If you’ve been following our coverage, you’d know how special Found is to us.
It’s a show that continues to do remarkable work with its strong messaging regarding hope, working through trauma, and bringing people home.
The series has strong writing that keeps us glued to the screens every week. It also has one of the best casts currently on television, with fantastic chemistry and incredibly rich characters.
One character who epitomizes that is the enigmatic, fiercely loyal, and wonderfully complex Dhan Rana. He’s easily one of the most compelling characters on broadcast and certainly one of Found’s most dynamic.
So naturally, it was a genuine pleasure to catch up with his talented portrayer, the gracious and humble Karan Oberoi, about the importance of this series, the action-packed remaining episodes, bringing his natural chemistry with Shanola Hampton to life onscreen, and Dhan’s background.
I hope you enjoy this interview, read these thoughtful answers, and share with your fellow fans.
Thank you for continuing to support our site, this incredible series, and this hardworking, talented cast and crew.
Dhan is one of my favorite characters on television right now.
Thank you!
He’s such a deeply complex character. How would you describe his evolution this season?
I think he’s balancing a lot. Dhan, this season, you see him a little more tight-roped. He’s balancing the safety of M&A and his family, and trying to gather some results about Jamie.
There’s just a lot on his plate, and him not having a complete meltdown has been absolutely amazing to watch. So yeah, he’s balancing a lot right now.
Of course, one of my favorite dynamics on television right now has to be Dhan and Gabi. They have such a layered dynamic. Unwavering trust, loyalty, and reverence. Can you talk about that? Was it difficult trying to capture those layers onscreen?
No, no! [Laughs] My approach is just saying good morning to Shanola, you know? She is a light. She just brings so much light to the show. She’s such a deeply joyful person to be around.
My personal connection with her is just — we have a great off-screen chemistry. We talk quite frequently, and I see her a lot. She’s just an amazing person to my family, and I love her very much.
So, I guess it plays out on screen, too. And I’m glad that fans get to notice that because it’s just real. She’s amazing.
Diving into some of the plot a bit — I jokingly called Jamie the Scrappy Doo of M&A.
Yeah? [Laughs]
Dhan is like the first line of defense when it comes to protecting M&A. But he’s finally accepted Jamie a bit. Can you speak about that arc and what may be coming next?
Dhan understands Jamie and what he’s been through, especially this captivity side of it. He understood him. He’s definitely going to go all out to protect his team. It doesn’t matter who they say they are.
Dhan is going to check everything out using all the resources he can. He just wants to make sure this is not something else. It’s a huge thing to have someone come back and say, “I’m your son.” It’s like, wait a minute.
We tried to look for him but got nowhere as good as we are. Then, to have all these dynamics pop out with Sir and everybody else involving themselves in the case, it was insane to watch it play out. It’s been incredible.
Speaking of all that, we have Carrie in the wind and Lena coming for everyone. Meanwhile, Sir always haunts everybody, and M&A is still tackling cases. What can you tease about how they approach balancing all of these things?
We’re busy! I tell you that we’re very busy. There’s not a boring day at the office, so to speak.
We’ve got so much going on. Every character is so layered and has so much just poking out from every angle. Like you said, we’ve got Lena, Carrie, Sir, coming out with the FBI.
Many things are playing out, and they’re just up in the air right now. But these last three episodes are definitely going to explain all these things in great detail and introduce new storylines. They’re going to tie so much together and bring so much to light.
We’ve got Dhan’s past coming up and new characters being introduced. So it’s going to be a very, very fun thing to watch.
I was just going to ask you about that. We had a lot of background, especially this season, into Lacey and Margaret. I wondered if we’d get any teases about Dhan’s background or some of his captivity or something.
We do. Yeah, we do. We get some nuggets of information about why Dhan is the way he is and who may have made him the way he is. So, we’re getting a lot of little trinkets that are going to be really cool to see.
Awesome. I’m so excited about that!
It’s going to be great.
What has been your favorite storyline this season? You guys have jam-packed so much into the season. It’s like all gas, no brakes!
Yo, that’s — I can’t tell you. I can’t, pick one and say this is my favorite line because every time I have one, something else happens like, “Oh, well, you know what, that too. And that too!” Just being a part of a show takes a keen interest in making it enjoyable for viewers because, as you know, there’s so much out there right now with television.
So, to have this procedural aspect and then the thrilling side of it and to continually have that every episode, not just, OK, wait two weeks until we play this, but every episode, I feel like NK has given viewers lots of candy. So I’m very happy to be a part of that.
What has been the most challenging aspect of playing this character so far?
You don’t think about it until you wrap filming, get home, sit down, and you’re like, “Wow.” We talk about a lot of things on the show, a lot of dark aspects. We do layer it with lots of hope, and that’s what our show is about. It’s giving hope to people, to the missing.
But you come back and my mindset for eight or nine months filming — you’re in this mindset of this character, and it just bleeds. You know what I mean? It bleeds into your personal life. It’s hard to explain.
It makes you think differently just because you’ve been thinking like this character for so long. So having that experience and then coming off of it when you’re not filming is a significant change.
But it’s been great to play this character and to investigate his past. And I’m looking forward to a lot more of that next season.
So am I.
Your description reminds me of the contrast between Dhan’s personal life with Ethan and how that sometimes clashes with Gabby and M&A. Those dynamics are fascinating because he needs both. But there’s always this undercurrent of possibly having to choose.
Yeah, that underlying aspect, right? Is he going to choose this, or will he choose his relationship? And I love that he gets to be with both.
It’s because Ethan is this understanding partner who knows that Dhan is a job-first kind of guy, and he’s got to get the job done. It’s just in him. And if he doesn’t deal with that, then his PTSD and his “stuff” starts to unravel.
So, to keep himself together, he needs M&A. And I think Ethan understands that.
Of course. It’s really a great show, I think, as far as unpacking things like trauma and working through it. I don’t really see too much of that on television and handled as well as here where viewers connect with the series like this. You guys are doing a great job and part of something special.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I definitely hope for the renewal.
Yeah, we’re all waiting. I think NBC is getting its ducks in a row.
And, you know, we’re grateful either way. It’s just been phenomenal to explore this topic, which is so important in America and the world. I think everybody needs to know that we can bring people home. So I’m glad we were able to do what we did, and hopefully, we can continue to do so.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Found returns with an all-new episode on May 1 at 10/9c on NBC. Stream on Peacock the following day.
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