Himesh Patel Is Always Adapting
The star of the new HBO comedy series The Franchise discusses his fond experience on set, the importance of being a flexible actor, and his impulse to keep evolving.
Photography ZEB DAEMEN
Styled by WAY PERRY
British actor Himesh Patel, 33, is committed to continuous growth.. After spending nine years as a nerdy bookworm on the BBC soap opera EastEnders and a few years on the British sitcom Damned, Patel was thrust into the limelight with a leading role in the musical romantic comedy Yesterday (2019). Then, Patel appeared in Christopher Nolan’s mind-boggling action epic Tenet (2020) and the dystopian drama series Station Eleven (2021), which earned him an Emmy nomination. This fall, Patel continues to forge his comedic path in the HBO series The Franchise (from Veep creator Aramando Iannucci), which takes a sardonic—yet celebratory—glimpse into the world of superhero-franchise filmmaking. Patel plays Daniel, a high-strung, passionate assistant director on the set of a superhero movie. In addition to the stellar writing, a synergistic cast and crew rendered the experience a pinnacle of Patel’s career. Ahead of the premiere of The Franchise on HBO October 6, Patel spoke to L’OFFICIEL about the series, working with director Sam Mendes, and his reverence for superhero films.
"Most of us have been doing it for a long time, so we all had that wealth of experience to draw from when it came to the setting and the madness of being on a film set."
L’OFFICIEL: The Franchise has such a specific tone and rhythm. How did the audition process work? Did the cast do a lot of chemistry reads?
HIMESH PATEL: We didn’t. Itt was genuinely one of the best experiences I’ve had, and a lot of it had to do with how well we got on. Our group chat is still active, joking with each other, and we’re all really excited to see more of the show and put it out there and see how people feel about it. We had a great time, and everyone was so good. It’s funny we didn’t do any chemistry stuff. I know some of them were cast before I came along. A lot of them were, actually, so I don’t know if those guys did anything. It was very good casting by [Casting Director] Nina Gold.
L’O: Was your performance inspired by anyone you’ve seen on set as an actor?
HP: A little bit, but no one specific, to be honest with you. I’ve been doing this half my life now, so I’ve logged away several first ADs [assistant directors]. The film set, in general, is an atmosphere I’m completely at home in, and I’m very much used to knowing who’s in charge and how things can go wrong if the people who are meant to be in charge are not very good at being in charge. I had that all locked away. A lot of us have that. That’s something about the fact that we’re all making this show about making a show. A lot of us have been doing this for a long time, so we all had that wealth of experience to draw from when it came to the setting and the madness of being on a film set.
L’O: What’s the biggest film you’ve worked on in your career that is comparable to what The Franchise is depicting?
HP: I’d say Tenet. That was probably the biggest in terms of scale. What’s funny is that I didn’t get to see the other side of that scale. Usually, you make something like this, and then you get to see the publicity machine of it all, but it came out in the dead of 2020, so I didn’t really get to see any of that. Being on that set, the scale was undeniable. I never felt, as an actor, the insanity of the machine. That’s because it’s different. Tenet was outside of any franchise situation.
L’O: Are you a fan of any superhero films yourself?
HP: I do tend to watch them. They've dropped off for me over the last four or five years, maybe since I had kids. It's not so easy to get to the cinema, and then you're like, well if I'm going to go, I'm going to choose wisely. Sometimes if I do need an easy sort of fun watch, I'll take myself off to watch one if it's something that I'm genuinely looking forward to. I still feel like there's something about the world of Batman that lends itself to something more tangible. Chris Nolan managed it obviously very well, sort of iconically. The last one with Robert Pattinson [The Batman (2022)], I thought was really good. Then, you've got the whole Joker thing going on with Joaquin Phoenix now. There's something that people are drawn to within that world, which is maybe because it's the most un-fantastical one.
"It's a bit of a cliché, but if it kind of scares me, I tend to be intrigued by it."
L’O: I agree.
HP: Yes. I've got one of my best friends from way back... He's a real comic book guy. We went to see that one together, and that's what he said to me. He really felt like it was truer to what he read growing up.
L’O: What is The Franchise saying about superhero films and where cinema is at this moment?
HP: We're laughing at the world of franchise filmmaking and superhero world building… the kind of movies that we're used to over the last 10 or 15 years. But we're also celebrating it. [My character] Daniel says at one point, “When these things are good, they're really good.” I believe that as well. In terms of that mass-appeal cinema, you just can't beat it. At the center of the series, you've got this guy who's willing it to be good because when it can be good, it's really good. When it falls off the rails, it [does so] pretty quickly and can become ridiculous.
L’O: The best satire is also coming from a place of love. In the writing, in your performance and all the performances, everyone understands what they're making fun of, and they're making fun of something that they love. So it doesn't feel hasty in any way.
HP: If it were to have been cynical, it wouldn’t have worked. People were maybe turning a corner with the whole superhero thing. Obviously it's not going anywhere, but people's relationships to it have changed. It's also something that people hold dearly, that means a lot to people, so you do have to have a certain amount of respect for it if you’re going to satirize it.
L’O: Do you like a challenge?
HP: I tend to welcome any sort of challenge as an actor. You can't be too rigid in your way of working because not everyone's going to work in the same way. Not every production is going to have the luxury of being able to work in the way that you want to work. So you have to adapt all the time, but I really enjoy it. As long as there are some basic things, it's easier to latch onto those things in a script like this. It was clear from the beginning to me that this is a guy who's going through a divorce; he's got a kid. His desires were very clear to me, and so then you're off. With anything that I do, if it's a very well-written script, it makes my life a lot easier, and I've been very lucky to have quite a few of those so far.
"[My] general rule of thumb is, Have I done it before? And does it feel like something I'd be able to do with my eyes shut? In which case, I probably won't do it."
L’O: Are there any directors or actors, anybody else that you haven't worked with yet that you would like to in the future?
HP: Man, so many. And obviously when someone asks you this question, they'll disappear from your head. I love Richard Linklater. He's one of my favorite filmmakers. I've not seen Hit Man yet. I'll watch that soon. Who doesn't want to work with [Steven] Spielberg? There are going to be so many people off this list, and I love new filmmakers. I love collaborating with people early on in their careers where you can catch the wave before it rises. It's quite fun.
L’O: How do you decide what to do next?
HP: The general rule of thumb for me is, Have I done it before? And does it feel like something I'd be able to do with my eyes shut? In which case, I probably won't do it. There is an attraction to people who are involved. When The Franchise came, the concept of it was amazing, but it didn't hurt that Sam Mendes was going to direct it, that Armando was attached, and that half the writers from Succession were writing on it. And amazing actors were involved. It's a bit of a cliche, but if it kind of scares me, I tend to be intrigued by it because the main aim for me is that I keep getting that feeling that I'm learning something new and I'm growing. Hopefully, that doesn't really ever end, because every job has something to teach you. But that generally is the rule for me. I'm keen to dive back into doing theater. I'd love to do a play, but, also, that really has to be the right thing because you're going to be doing it over and over for a number of months. You don't want to be doing something that's like pulling teeth.
L’O: And I know it's physically demanding… a film and a TV show require time, but theater seems to be a different kind of animal.
HP: It's a workout, is what I keep hearing, and I wouldn't mind one of those. It was good for me when I started my career on a soap. I was in a soap for nine years, and when I left, I did a sitcom, but then I did basically three plays in a row [including People, Places, & Things and Don Juan in Soho in 2017]. And I know that did me a world of good. So it'd be really good to see if something good can come up that really challenges me and helps me, maybe unlock something new within my capabilities and showcase another side of myself that people don't know yet.
GROOMING: Nadia Altinbas
SET DESIGN: Joshua Stovel
LIGHTING ASSISTANT: Jack Snell
