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EXCLUSIVE! 'The Chosen: Last Supper' actor Paras Patel on Bollywood: ‘I was a huge Govinda and Akshay Kumar fan, but later it was Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Irrfan Khan…'
In an EXCLUSIVE interview with Firstpost's Lachmi Deb Roy, Hollywood actor Paras Patel talks about his role as Mathew in 'The Chosen', his love for Bollywood, on his dreams of working on a series like Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi and more read more
Actor Paras Patel is best known for his role as 'Matthew' in the critically acclaimed series The Chosen, with Season 5 premiering on Amazon Prime in Spring 2025. The Chosen has become a global phenomenon, with over 200 million viewers and 770 million episode views as of January 2024. It's one of the most-watched shows in the world.
The global success of The Chosen has earned him a devoted fan base. In an interview with Firstpost, he shares his desire for working with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and how he would like to share the screen space with Salman Khan, Govinda and Akshay Kumar.
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Edited excerpts from the interview:
How much do you relate to the character, Matthew, in the in The Chosen?
The respect to Matthew on The Chosen is huge. I actually didn't know how much I could relate to him until I started actually filming. And I found out that there's so many things that Matthew and me have in common as we portray him on the show. You know? I'm very OCD in a way where I am very clean. I'm very particular just like Matthew.
I also studied finance before getting into acting. So there is a lot of similarities between me and Matthew, and I was able to use that into the character and kind of build him as we've gone through season after season.
Matthew's also taught me a lot about myself, a lesson of strength, perseverance, and self-motivation as well as finding your own voice. And so it's kinda cool to be connected so much to this character that I've been portraying because I didn't know how much it would impact me, and I'm lucky to be portraying him. Our children are a global phenomenon.
How do you feel about it? Were you expecting this kind of global love when you initially started with this project?
Not at all, when we first started the show, we did season one, and we crowdfunded. So we only crowdfunded enough to do the first four episodes. So we filmed that in late fall, and we didn't know if we would finish the last four until the following summer. And then it just went viral, and just kept growing year after year. We have released it in theatres in India too. It's just been this journey that none of us expected as a cast and crew, but we're just so grateful for this. I always like to say, expect the unexpected with The Chosen because it'll just keep levelling up in its own way.
It's just been a phenomenon like you said. It's so surreal experience to be able to be a part of something like this and actually go and see the world and see the impact you are having on everyone through this show.
EXCLUSIVE! 'The Chosen' actor Paras Patel's interview
How has the show impacted you in your personal life or you as a human being in general?
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What I love about the show is that it just teaches you to just be a good person. And it gives you hope. Maybe just watching a character
It kind of helps you with different parts of your life that you didn't know you needed some, you know, like, advice on or maybe just, watching a character go through their journey. And you're like, 'Oh! I've been through something similar, but this is how Matthew handled the situation.' And look what happened? He became a better person, and he found himself. And maybe you can adapt that into your own life.
For me, it's portraying Matthew and really finding this inner confidence I had because I struggled a lot as an actor, and it's just such an unpredictable career. And to now portray this character that's really impacting people's lives, has made me feel fulfilled, and I'm just so grateful to be a part of that.
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You are interested in Indian cinema, who do you want to work with? Any specific director or anything?
Maybe a Heeramandi or something like that would be just epic to be a part of such a series of that scale. But, you know, I grew up watching the 90 stars like Salman Khan, Govinda, Akshay Kumar, all of them. So, even just sharing a screen space with them would just be an honour.
Who's your favourite Indian actor and why?
When I was growing up, I was a huge Govinda and Akshay Kumar fan. Like, I would just watch all their movies. But as I grew more into being an actor, I realised that each actor brings their certain masala to the role. So, I was inspired by Aamir Khan, Irrfan Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, who just brought their elements depending on the kind of movie they're doing. I like them for their versatility.
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