Sahana Srinivasan

Interview by Nolwen Cifuentes

Photography by Sarah Krick

Styling by Toye Adedipe

Makeup by Robert Bryan

Hair by Joseph Chase

Congrats on The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh! How did you get involved in the series?

Thank you! The short of it is that I auditioned for it and booked the gig. The long of it is that I started making characters and impressions as a child which led me to take acting classes and audition for film and tv at a young age. I would send out self-tapes from my suburban hometown of Allen, Texas and fly out to LA to do callbacks. Every time I flew out to LA, it felt like I belonged out there. I started doing standup sketch and improv in college; I majored in film production at UT Austin, immediately after which I moved out to LA. And then I auditioned for Pradeeps and booked the gig. I actually wanted to be a children’s book illustrator as a kid. Crazy! I think I still want to eventually do that. We’ll see.

The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh explores family, culture, and the immigrant experience in a unique way. What drew you to this project, and how did you connect with your character?

To me, the show reads very satirical. The absurdity of the script drew me in. It has the vibe of early 2000’s sitcoms but with modern edginess. I think Bhanu has a slightly complicated but relatable narrative. She does get to be the funny one, but she also has a lot of heartfelt moments with her mom and brothers. Her deadpan delivery masks how much love she has to offer. I felt excited to incorporate aspects of my high school self to her character — her weirdness, how she constantly struggles with fitting in while also embracing her differences. There’s a lot of self-discovery there.

How does The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh stand out from other shows about immigrant families?

The mystery through line of the show really stands out to me. The episodes get even crazier as they progress and always end on sort of a cliffhanger. The “Rashomon style” storytelling is also fun. Every flashback from the interrogation room is told from a different perspective so we really don’t know who’s telling the truth. I loved getting to lean into those different perspectives because it completely changed the genre or characters. I get to be the innocent sweetie pie daughter through the lens of my mom, and then completely flip flop to become the cool and rebellious bad influence that my love interest’s mom sees me as. It keeps the audience guessing.

In your experience, what do you think makes comedy such an effective way to connect with audiences, especially on topics that might feel personal or vulnerable?

Comedy can definitely be a great vehicle for ideas that are otherwise hard to digest because laughter is a kind of uncontrollable feedback that connects us all, but I don’t think there always has to be a deeper message for it to resonate. I think there’s a lot of pressure on artists to talk about their struggles and traumas and how they overcome them in their work, but seeing someone on stage making well-crafted jokes about anything at all can be inspiring enough.

What were your comedic, or other influences growing up?

Honestly? The Garfield comics. Those were the only books I would buy at the Scholastic book fair. I actually made my own comic book as a kid inspired by Garfield called Spinson. It was about a rainbow-colored parrot who hated everyone and had a wry sense of humor. I think he was obsessed with spaghetti? The same way Garfield loved lasagna. If you asked me at the time I would have definitely refuted any claims that Spinson was a rip off of Garfield. I made my classmates read it and this popular girl I think I had a crush on at the time added a page of her own; honestly it wasn’t very funny, but I felt honored to have inspired a beautiful cheerleader to take part in my silly comic book. I also loved watching worst X-Factor audition compilations on YouTube. There were some very interesting characters in there.

Are there any other genres you’re dying to explore?

I want to do action-comedy so badly. I would love to be nonbinary Dwyane the Rock Johnson. Anything where I would do some cool stunts and show off physical fitness but also nail the comedic timing. I’d also love to play a traditionally evil character...supervillain etc. Supervillains in TV/film are always misunderstood...sometimes their goals or intentions are good, even agreeable, but their execution is always so bad. Maybe I’d be a supervillain who learns their lesson and is weird in a kind of endearing way. Can we make that happen?

What’s next for you?

I’m guest-starring in a fun Disney Plus show that should come out early next year. But other than that, I perform comedy around town and post characters and cute photos of my cat, Lavender Princess Cupcake (please respect her full name) on Instagram.

✦

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