A Spotlight Interview With Actor, Karan Khanna
Karan Khanna is 26 years old, Canadian-born, 2nd generation from India, and an aspiring actor.
Untangled in this interview, are Khanna’s perspectives and experiences on acting, life itself, family, friends, and a sprinkle of advice in between.
And from the writer, I hope you enjoy this spotlight adventure.
Where did you grow up? What is it like trying to make it in acting in Canada versus the United States?
Khanna: It was interesting. I was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. I enjoyed living in Vancouver while I lived there. I attended school at McGill University in Montreal and that was incredible. Everyone I met at McGill was amazing, smart, and wildly charismatic. It was so much fun every day.
Montreal and Toronto are both incredible cities. My sister, brother-in-law, and some of my best friends live there. I used to live there for a bit, but it was one of those things that I started to appreciate, once I left.
For acting, I feel like it’s more consistent in America but the acting pool is smaller in Canada. That can help out a young actor. I’m realizing it is easier to break into it in Canada.
Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Khanna: Right-handed. I tried being left-handed in the 10th grade because I was looking for a reason to be different, but my letters looked like smudged Comic Sans or the Avatar Font.
Are you an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert?
Khanna: Okay, please don’t judge me. I am fully an extrovert. I love hanging out and talking to people. I don’t want that to sound obnoxious, I have a large threshold, but maybe that’s why I love New York. I do have my moments where I want to be an introvert though. I think all of us do.
How would you describe the essence of who you are? Personality? Ethnic background too, if you want to talk about it.
Khanna: Funny or fun. I don’t want people to take me seriously, but deep down I do. I want to uplift people and make them laugh. I want to make people feel better about themselves. Some people take themselves too seriously. I’m ethnically Indian, and I dislike not being fluent in Hindi. It’s kind of embarrassing actually. I don’t think eating Indian food once a week is cutting it, I need to do better.
What has your experience living bi-coastally personally and as an aspiring actor?
Khanna: Anytime you move to a place new, I’ve learned you must book a flight, find a place to stay, and get a job. This is easier said than done.
But emotionally, being far from my friends and family hasn’t been easy. Living far away from my family (my sister) and my friends is hard, but being in Los Angeles with my girlfriend has been pleasant.
I like Los Angeles though, although it’s not a city. It feels like a bunch of Florida strip malls dispersed and I think receives an undeserved bad rap. Some parts of Los Angeles are stunning but can change considerably quickly.
I’ve heard that New York is a great place to be in your 20s, and LA is a great place to raise a family in. I’ve been thinking about these words ever since then.
What’s one of your favorite stories from living in Los Angeles?
Khanna: I attended the Critics Choice Awards. My girlfriend and I were in the same room as Robert Downey Jr. and Margot Robbie, and this was weird, but in a good way. This was also the first time I experienced imposter syndrome.
What is a memorable story you enjoy sharing from your time in the Big Apple?
Khanna: There’s a place called Kavasutra in the East Village of New York that I go to. Imagine the coffee shop from the show “Friends” coming to life; everyone knows one another. When I was there, I would see my best friends there every day, and it had an amazing atmosphere. Talking about this place makes me want to go there. If you’re ever in New York, you have to go.
Talk about your family and their role in your life. Feel free to discuss navigating that unfortunate experience of losing your mom while motivating yourself to continue acting.
Khanna: That was tough and dissociative. I lost my mom. My mom, my sister, and I were like this trio so when we lost my mom, it was a slow-burn painful experience. Honestly, my sister is an amazing support system, and my brother-in-law, Drew; they’re all the family I need. My girlfriend and my friends as well make me feel loved.
What’s one of your favorite things about your mom?
Khanna: Her sense of humor, is underrated, I think I got my sense of humor from my mom. She was smart, cohesive, funny, a beautiful person, and a great mom. Looking back and reminiscing, I think to myself, “Wow, she did such a great job.” And, I also think my sister inherited all of my mom’s best traits.
Khanna: I started acting in high school. I also had an interesting experience of attending an all-boys school. I won’t name the name of it, but I don’t think it was the most accurate representation of the real world.
I tried getting into the theater scene there, but almost all of the theater students there had parents who were best friends with the head of the theater department or had been acting since they were a week old. I think they were kind of cherry-picked. Although, I didn’t audition for anything there out of fear, and I think that’s pretty much my fault.
To be fair, it was a great school and I’m grateful to have gone there, it just wasn’t for me.
Then, I went to The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. And wow, I gained so much confidence in acting.
The teachers at The Neighborhood Playhouse are incredible because they worked in the industry and are supportive. There are two teachers there named Sandy Faison and Todd Susman who gave me the confidence to do this. Towards the end of my last year there, I didn’t know if I could make a living acting, but they both encouraged me to pursue this. I had another acting teacher named Gary Kingston who kept pushing me to be better.
I also met some of my best friends and girlfriend at the Neighborhood Playhouse.
What’s the most challenging part about acting?
Khanna: The auditions.
There’ve been so many life-changing auditions I’ve gotten so close to. And then you don’t hear back, and you’re like “Dude, what the hell, I thought my audition was amazing!” But oh well, you kind of learn to let go.
There are many factors outside of that as well. How you look, union status, and how many credits you have is taken into account. Some actors are “offer-only”. It’s certainly been humbling. You have to send a self-tape in a gigantic void hoping casting watches it.
There are a lot of in-person auditions in LA that are exactly what people describe it as. A whole row of people that look like you all awkwardly staring at each other. It’s hard not to feel like a number. You want to stand out and be unique, but not at the price of being minimal, still, and as “real” as possible. Realizing that helped me book. You’re playing a version of yourself in the context of the script. Another thing is balancing a second job while doing this especially if the audition is in person, in the middle of the day, on a weekday. You can only call out sick so many times. I was so used to self-tapes but that added a whole other level of logistic difficulty.
Also, what I found out after moving to LA is that in any given audition, 20% of the people auditioning in that room have never been seen by that casting director. So usually, there’s a priority for actors that have been seen by them before. It allows actors to work their way up.
Do you have professional training in any acting techniques?
Khanna: The Meisner Technique from Sanford Meisner. The theater school I went to embodied and employed that technique in the most genius way since it was his school. If you’re an actor without training, I recommend the Playhouse. This is not a plug. If I were to plug something it would be Old Spice’s 24-hour deodorant which is very useful.
What is your perspective about the diversity of actors and actresses in Hollywood? Is it bustling with a melting pot of people or needing more?
Khanna: There’s a lot of diversity. But Indian actors, where are you?! I saw Mean Girls with my girlfriend, and seeing Avantika who played Karen gave me some hope! They’re out there, but maybe they’re overlooked. Hollywood’s view of what an Indian should look like is distorted.
Who inspires you today?
Khanna: Can I yell this? Oscar Isaac, Christopher Abbott, and Chris Pine. I grew up watching their movies and interviews. Their career choices are super fascinating. Even hearing them speak and talk about acting is so interesting. Does anyone else watch actor interviews while getting ready or am I the only one?
What kind of projects are you currently working on? Have you already worked on? And what kind of projects do work hope to work on?
Khanna: What I’m doing now, I love. I work with the L.A. Connection in Burbank, where I perform comedy shows twice a month, which have been well received.
I recently did a commercial for a dating app called Vinita. The great thing about that was the inherent creative freedom. I had an idea to add some dialogue to my character and the producers and director were responsive to that. So in the credits, I technically now have a writing credit. So honestly, anything that is enjoyable.
Also, I used to work with The Second City in Canada where we toured around the country and went to different venues.
There was this off-Broadway play called “Daydreamer” I did where I played the villain. That was fun.
In New York, I acted in a film called Heights where I collaborated with two amazing directors, Lucy Sarasin and Samantha Herrera. The cast is phenomenal. It’s been amazing seeing that film get recognition in festivals worldwide.
Some exciting projects are in the future that I can’t wait to talk about!
What specific projects will you be working on in the foreseeable future?
Khanna: I want to talk about what has kind of changed my life. I met this major producer who’s also Canadian last December. I didn’t think anything of it, but I kept in touch with him. Afterward, I reached out shooting my shot. Long story short, there’s this Screen Actors Guild (SAG) feature film that may change a lot for me with acting. But we’re some time away from film production and a solid non-disclosure agreement prevents me from talking about it until everything is finalized. But this is what made me realize this could work.
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
Khanna: Ideally, still acting but closer to those who care about me. My sister lives in Toronto, so I’d be happy to be there too. I want to say New York but I also don’t want to jinx it.
What is your life motto?
Khanna: Stop stressing out. You’ll be fine. Everything will work out. Even if it doesn’t, you deserve a little break tonight. It’s funny because I need to re-read this and absorb what I just said. I stress out, a lot. I’m a melatonin away from running away from my problems.
If you were to give the world one piece of advice, what would it be?
Khanna: Hug your mom, cherish her. Be fun to be around. Curl up in bed and watching Tik-Tok isn’t healthy, but sometimes it’s what you must do. Listen to music, and appreciate what you have. Live somewhere else for a little bit, if you can. Stop stressing out. Hit up that friend you’ve been ignoring, and yes, it will make a difference to them. That’s like 50 pieces of advice, but oh well. This has been a pleasure, thank you so much.
If you’d like to contact Karan, please do so by reaching out to him at the following channels:
Email: karankhanna210@gmail.com
IG: karankhanna___
