew up (favorites see thing pinch Irrfan Khan but particularly “The Lunchbox,” arsenic good arsenic celebrated films by Rajkumar Hirani aliases starring Shah Rukh Khan), and has enjoyed catching up connected Hollywood history of late.

“You cognize really group opportunity ‘I wish I could spot that movie for nan first clip again,’” he said. “I’m really seeing it for nan first clip now. I’ve been seeing a batch of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, younger actors for illustration Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges. I study a batch watching them.”

Even aft production, “We Were Liars” continued Maheshwari’s whirlwind preamble to nan industry. The aviator premiered astatine Tribeca, bringing him backmost to New York City for nan first clip since early childhood. He and his castmates walked nan reddish carpet and sewage to trim nan statement astatine nan Empire State Building (“It felt horrible… but it was truthful cool”). He’s excited to get backmost to auditioning and hopefully find representation, now pinch a large title to his sanction — arsenic good arsenic that econ major.

“I really dream I don’t person to spell backmost to it, because this is nan champion occupation successful nan world,” he said. “I really dream this is what I tin support doing; conscionable support improving and support being portion of bully stories. That’d beryllium awesome.”

“We Were Liars” is now streaming connected Prime Video.