A chat with Poorna Jagannathan on Room 104 

“Let’s just say I’ve walked my own mother through technology. Several times. And am surprised we’re both still alive!” says Poorna
A chat with Poorna Jagannathan on Room 104 

Having played the role of a mother in her latest series titled Room 104, Poorna Jagannathan has received much appreciation and huge fan following for her work in the American industry. She has also appeared in seasons of some applauded TV series, House of Cards, Law & Order, The Game among others. This 44-year-old played the role of a mother in the critically acclaimed series The Night Of, which has received 13 Emmy nominations this year including the Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special category.

1. Tell me about Room 104 and the anthology aspect of it. What can audiences expect and why should they be excited about it.

Room 104 feels profoundly experimental. You have the stamp of HBO which means cutting edge programming. But then it’s out of the head of the Duplass brothers which is basically like going through the wardrobe in Narnia- it’s a portal to a world where anything is possible.Room 104’s main character is the room itself. It’s a motel room located near the Cleveland airport. It’s Middle America, yet Cleveland is an international hub - perfect setting for anything to brew- from the banal to the surreal. Every week, it’s a different cast of characters and a whole new story against the familiar backdrop of the room. Xan Aranda, one of the producers of Room 104, told me that they wanted as much diversity as humanly possible with this series. In every aspect. Diversity in genres, story lines, actors, directors, writers. And I think they’ve achieved that. I’ve only seen 3 episodes and they were radically different - the only thing they had in common was the room. So for example, one of the episodes,“Voyeurs”, is a wordless performance art piece. It’s soaked in surrealism and at the end of it, you’re not sure what you saw but you do know you witnessed a thing of extreme beauty and sadness. The episode Karan and I are in is called “The Internet” and it’s extremely verbose and realistic. It’s highly comical but you’ll be a messy ball of tears and snot by the end of it.

2. Your particular episode has garnered a lot of international praise within the anthology. What’s your episode about?

The episode I’m in, “The Internet”, is apparently one of the first few episodes written by Mark Duplass in the anthology. It’s  loosely based on a fraught phone conversation he and his mother actually had years ago. In the episode, Anish (played by Karan Soni who is a powerhouse in this) is a young aspiring novelist who finds himself in this hotel room without his laptop and a looming deadline. He realizes he’s left his laptop at his mother’s and he gets on the phone with her to walk her through how to email the document to him. Except it’s set in 1997: his mother has no idea how to use the computer, let alone able to grasp the concept of the internet and of email. It’s a phone call that is absolutely, mind bogglingly frustrating and comical because everything that can go wrong, does. The ending, however, is a twist that is heartbreaking and so unexpected. 

3. How did you prepare for this role?

Let’s just say I’ve walked my own mother through technology. Several times. And am surprised we’re both still alive!

4. Your role on the show is a voice-only role. Were there any challenges associated with that?

It was the first time I’ve ever done that and yes, it was really challenging. As an actor, you’re not only working of what is being said but you’re also working off the other actor’s body language, what’s not being said, etc. Being on the phone cuts that off. The way that it was set up is that Karan was in the hotel room set and I was in a room down the hall with an earpiece. But we were interacting real time. The director, Doug Emmett, was just great and surrounded me with as many things as possible to make it feel like I was having a conversation from my real home. At some point I decided I wanted to chop vegetable while on the phone so Doug appeared with a chopping board and celery. In the story, I have to search for the laptop and Doug hid it in the room - I actually couldn’t find it because he hid it so well, but the footage of Karan waiting while I search is priceless. 

5. How different was it to be working in Room 104, over you other shows? What stood out for you with this experience?

I think I may have had a very unique experience while I was on set. So my episode, was originally a story between an African American mother and son and last minute, one of the actors dropped out. There was the obvious scramble. Mark Duplass had worked with Karan Soni on a movie and checked to see if he was available. He was, and we both got cast a day before the shoot. There was a lot of improvisation that went into our episode. The director and producers really left it to the actors to make it into a uniquely South Asian story- so we improvised lines in Hindi, we added mannerisms and words that made it feel like our story vs. one that was adapted for us.

6. You play Naomi’s best friend in the latest Netflix Original Gypsy. What kind of a relationship did you develop with her overtime while working on the series?

She’s a truly wonderful person and I loved working with her. She’s extremely reserved which I appreciate deeply. Our friendship was very organic and I hope the series picked up for another season. It was a pretty amazing group of people that came together to make it.

7. Post Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, we haven't seen you in any Bollywood movie. Are you planning something big for the big screen soon? 

I have nothing in the pipeline in India, but always waiting for the next great script out of India to somehow reach me

8. Tell us a little about your upbringing - from Tunisia to Brazil, Pakistan, India and more... what was it like to see so many cultures in your growing years? 

It was great. I have such a huge sense of belonging to so many places.  But leaving each of those places was hard and was a source of tremendous sadness always. As an adult, I try not being as nomadic.

9. How do you see Indians gaining receptivity in Hollywood? Have you faced any challenges or experiences that you would like to share? 

It’s changing fast and furiously. I just saw “The Big Sick” and of course, devoured the second season of “Masters of None”.  Indians are creating material which is the way real change happens; real stereotypes are broken.

10. You're a brand ambassador of PETA as well. And you were the initiator and producer for the play, “Nirbhaya” which won an Amnesty International Award. Tell us a little about your socially responsible self.

We’re trying to make “Nirbhaya” the play into a film so we can reach a wider audience. The play’s message was to break the silence on sexual violence and shift the shame from the survivors to the perpetrators. It’s a message that is as urgent today as when we built the play in 2012. And I’m still a very proud brand ambassador for PETA.

Channel Tune-in: Room 104 airs in India on Star World Premiere HD every Sunday, 10 PM

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