Sam Asghari has a serious desire to keep playing the villain after watching his Jackpot costar Simu Liu in action.
“Just watching Simu, who plays my boss, just watching him play this bad guy [when] he’s such a nice person in real life, made me realize that these are the type of roles that I should be focusing more on as well,” Asghari, 30, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting the upcoming comedy. “I learned so much from Simu.”
The Paul Feig–directed feature, which hits theaters on Thursday, August 15, centers on recent transplant and aspiring actor Katie (Awkwafina) in a 2030-set Los Angeles where a multi-billion dollar “Grand Lottery” has been put in place. When Katie finds herself with the winning ticket, she’s left trying to stay alive until sundown in an attempt to keep her prize. Desperate to survive the day, she pairs up with amateur lottery protection agent Noel Cassidy (John Cena), who promises to do everything in his power to help her — as long as she shares the money.
Asghari plays Senior Agent Ash in the movie, a lackey to Liu’s Louis Lewis — Noel’s rival and the owner of the largest lottery protection agency in L.A. who is desperate to take Katie down. Despite going head to head with Awkwafina and Cena on screen, Asghari said that he has nothing but admiration for his two costars behind the scenes.
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“Awkwafina is such a great comedian and her comedic timing is so on point — that is the reason she is who she is. … She was born for comedy,” Asghari gushed. “And John Cena, I’ve always been super impressed with the crossover from WWE to on screen acting. And I never knew how much of a professional he was. It was just such a fun experience to be part of this cast.”
The cast, of course, wasn’t the only draw for Asghari. The actor and model is also a big fan of Feig — best known for his work on The Office, Freaks and Geeks and A Simple Favor — who he called a “great director and producer.”
“He’s such an open person to letting the actor be an actor, especially when it comes to comedy, because there’s so many funny things that could come out of your mouth naturally,” Asghari said. “And there was a lot of that happening [on Jackpot]. … So I’m just super excited about that.”
Jackpot also had exactly the right balance of comedy and action, which only added to Asghari feeling like he’d landed his dream project. The Iran native told Us he grew up on the genre, which he believes has a universal appeal to audiences.
“Everybody’s always excited about the action packed things, and me coming from a different country, not speaking the language, I always watch action films because that’s what speaks international languages,” he explained. “That’s what resonated with me from childhood, so to be part of a movie that’s full of action and requires a lot of wrestling and a lot of rehearsing is just just exciting.”
Now that Jackpot has wrapped, Asghari is setting his sights on his next project. He told Us that he’s been “really close for a few roles” but isn’t taking it personally. The Hacks alum is “100 percent” focused on his career and believes the right part will inevitably come his way.
“That’s the beauty of acting. You never know what project is good for you and what’s not,” he said. “Personally, I’ve auditioned so many times before, and that’s part of acting, and I love the competitiveness of the industry.”
For now, Asghari is looking for more villainous parts — thank you, Liu — and would like to spread his wings into more dramatic films. “The drama scenes and all the dramatic projects, that’s where I get to show my acting ability, and not just the person who plays the obvious character,” he shared. “So I’m really going to be exploring those options.”
As for what particular projects he’d like to see himself in, Asghari has a few ideas — and they include the small screen.
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“I like original projects [and when] producers do such a good job of putting a cast together,” he told Us, noting White Lotus as an example. “[TV] shows are always something that I’m looking forward to auditioning for because those are the ones that resonate with the audience the most.”
“You know,” he said, “my near future is definitely going to be exciting.”
Jackpot hits theaters on Thursday, August 15.
With reporting by Amanda Williams
