Millennial moviegoers could not acknowledge the identify Rajiv Surendra, however they actually know Kevin Gnapoor. Surendra starred because the hormonal Mathletes president (with a aptitude for rapping) in Tina Fey’s “Imply Ladies,” changing into one of many movie’s most quotable supporting characters. However what ever occurred to Surendra in actual life? GQ journal lately caught up with him 19 years after “Imply Ladies.” Surendra revealed that he tried to stay with appearing post-“Imply Ladies” by nabbing the lead position in Ang Lee’s “Lifetime of Pi,” but it surely ended disastrously.
“Whereas we have been capturing ‘Imply Ladies’ throughout my first 12 months of school, I discovered they have been turning ‘The Lifetime of Pi’ into a movie. I used to be decided to get that half,” Surendra stated. “So I dropped out of school to go to the little city in India the place the e-book takes place in order that I might do some in-depth analysis. I did that for a number of months and got here again and was simply ready for them to begin manufacturing. I assumed that it was going to occur any day now and it didn’t. They misplaced their director and the undertaking ended up getting placed on maintain so I went again to varsity.”
Surendra stated going again to varsity was principally a time-filler, as he supposed to “drop out of college once more” as soon as the “Lifetime of Pi” film acquired again off the bottom.
“The undertaking saved getting delayed,” he stated. “Three months become a 12 months become 4 years. It was truly six years due to that 12 months off. ‘Lifetime of Pi’ was connected to 4 completely different administrators through the years so each time a brand new director [came aboard], I’d go to the library and get out all the flicks that they had made and analysis that director. I labored actually actually laborious to attempt to get this half. In the long run, they gave it to any individual else.”
Ang Lee was in the end employed to helm “Lifetime of Pi” for twentieth Century Fox. The director forged Suraj Sharma within the lead position.
“I felt like somebody had died,” Surendra stated about dropping the half. “Very slowly over the course of six years, I used to be constructing this boy that was a personality in a e-book. By the tip of these years, that was an actual particular person inside me. These previous Tamil songs I listened to as a child, Pi would’ve listened to these songs. After I acquired the e-mail saying I didn’t get the half, I felt like that particular person simply died immediately. It was traumatic. I feel I used to be in shock for a pair weeks. I felt lifeless inside for a very long time.”
“Lifetime of Pi” become a field workplace hit with $609 million worldwide, and it garnered 11 Academy Award nominations, together with greatest image. Lee was awarded the Oscar for greatest director. Surendra, in the meantime, left appearing behind for probably the most half.
