In E. Lockhart’s “We Were Liars,” Gatwick Patil is an outsider. He and his uncle are the only people on Beechwood Island who are 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 for Shubham Maheshwari, who brings the beloved character to life in Prime Video’s eight-episode adaptation; an economics expert 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).
“That intimidation was there while I was flying,” Maheshwari told Indiewire ahead of the show’s June 18 launch. “Do I belong here? I haven’t done anything before. What if I’m not able to fit in? There was a lot of that kind of thinking, but it went away when I met them. Thank God for that, because they were so lovely.”
“I learned so much from all these actors, watching them, this 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 expert on economics and a testament to the power of the behind-the-scenes, a platform he has turned to whenever his schedule has opened up or his courage has been enlightened. He is acutely aware that if one small thing had been different—a selfie, a Wi-Fi connection, a delayed flight—he might not be here. He hadn’t read “We Were Liars” before the first audition, but then 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 such a captivating book. You want to know the ending, you want to keep turning the page,” he said. “I don’t think we see many shows or movies where the male lead is Indian in a show that is predominantly white characters.”
Gat was written as being of Indian descent, as opposed to a “Bridgerton” or “One Day” reimagining (or reader misunderstandings, as in “The Hunger Games”). Maheshwari was surprised by the positive fan response to his casting, which confirmed how much readers love the book and the culture of Lockhart’s fan base.
“They haven’t even seen 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 a lot of love and they’ve given a lot of love to the book, so they deserve a good show.
Many of “We Were Liars” featured Maheshwari and Lind alone in scenes, which accounted 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 ton of movies. His family watched mostly Indian films growing up (favorites include anything with Irrfan Khan, but especially “The Lunchbox,” as well as popular Rajkumar Hirani films or those starring Shah Rukh Khan) and has enjoyed catching up on Hollywood history lately.
“You know how people say, ‘I wish I could watch that movie for the first time again,'” he said. “I’m actually watching it for the first time right now. I’ve been watching a lot of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, younger actors like Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Lucas Hedges. I learn a lot from watching them.”
Even after production, “We Were Liars” continued Maheshwari’s whirlwind introduction to the industry. The pilot premiered in 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 looked horrible… but it was so cool”). He’s excited to audition again and hopefully find representation, now with a big degree to his name — as well as that Econ Major.
“I really hope I don’t have to go back to that, because this is the best job in the world,” he said. “I really hope that’s what I can keep doing; keep getting better and keep being a part of good stories. That would be amazing.”
“We Were Liars” is now streaming on Prime Video.
