JR1:
16 years?! Has it been THAT long? Well ,in that case, it's been TOO long. So much catching up to do
THANK YOU for that very valued compliment.
Tannis ("Janice") was a terrific member of the cast and the factors of her character's younger age, pluckiness, intellectual superiority, and comic snobbery made her a very unique contribution to the geography of the classroom. She went on to attend Stanford (smart in real life) and now a successful casting director.
Leslie Bega's character "Maria" was initially described as a "Madonna wannabe" in the pilot script. But what Leslie brought to the character - which was uniquely her own - was a sense that Maria was both neurotic and daffy...all while being very bright. As I understand it, she continued to act and thrive in real estate.
Insofar as my work goes, I'll let you be the judge of that
I won't speak on behalf of Tannis and Leslie's experience, but as you may know, the character of Jawaharlal Choudry was never really invested in or explored. My sense is that the character was more of a symbolic nod to internationalism or a desire to have a wide range of characters (appearance, attitudes, sensibilities, and ethnicities) without necessarily making each one dimensional. For the actor, it creates a circumstance that is creatively barren. For me, that eclipsed the value of what I was being paid or the supposed bragging rights of being on television. During that time, I wrote a spec script that illustrated some dynamic and funny ways that I, as Jawaharlal, could contribute to our talented ensemble. It was not produced as an episode and where it could have, at least, sparked new ideas, there were actually fewer and fewer in the writing as the series progressed. I was very excited to be cast and am appreciative of the producers and folks at the studio/network who participated in that. And I am even more blessed by the life that awaited me thereafter.
Among other things, I returned to where I began as an actor; in the theatre. One earns less money and are seen by a smaller audience (nothing beats a nationwide series in that regard) but the quality of the material, the roles I have been cast in, and the directors I have worked with have enabled me to resource and engage my talent in ways that have been much more rewarding to me as a creative man. I've played a Texan, a Puerto Rican, a Greek God, a lecherous Frenchman, Jesus' foe Caiaphas, and most recently, a Sikh by the name of "John". THIS is the dynamism that I most value as an actor; sometimes Sometimes transforming in appearance and dialect, which was true of "Head of the Class". There were instance in which people were shocked to discover that I was Jawaharlal!
Whether "Head of the Class" or doing the world premier of "Shul", each project has had its own kind of blessing. No "Head of the Class", no string on "Sitcoms Online". See how this works?
- Joher