TH: You mentioned that you've had the opportunity to work with some really great actors, in your mind who is the most talented actor that you've had the pleasure to work with?

VS: Am I supposed to say the people that I'm currently working with, is that how it goes?

TH: I think that would be politically correct, but we can go with both.

VS: So yes, definitely the people I'm working with now are the most talented. Okay, we got that out of the way.

That's a really tough question. On This Is Wonderland there was an actor named Michael Riley. I did that show for two seasons and the first season I was on it I was literally playing his underling. I got to spend a lot of time watching that guy work and he's just incredible.

And then in India, on the film Amal, I got to work with three actors: Naseeruddin Shah, Roshan Seth, and Seema Biswas. These three Indians, they're mystics, they work on a whole different level. It was just a huge moment for me to go, "Alright, it's time to step up your game here."

TH: What did you enjoy most about shooting in India?

VS: I hadn't really been there since I was a kid, so there was something kind of huge about feeling your own ancestry. I'm not a guy who really identifies with being from India. I'm very aware of my brown, brown, skin, but I don't go around going "India, India, India." I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was like, "Wow, I feel from here somehow."

So there was that aspect to it, but a lot of it was actually just getting to indulge in my method madness of that role and digging deep into it. The great thing about filming on location is that you can disappear deeper and deeper into the part because you're actually on scene.

TH: Did you go over a couple weeks before shooting just so you could immerse yourself a little further?

VS: Yeah, I kind of go off their time and dime. My character is also from London and since I didn't get a chance to go there I spent a lot of time reading about it, and reading about the Indians living in England and what that's like. One of the great things about shooting in India all at one location was that I got to localize it, so you just start to feel like it's your home in a way.

TH: If you could change one thing about Hollywood, what would it be?

VS: If I could change only one thing, I'd make it a meritocracy.

TH: Do you have a preference of doing TV shows over movies?

VS: I don't know if I have a preference. I think perhaps, in some weird way, I'm more suited to being on a film set than on a TV series, because television series are so long-term. When I act I like to get inside the characters that I'm playing and you can't really do that fully in a TV series because it's a very social environment and it's long, long-term. As opposed to in a movie where you can just disappear for a couple months and then come out of it.

TH: In your opinion, what is a common mistake that young actors tend to make when auditioning for a role?

VS: I think you need to prepare. I come from a theatre background where the audition scenes are so extensive that you have to spend a lot of time with the sides. So my advice would be to prepare.

TH: Like you said, you have to immerse yourself into the character and some people probably don't do that.

VS: And to each their own. There are some phenomenal and brilliant actors. It's not something I really advocate for anybody but for myself, that amount of work on a role. Some people are great at just showing up and doing it and they're incredible. For me it's important to get as subjective as possible.

TH: Was that a little bit difficult for you with Chuck because you had originally auditioned for the role of Morgan?

VS: The audition is a very different thing. With the audition you're just trying to nail the scene, connect with it, and execute. It's different than when you actually have the role. For the audition process for Chuck it was just about being able to, in the five-pronged process, nail the scenes each time as the callbacks became increasingly stressful and pressure-filled.

Then with Lester, what was difficult about preparing is that there really was nothing in the pilot. So I went to a Best Buy equivalent in Toronto before we started shooting and spent some time with these poor "Nerd Herders." Can you imagine a guy like me asking questions and hounding them; they had no idea what I was talking about. And I found kind of what I was looking for, which was sort of an angle or an attitude. And that's where I kind of came up with this idea that Lester would have this rivalry with Chuck, that he would not like Chuck, and that he'd have an attitude. I think that sort of got us going on who he is.

TH: Is there a lot of rivalry at the Best Buy equivalents up in Canada?

VS: (laughs) Not to generalize, but yes. Yes there is a lot of it. It's brutal, deadly, and violent.

TH: What does a day in the life of Vik Sahay consist of?

VS: There's a good healthy amount of doing nothing, then there's working out at the gym, and prepping for the next day's shooting schedule.

TH: Aside from this question, what is the worst interview question that you've ever been asked?

VS: I think it's when I've said at the beginning of an interview, "Listen, I cannot talk about details of Season 3" and then there's an absolute persistence about Season 3 to the point of silence betwixt me and the interviewer.

TH: We end all interviews with word association, so I say "wombat" and you say...

VS: Chicken curry.