Sam Asghari has a severe need to maintain taking part in the villain after watching his Jackpot costar Simu Liu in motion.
“Simply watching Simu, who performs my boss, simply watching him play this unhealthy man [when] he’s such a pleasant individual in actual life, made me notice that these are the kind of roles that I must be focusing extra on as effectively,” Asghari, 30, solely informed Us Weekly whereas selling the upcoming comedy. “I discovered a lot from Simu.”
The Paul Feig–directed characteristic, which hits theaters on Thursday, August 15, facilities on current transplant and aspiring actor Katie (Awkwafina) in a 2030-set Los Angeles the place a multi-billion greenback “Grand Lottery” has been put in place. When Katie finds herself with the successful ticket, she’s left making an attempt to remain alive till sunset in an try and hold her prize. Determined to outlive the day, she pairs up with beginner lottery safety agent Noel Cassidy (John Cena), who guarantees to do all the things in his energy to assist her — so long as she shares the cash.
Asghari performs Senior Agent Ash within the film, a lackey to Liu’s Louis Lewis — Noel’s rival and the proprietor of the most important lottery safety company in L.A. who’s determined to take Katie down. Regardless of going face to face with Awkwafina and Cena on display screen, Asghari mentioned that he has nothing however admiration for his two costars behind the scenes.
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“Awkwafina is such an amazing comic and her comedic timing is so on level — that’s the reason she is who she is. … She was born for comedy,” Asghari gushed. “And John Cena, I’ve all the time been tremendous impressed with the crossover from WWE to on display screen performing. And I by no means knew how a lot of knowledgeable he was. It was simply such a enjoyable expertise to be a part of this forged.”
The forged, after all, wasn’t the one draw for Asghari. The actor and mannequin can be a giant fan of Feig — finest identified for his work on The Workplace, Freaks and Geeks and A Easy Favor — who he referred to as a “nice director and producer.”
“He’s such an open individual to letting the actor be an actor, particularly in terms of comedy, as a result of there’s so many humorous issues that would come out of your mouth naturally,” Asghari mentioned. “And there was plenty of that taking place [on Jackpot]. … So I’m simply tremendous enthusiastic about that.”
Jackpot additionally had precisely the proper steadiness of comedy and motion, which solely added to Asghari feeling like he’d landed his dream mission. The Iran native informed Us he grew up on the style, which he believes has a common enchantment to audiences.
“Everyone’s all the time excited concerning the motion packed issues, and me coming from a special nation, not talking the language, I all the time watch motion movies as a result of that’s what speaks worldwide languages,” he defined. “That’s what resonated with me from childhood, so to be a part of a film that’s filled with motion and requires plenty of wrestling and plenty of rehearsing is simply simply thrilling.”
Now that Jackpot has wrapped, Asghari is setting his sights on his subsequent mission. He informed Us that he’s been “actually shut for a number of roles” however isn’t taking it personally. The Hacks alum is “one hundred pc” centered on his profession and believes the proper half will inevitably come his means.
“That’s the great thing about performing. You by no means know what mission is sweet for you and what’s not,” he mentioned. “Personally, I’ve auditioned so many instances earlier than, and that’s a part of performing, and I really like the competitiveness of the business.”
For now, Asghari is on the lookout for extra villainous elements — thanks, Liu — and want to unfold his wings into extra dramatic movies. “The drama scenes and all of the dramatic initiatives, that’s the place I get to point out my performing potential, and never simply the one that performs the apparent character,” he shared. “So I’m actually going to be exploring these choices.”
As for what specific initiatives he’d wish to see himself in, Asghari has a number of concepts — they usually embody the small display screen.
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“I like authentic initiatives [and when] producers do such an excellent job of placing a forged collectively,” he informed Us, noting White Lotus for instance. “[TV] exhibits are all the time one thing that I’m wanting ahead to auditioning for as a result of these are those that resonate with the viewers probably the most.”
“You realize,” he mentioned, “my close to future is unquestionably going to be thrilling.”
Jackpot hits theaters on Thursday, August 15.
With reporting by Amanda Williams
