In E. Lockhart’s “We Were Liars,” Gatwick Patil is an outsider. He and his uncle are the only people on Beechwood Island not descended from the illustrious Sinclairs (“old money Democrats,” Lockhart calls them), a mismatched puzzle piece in their privileged, white world.
The same could be said of Shubham Maheshwari, who brings the beloved character to life in Prime Video’s eight-episode adaptation; an economics major from Dubai who auditioned via Zoom after an open casting call and then ended up in Nova Scotia for an absolute crash course in TV production.
But as a credit to the series, Maheshwari never felt like an outsider. He certainly felt like the baby and the new kid, but he also felt empowered by Lockhart, by showrunners Carina Adly MacKenzie and Julie Plec, by Rahul Kohli (who plays Gat’s uncle Ed), and by experienced contemporaries Emily Alyn Lind, Esther McGregor, and Joseph Zada (in a cast that includes David Morse, Caitlin Fitzgerald, Mamie Gummer, and more).
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“That intimidation was there as I was flying out,” Maheshwari told IndieWire ahead of the show’s June 18 release. “Do I belong here? I’ve not done anything before. What if I’m not able to match? There were a lot of those kind of thoughts, but it went away when I met them. Thank God for that, because they were so lovely.”
“I learned so much from all those actors, watching them, that process, their approach,” he added, describing the shoot as a compressed film school. “They made me feel very welcome, very comfortable. And then it was like I forgot that this is my first job. It just became, ‘I love this story, I love this character. I know they do, too. I just want to work together and do the best we can, and we’ll just help bring this to life.’”
Maheshwari is an economics major and a testament to the power of Backstage, a platform he turned to whenever his schedule opened up or his courseload lightened. He’s very aware that if even one small thing had gone differently — a self-tape, a wifi connection, a delayed flight — he might not be here. He hadn’t read “We Were Liars” before the first audition, but afterward he found it in a small airport bookstore and took it as a sign.
“I don’t usually finish a book in one sitting, but this was just such a captivating book. You want to know the end, you want to keep turning the page,” he said. “I don’t think we see too many shows or films where the male lead is Indian in a show that is predominantly white characters.”
Gat was written to be of Indian descent, as opposed to a “Bridgerton” or “One Day” reimagining (or reader misunderstanding, like with “The Hunger Games”). Maheshwari was taken aback by the positive fan response to his casting, which confirmed how much readers love the book and the culture of Lockhart’s fanbase.
“They didn’t even see us perform yet,” he said with a laugh. “But they were so kind, and they expressed how happy they were. I was immediately like, ‘Man, this is a responsibility. I don’t want to let these guys down.’ They’ve already given us so much love and given the book so much love, so they deserve a good show. If anything, it was an extra motivating factor.”
A lot of “We Were Liars” puts Maheshwari and Lind alone in scenes together, responsible for the show’s main romantic arc. But outside of that, Maheshwari loved the big family scenes because he got to “sit back and watch these people do their thing.”
Without much acting experience, Maheshwari trained like so many fans of the craft: by watching a shit-ton of movies. His family mostly watched Indian films as he grew up (favorites include anything with Irrfan Khan but especially “The Lunchbox,” as well as popular films by Rajkumar Hirani or starring Shah Rukh Khan), and has enjoyed catching up on Hollywood history of late.
“You know how people say ‘I wish I could see that movie for the first time again,’” he said. “I’m actually seeing it for the first time now. I’ve been seeing a lot of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, younger actors like Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges. I learn a lot watching them.”
Even after production, “We Were Liars” continued Maheshwari’s whirlwind introduction to the industry. The pilot premiered at Tribeca, bringing him back to New York City for the first time since early childhood. He and his castmates walked the red carpet and got to cut the line at the Empire State Building (“It felt horrible… but it was so cool”). He’s excited to get back to auditioning and hopefully find representation, now with a big title to his name — as well as that econ major.
“I really hope I don’t have to go back to it, because this is the best job in the world,” he said. “I really hope this is what I can keep doing; just keep improving and keep being part of good stories. That’d be awesome.”
“We Were Liars” is now streaming on Prime Video.
