Actor Suraj Sharma and Life of Pi director Ang Lee / Pic: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
HE couldn?t swim and didn?t know how to act, so why did Suraj Sharma audition for the lead part in Ang Lee's smash hit Life of Pi?
"It wasn’t my idea to try out for the role," Sharma said. "I went along to be with my brother and they asked me to read for the part so I did."
"I thought I might as well."
That decision started the then 17-year-old Sharma on a journey which would see him beat out more than 3000 young men for the lead role as Pi Patel in what would become the critically acclaimed hit of the season.
But first had to learn the skills necessary to carry the two-hour long epic set almost entirely on a lifeboat adrift on the Pacific Ocean.
Director Ang Lee told New York Magazine shooting was slow to start because the new star couldn't even keep himself afloat in the five metre production tank.
"After I cast Suraj Sharma... I tested him to see how long he could hold his breath, and it was only for fifteen seconds," Lee said. "And we had shots planned that would require him to do that for a minute long. So he had to learn."
And Sharma learnt, swimming was first, followed by yoga and meditation to connect with Pi's spirituality, then fishing, sailing, survival techniques and dropping 20 per cent of his body weight to portray malnourished Pi. Lee also instructed Sharma not to speak too much to anyone for months to try and connect with Pi's isolation on the open ocean.
"The most difficult part was the opening scene when the Tsimtsum is sinking and I look down to watch it," Sharma said. "That was the first time I thought to myself 'can I do this'."
Asked if the experience of being in the movie had changed his life Sharma is humble.
"I'm still studying now so it hasn’t changed my life too much," Sharma said. "But people sometimes recognise me."
"I'm just so happy to have been a part of it…but I don't think it was too bad for a first time."
Life of Pi and Life of Pi 3D are now out on Blu-Ray
22/01/2011 WIRE: This publicity film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Suraj Sharma in a scene from "Life of Pi," directed by Ang Lee. Best-picture prospects for Oscar Nominations on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, include, Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg; Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow; Les Miserables, directed by Tom Hooper; Argo, directed by Ben Affleck; Django Unchained, directed by Quentin Tarantino; and Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee. (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Jake Netter, File) Pic. Ap Source: AP
