Rising Star Vas Saranga On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

You can have raw talent but it can takes dedication to training to shape it into something great.

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Vas Saranga.

Vas Saranga is an actor, editor, writer and director who was born in Calgary, Alberta and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Drawing comparisons from his work to notable Hollywood actors by the likes of Riz Ahmed and Dev Patel, Vas has amassed a significant body of high quality work in several film and television productions including THE HANDMAID’S TALE (HULU), THE STRAIN (FX), SALVATION (CBS), THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE (STARZ), ORPHAN BLACK (BBC AMERICA), TODD AND THE BOOK OF PURE EVIL (CTV), TRANSPLANT (CTV/NBC), LITTLE ITALY alongside Emma Roberts and Hayden Christiansen, BAKING ALL THE WAY (PRIME VIDEO), THE CLUE TO LOVE (PRIME VIDEO), and FIRESTARTER alongisde Zac Efron, among others. In 2017, Vas was named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s coveted Canada’s Rising Stars topping the list alongside notable talent including Hamza Haq, Devery Jacobs, Mena Massoud and Patrick Adams. The list honours those who are making a significant impact in Hollywood.

Most recently, Vas can be seen in a leading role in the new CBC Gem original series You’re My Hero following the story of a 20-something with cerebral palsy as he tries to find love and purpose in a world not designed for wheels.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

My parents immigrated to Canada from India — I was born in Calgary, Alberta. We moved to Toronto when I was really young, to a suburb called Scarborough, where I was raised with my younger sister and brother. We watched a ton of movies together as a family, on VHS of course. Trips to the video rental store were always my favorite, as I started to see the world through a cinematic lens.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I was obsessed with the Back to the Future trilogy as a kid. As a teen, it was The Matrix that changed the way I thought of movies. From then on I wanted to be a director, or so I thought. I started making student films in highschool, but a funny thing happened — I had to put myself in them as an actor, due to a lack of people willing to be actors. After that, I fell in love with being in front of the camera, and shifted my focus to acting instead of directing.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

For my role as corporate lawyer Navin Kutty in the series “Transplant”, I had to get a full body silicone mold done for the SFX team to create a life-like dummy for operating scenes. The process was really intense — it felt like sensory deprivation. Then a short while later, I had to do the same thing again, this time just for my torso and head, for my role as Agent Jules in the film “Firestarter”. I told one of the teams that I’ve already gone through this before and they said “there’s already a body out there? I wonder if we can get access to it!”

It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I don’t recommend this, but I kept my acting career a secret from my parents for the first few years, while I was in university studying something non-acting related, as they were initially fearful of me pursuing a career in the arts. Someone they knew saw me on TV and told them about it, which turned it all into a much bigger deal than it needed to be. In the end they fully supported me, but it took some work to get them to see things my way. Though, the whole experience did inspire a comedy pilot that I co-wrote!

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I play a lead character in the new CBC Gem Original Series “You’re My Hero”. It’s a show about a blunt 20-something named Ian who navigates life as a person in a wheelchair, in an unforgiving world not built for wheels. My character, Eric, is Ian’s best friend and roommate, and the source of a lot of difficult situations and drama in the main characters’ lives. Eric means well and is the life of the party, but doesn’t fully get how hard he can make things for Ian sometimes. It’s a great friendship explored in a really funny and heartwarming show.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?

There’s rarely anything that can be considered a single failure when pursuing an acting career. Not getting a role is a completely normal occurrence that will happen over and over. It’s the only career I can think of where you go on hundreds of “interviews” and they simply ghost you instead of telling you that you didn’t get the job. If you can shift your perspective to see acting as something that’s a lifetime pursuit — where you can make waves after any single opportunity — then hopefully the prospect of failure may not seem so daunting.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

Having diversity in the entertainment industry is more reflective of the world we live in, especially the audience that consumes the content. Seeing different perspectives can make us more empathetic to what other people are going through. Screen stories travel the entire world, so collective experiences can be shared by everyone and inspire others to tell their stories.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

• You can have raw talent but it can takes dedication to training to shape it into something great
• A good mentor is worth many bad ones
• Creating your own work can lead you to opportunities you never would have expected
• Acting is a lifelong journey; as you learn more and grow, your work can evolve
• You just might meet your soulmate on the job

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Don’t say yes to every single opportunity that comes your way just out of fear of missing out, especially, if they don’t align with your beliefs. There’s an opportunity cost to accepting a role, so sometimes not pursuing one opportunity can lead you to another. Take a break from it if you’re feeling burnout creeping up — if you’re drawn back in then maybe it’s meant to be. If you’re scared of self-creation, partner with like-minded people to get a project going.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would just love to see more children of immigrants pursuing careers in the arts. An old fashioned mentality that some parents have may stop their kids from really being able to express themselves, and a career in arts and entertainment can be a really great thing. By talking about the paradigm shift that occurred with my family, and how it’s possible for a person of color from a family with traditional views to have a career as an actor, I hope to inspire others like me to do the same.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I met my wife Marina on the set of the first short film I directed. We’ve been through all the ups and downs together — every single audition, every time we never heard back, every callback, every booking, every screening. We help each other with our careers, motivate and support each other. She knows the real me and has always helped me bring that out authentically in my work.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”

I used to sit around waiting for opportunities to be presented to me. Once I shifted my perspective to creating art myself, I started to get more acting opportunities.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Denzel Washington. I’d love to talk shop, but also go full fanboy.

How can our readers follow you online?

@vas_saranga on Instagram & TikTok

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

Thanks for having me! It’s been a pleasure.