'I am not a trained actor,' says Moses Koul of 'Class' fame

Having worked as a musician with Arijit Singh and rapper Divine, Moses Koul made his debut in acting with Netflix's show Class.
Moses Koul in 'Class'
Moses Koul in 'Class'

Guitarist, music producer and model, Moses Koul  has now turned an actor. Having worked as a musician with Arijit Singh and rapper Divine, Moses has just made his acting debut with Netflix's show Class, a remake of Spanish hit series Elite.

Telling us about how he prepared himself for his character, Sharan Gujral, the newbie is quick to confess, "I'm not an actor and have zero acting background, so playing Sharan in Class was truly a transformative experience for me, as I had to delve deep into a character vastly different from myself."

Moses, however, was ready to face the challenges and learn the art. "As a first-time actor, I felt immense pressure to bring my interpretation of Sharan to life and do justice to the story being told. Despite the challenges, particularly in handling intimate scenes and addressing sensitive subject matter, I felt a strong sense of determination to stay true to my interpretation and the vision of the director," he says, adding, "My background in martial arts helped me get in shape for the character."

Moses plays Sharan, an athletic jock. When the show was offered to him, we had just come out of the COVID19 induced lockdown, and Moses admits, "I was not focusing on exercise." However, as soon as he was locked for Sharan, he says, "I knew it was crunch time. I had to build my physique up to match the description of Sharan that was given to me. In fact, production was shocked that I managed to achieve an atheletes body in three weeks."

Aaprt from acting, Moses has also written a song for the show. "I had the opportunity to write a song for Class, and to compose and create it was a beautiful challenge, and I’m so happy with how it turned out. Now, I want to actively push in that direction and hone my skills for the visual medium," he shares.

Moses Koul
Moses Koul

Talking about his experience in the show, he says, "Each cast member brought an abundance of dedication and authenticity to their roles, making it a delightful environment to be a part of. Although I didn't have the opportunity to work with all of the characters as their arcs didn't intersect, everyone I did collaborate with made working on the show for three years a truly charming experience. As a musician, I’m used to playing sold out arenas of 20,000 odd people, so it helped with the nerves. I was not only able to keep performance anxiety in check but I could help my scene partners calm down as well if they needed some reassuring words."

The musician and actor also shares that it’s heartening to see audiences across the globe open up to Sharan and trying to understand and empathise with him, and the response to a character as layered and difficult to grasp as Sharan "has been amazing and varied". He adds, "The tweaks we made to Sharan compared to Polo (Elite) made him come across much darker and more in control of his own decisions which has been received well - especially making the end that much more shocking and surprising."

Moses says the show has really made him "fall in love with the performance aspect of cinema" and he now wants to audition more and work with some of his favourite directors. "I want to take on roles that are from a different world than Class. I would love to do a RomCom or a comedy role. I’m looking at composing for films and TV too," he says.

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