Dhruv Uday Singh – Good Trouble

By starrymag | August 6, 2019

By: Kemberlie Spivey

 

 

Q) Talk about the character development of Raj since the start of the series.

 

A) When I first started Raj was a much smaller character on the show, especially the first three or four episodes of Season One.  And he slowly grew into a more pivotal role on the show. When I first saw it, it was definitely a question of how can I bring as much as I can to even such a small part of this. What the character development was like, especially in the first episode, the first episode was directed by Jon M. Chu – the director of Crazy Rich Asians. He had a real affinity for comedy that is naturalistic, just like his movies have. He lets us improvise around a bit, especially in the scenes Raj was in because he knew a lot of us had comedy background. So, I think a lot of character development came from that, just kind of improvising and seeking ourselves and figuring out how would this person inhabit this space just naturalistically. I think that really informs it going forward, even when Raj became more flushed out. I always sort of keep that energy to him. He is sorta of a little nervous tech guy with a slightly cooler person waiting inside to be unlocked, which I think Cierra character’s Mariana has been doing over the course of Season Two, which is fun. 

Q) How much input have you had in how Raj continues to develop as a character?

 

A) The bulk of it is all in the writers room and the writers certainly do a lot of that. I think they have taken cues off the actors a lot and they’ll see kinda of the direction that our performances are going in and inform the direction a little bit as well, in terms of the trust and of the narrative of where they want to go is very much the writer’s. I’m very happy to go along with that journey because they knew what they are doing. 

Q) Raj and Mariana has such great chemistry on “Good Trouble.” Was it something that you and Cierra Ramirez noticed was innate or something you worked to develop? 

 

A) Nothing specially targeted at it. We do have a lot of fun on set and she really is a fun person to be around so it’s a lot of bits happening on set, which kind of helps. Something we both enjoyed is our memes and so sharing memes after a while  builds the chemistry that you can’t really replicate in another other way, the descent side of that. It’s wasn’t much acting stuff, kind of hanging out on the set. The cast is very friendly bunch of people which helped a lot.

Q) Now that Mariana and Raj’s relationship was revealed at Spekulate, how will your coworkers treat the two of you?

 

A) We will definitely see more of the “bro hoes” that are affectionately called by the fans of the show responses to Raj and Mariana. We definitely see the fight club ladies, which are the other co-workers of the show  who are not quite as ass-holish reacting to them. They are going to be on opposite on different sides. Of course, there is Evan Speck (TJ Linnard), the CEO, who Raj feels has his eyes on Mariana and that going to throw a wrench in things as well. There is going to be a lot of drama from all sides of this relationship to last, which fans will find out about. 

Q) What is an upcoming episode that you are excited for fans to see? 

 

A) I’m really excited for fans to see the half season finale, which is Episode 8 of Season Two, because every single relationships and storyline gets turned on a 10 in the most shocking ways. So, especially for fans of the show, I think some people are going to actually get what they want and some viewers are really going to be thrown for a loop. I’m very excited to see all the reactions for that, especially because then the show leaves everyone for a few months of suspense which is very fun for someone who knows what is going to happen.

Q) Are there any other characters that you want to interact more with on the show?

 

A) I would love to interact more with Callie (Maia Mitchell), who is one of the other two leads of the shows. It has happened casually over the season only because the show exist in several separate worlds. There is the world of Spekulate, Mariana’s tech office which Raj is apart of. There is a world of Callie’s law legal firm. There are all of these separate types of universes, so I would love for Raj to interact with anyone and everyone on the show. That seems like it has been happening a lot more. 

Q) What message did you want fans to get from ”Good Trouble?”

A) The show deals with a lot of social justice issues. There is a whole storyline about Black Lives Matter, there a storyline about gender equality in the workplace, there is a storyline about coming out to your parents. There are a lot of issues in it that I think are real world things that if you are a fan of the show I would encourage you to maybe look into how you can interact with them in the real world. If there ways you can demonstrative to them or just educate yourself more about them because I think a nice offshoot of the show is that in small little ways it can kind of create a nice ripple effect in the world when you are watching it. 

Q) Is there anything you like to say to the fans ?

 

A) Thank you very much for watching the show first of all. You’re the reason we have a second season at all or doing well right now. It is because there are so many super engaged fans, which I can’t believe people are making constant stream of memes and edits online. It’s is a very engaging community which I love.