Innocent Wild: The Thing With Suraj Sharma

Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue March 2013 Outtake

When I found out that Life of Pi - a novel which I've heard of, but never really cared about before - would be turned into a film, I automatically cast Dev Patel for the lead role in my head like reflex action. He's got Indian roots, a nice British accent that he can easily switch for the character, and a marketable image. In other words, he's the perfect Pi.

So when I saw this unknown Indian teenager in the promotional posters for the film in the cinemas, I was kind of sceptical about watching it. Sure, they say that it's a nice story - the novel it was based upon wouldn't be a best-seller otherwise - but the guy playing Pi just isn't appealing, and how can a guy like him, who people have never seen nor talked about, pull off an expected blockbuster hit? He's going to be a critical failure.

Or so I thought...

Life of Pi became a huge hit, and the guy playing the teenage Pi received critical acclaim for playing the title role. The film and the new talent swept the world, earned various nominations in different awards ceremonies, including the Oscars, where the movie won 4 awards - the most for the year.

I watched Life of Pi with my family last January (the film had a delayed release in the Philippines, because of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival in December), and I loved it. But surprisingly enough and I guiltily admit, I especially loved the boy who played the 16 year-old Pi, who I bashed just a few months ago.

He's not as unknown as he used to be any more, and his name is Suraj Sharma. He's appeared in several TV shows. His face has been plastered in movie theatres across the globe. He earned a BAFTA nomination and a Las Vegas Film Critics Society win for the single film under his acting record. And he's made it to the pages of some of the world's major magazines: Vogue, Teen Vogue, and Vanity Fair - to name a few.

I honestly don't know what made me like Suraj. Looking up at my crush list (which includes Daniel Radcliffe, Tom Felton, James Franco, Zachary Levi, Josh Radnor... this can go on forever), he's the obvious odd-one-out, with his curly hair, dark skin, and wide eyes. But for some reason, I like him. Well, I like him now. And maybe, it's that same inexplicable reason why Life of Pi's casting director Avy Kaufman and director Ang Lee himself found Suraj as their leading man.