Reza Diako: The Journey of Apostle Philip in 'The Chosen'

[00:00:00] .

[00:00:30] more research I was doing on you and I was impressed with your career.

[00:00:32] But one of the first things I want to know is,

[00:00:34] what made you get into the acting world?

[00:00:35] We'll push you into this.

[00:00:38] Yeah, that's an interesting question.

[00:00:40] I think for me,

[00:00:41] I was originally not planning that not because I didn't want to,

[00:00:45] but I had this dream of setting up a psychotherapy center

[00:00:49] for young people.

[00:00:51] And because of that,

[00:00:51] I was doing a lot of psychology training.

[00:00:54] So I studied a lot of psychology in London.

[00:00:57] I did a master's in psychology with a math school

[00:01:00] to become a psychiatrist.

[00:01:01] I did a second master's in child developmental psychology.

[00:01:07] I was on a different route

[00:01:08] and then it almost happened miraculously

[00:01:10] because I think I was always sort of very driven by art

[00:01:13] because my mom was a painter

[00:01:15] and I played piano since I was nine,

[00:01:20] I would draw and write poetry.

[00:01:24] I'd done acting and the schools I went to.

[00:01:28] And I think when I was studying psychology,

[00:01:29] I was doing regular acting classes more as a sort of,

[00:01:33] what do you say?

[00:01:35] Like a human apprenticeship,

[00:01:36] I would say, as a chance to individually explore

[00:01:39] the dark form of humanity.

[00:01:42] So I guess that's how it started is like that.

[00:01:45] And then when I was in med school, I took a pause

[00:01:48] and it sort of happened like a path from God

[00:01:51] and the universe because I took a pause.

[00:01:54] There was some films happening

[00:01:56] and then they wanted me to train.

[00:01:57] So I trained in drama school, I came out of drama school

[00:02:00] and sort of serendipity exactly as I exited

[00:02:03] there making Teflon series which is now in Apple TV

[00:02:07] and it went on to do really well.

[00:02:09] And off the back of that like you were saying steadily

[00:02:13] I sort of never stopped working

[00:02:15] which is true blessing

[00:02:16] and I know how lucky I am.

[00:02:18] So and I don't think it was just me.

[00:02:20] I think it was a very amazing team I had behind my back too.

[00:02:24] So I'm totally grateful.

[00:02:28] So like going through like med school with everything

[00:02:29] and then you know, you take that turn to the acting world

[00:02:32] as an actor now like what do you think

[00:02:34] is being like your biggest challenge

[00:02:35] or like obstacle to your acting career so far?

[00:02:39] And like how do you overcome it?

[00:02:41] The challenge is an actor.

[00:02:44] Well when it comes to the actual work,

[00:02:46] I think the main thing is every job is I guess,

[00:02:49] I mean first of all you don't really have

[00:02:51] a lot of control I suppose.

[00:02:52] So there's a lot of surrendering

[00:02:54] that you sort of the more you get into it

[00:02:56] both artistically I think as a means of preparing for a character

[00:03:02] I think the more you like some of the favorite actors

[00:03:06] I have like fucking Phoenix talks about this

[00:03:08] that you don't really, there's a lot of unknowns

[00:03:10] and you never know what character.

[00:03:12] And so that's something that as you do more work

[00:03:15] you start realizing that the more you let go

[00:03:18] the wheel and surrender artistically

[00:03:20] it allows you to have more interesting

[00:03:23] to discover reason surprises which makes it interesting

[00:03:27] and creative and artistic.

[00:03:30] In terms of the actual journey as an actor is quite hard

[00:03:32] because it's obviously very unstable

[00:03:35] when it comes to like traveling

[00:03:36] and having been a guy in the last two years

[00:03:39] I've maybe seen my family

[00:03:41] and like about several couple of weeks

[00:03:43] twice and the rest of the time you're across

[00:03:46] Egypt, Spain, Romania, U.S., shifting back and forth sometimes.

[00:03:55] You know, they've been all over the place

[00:03:57] so which is a blessing but also when I go

[00:04:01] I take the works seriously so it's not there for like

[00:04:03] I'm here to have all of this

[00:04:05] like you're there to give service to the character

[00:04:08] and the team that I put faith in.

[00:04:10] So.

[00:04:12] I was last night I was studying your media kid

[00:04:15] and everything.

[00:04:15] One of the things I wrote down here is like as a challenge

[00:04:17] as a natural like diverse backgrounds

[00:04:19] like yourself, how do you challenge that?

[00:04:21] Like how do you try to go above that

[00:04:23] and get that certain role?

[00:04:25] Yeah, I mean that's an interesting question

[00:04:27] and that's also another big,

[00:04:29] I would say goal or aim I have is to be seen as an

[00:04:31] heavy man because I sort of I spoke English

[00:04:35] since I was born and like I'm quite a obsessive

[00:04:38] weirdo when it comes to like accents and I go quite

[00:04:42] thorough when it comes to my research for cultures

[00:04:45] and backgrounds that are different.

[00:04:47] And I think my personal approach is to take as much

[00:04:53] of it on myself to be able to let the work do the talking.

[00:04:57] So like recently I got a chance to work as

[00:05:00] the head of NASA Ethan Marshall on a show called astronaut.

[00:05:04] And you know there I'm in every man

[00:05:06] I'm not the classic with least and you just make sure

[00:05:10] the job is done well, make sure you're

[00:05:14] people see that you're dedicated to the work for the job

[00:05:18] for that job.

[00:05:18] For example, I studied a whole lot of physics

[00:05:21] when physics was my least favorite topic.

[00:05:23] I said the whole of NASA so I had something

[00:05:25] to contribute that as an artist is worthwhile

[00:05:29] and can be a good collaborator.

[00:05:30] I guess that's the best thing I can do is

[00:05:34] work at it from the level that's within my circle.

[00:05:37] You mentioned accents.

[00:05:38] I got to ask like what's your favorite accent

[00:05:40] that you enjoy doing?

[00:05:42] I got to put you on this.

[00:05:43] I got to put you on the spot.

[00:05:44] You would be sort of surprised because this was something

[00:05:47] I did as a kid that I would repage by page

[00:05:49] and I would challenge people to throw different accents at me

[00:05:52] but not just accents but voices.

[00:05:54] So the voice suddenly changes.

[00:05:55] The thing is where it is like, no,

[00:05:57] or the crimson, the frog suddenly

[00:05:59] or like a stitch force.

[00:06:02] It's like, oh, I'm in style.

[00:06:04] That's kind of weird stuff but then there's also like accents

[00:06:06] that there's all sorts.

[00:06:08] I do all sorts of European accents

[00:06:10] that will be very offensive if I tried right now.

[00:06:13] I play with it and then I land it where it needs to go.

[00:06:18] So what would I say?

[00:06:20] I mean, it's just plenty.

[00:06:21] I mean, Iranian accents are always interesting

[00:06:23] because it's kind of like I can play with it

[00:06:25] without seeming like I'm being offensive

[00:06:29] so I can really mess with that one.

[00:06:31] So as an actinality,

[00:06:34] what's your goal?

[00:06:35] Do you like ultimate goal role

[00:06:37] that you want to hit in your career?

[00:06:38] I mean, I love, I love, I mean, sure.

[00:06:40] I mean, I love working on complex,

[00:06:42] broken traumatized characters.

[00:06:45] I don't really see it as a sort of antagonist, protagonist thing.

[00:06:49] I like being seen as an abomin and getting challenges

[00:06:51] where you have to work on something

[00:06:53] like because I'm, you know,

[00:06:55] where the chosen ever at the whole of the Bible

[00:06:57] for Lolita, I read the whole of the Quran

[00:06:58] plus like cultural, plus so on.

[00:07:00] So I like getting chances where there's complex to deal with,

[00:07:06] whether that's learning in your skill,

[00:07:08] whether that's, you know,

[00:07:10] learning in your accent,

[00:07:13] working on a cultural background

[00:07:14] that I'm not familiar with or a historical time.

[00:07:16] And then a chance to work with amazing directors

[00:07:19] that's really the main thing and amazing actors

[00:07:21] that sort of in my goal, you know, the,

[00:07:24] it's yeah.

[00:07:26] And I like, I like jobs about people

[00:07:28] and like complexity.

[00:07:29] I like the sort of Thomas Vinter Brooks

[00:07:31] and the Paul Thomas Anderson's

[00:07:33] and the Yodgoth slantymus's.

[00:07:35] Yeah, yeah.

[00:07:37] Hello, Greek.

[00:07:39] So yeah, the stuff into the chosen,

[00:07:41] first of all, it's like,

[00:07:42] this thing has got a massive following.

[00:07:44] How does a few be part of a series like this?

[00:07:48] Insanely amazing.

[00:07:49] The main thing about it is exactly what we said.

[00:07:51] It's not just the following.

[00:07:52] It's the type of people that follow it

[00:07:55] because you know,

[00:07:56] they call it the chosen family

[00:07:58] and it's taken me with open arms

[00:08:01] as a, you know, recast sort of character

[00:08:05] and replacing Philip.

[00:08:08] I mean, I received so much love

[00:08:10] from the whole of the fandom

[00:08:13] in a way that you don't experience anywhere else.

[00:08:15] They literally like look after you at every step

[00:08:19] and then there could have been much more of a complex

[00:08:22] reaction to this,

[00:08:23] but I've had support from the time we're shooting up until now.

[00:08:27] So that was amazing.

[00:08:28] Working with Dallas is a true honor

[00:08:30] because he's a lovely man who sets

[00:08:33] as a leader, a system of equality

[00:08:35] and love-based work.

[00:08:38] It's not about ego and power.

[00:08:41] So that's part of the reason I think it has been

[00:08:45] so successful and received well.

[00:08:47] And then the great group of artists

[00:08:49] and the insanely dedicated team of crew,

[00:08:53] it's kind of extraordinary.

[00:08:55] People, you know, even the crew,

[00:08:56] some of them are driven from the other side of the states

[00:08:59] just to work on the chosen

[00:09:00] because it feels meaningful to them.

[00:09:02] And so, you know, the person at the craft shop

[00:09:04] who's serving food is doing it with a sense

[00:09:07] that this is such a meaningful experience.

[00:09:11] So there's a level of love there

[00:09:13] that's quite unmatched.

[00:09:16] For a pastofilip now,

[00:09:17] like what kind of description are you given

[00:09:19] for a role like this

[00:09:21] and how did you approach to play this?

[00:09:24] Well, the description's quite like simple, I guess.

[00:09:27] I mean, it's usually something like a couple of lines

[00:09:29] and in this case it was something around

[00:09:31] like is it House President

[00:09:33] or like the not House President

[00:09:35] like the school president body member

[00:09:37] and if something like he's like very, what was it?

[00:09:42] Like esoteric a little bit about his history

[00:09:44] of being with John de Baptiste and the wilderness.

[00:09:49] If I remember that was so

[00:09:50] and then an old soul which I think was,

[00:09:53] you know, yeah, that was it.

[00:09:54] And then in terms of how you approach it,

[00:09:56] I think I've been through lots of training

[00:09:59] and people I aspire and study.

[00:10:02] You sort of just try and find a hook usually.

[00:10:04] So like for me,

[00:10:06] I trust intuition a lot more as I've gone along.

[00:10:09] I think I explained that unknowns

[00:10:11] are the best thing to become comfortable with.

[00:10:13] So I think you sort of go with whether it's a core value

[00:10:18] or core feeling or for me,

[00:10:20] it's almost like when the sperm at the egg

[00:10:22] what happened or like you never stop asking questions

[00:10:25] and why did Philip go to the wilderness?

[00:10:27] What was up with his own home?

[00:10:30] What did he say no to to go to the wilderness

[00:10:32] and what does that mean in terms of what is he running from

[00:10:35] and he'd be going.

[00:10:37] And so the exploration never stops

[00:10:39] and I think curiosity and plays

[00:10:42] the sort of best approach to this type of work.

[00:10:46] So it's like one of the disciples of Jesus

[00:10:48] Apostle Philip's character.

[00:10:49] Is there like a challenge with this character a little bit

[00:10:52] or how did you overcome if you had a challenge?

[00:10:55] Challenge in terms of what, his character work.

[00:10:58] Yeah.

[00:11:00] His journey, you mean?

[00:11:01] Right.

[00:11:03] Well he was basically

[00:11:07] I think going back to what I said about the whole home thing

[00:11:10] I think he escaped home to pursue

[00:11:12] staying with John the Baptist

[00:11:14] and then he found a father figure in him

[00:11:17] and he's this one in the previous seasons.

[00:11:19] And now in this season,

[00:11:21] John the Baptist is being executed

[00:11:23] beheaded in the first episode

[00:11:25] so no spoilers that bad

[00:11:27] but that's happening.

[00:11:30] And so your Philip has confronted with the situation

[00:11:33] where I'm with Jesus

[00:11:35] which I've been waiting to get to because he was quite a

[00:11:39] easy, easily convinced that he's the guy

[00:11:41] because John's been encouraging him to go to home.

[00:11:45] But at the same time his father figure in the material world

[00:11:47] is now decapitated.

[00:11:49] So there's a very strong,

[00:11:52] oscillant slash paradox that's going on

[00:11:56] where for the way I understand it

[00:11:58] it's like Jesus and the sort of divine father is there

[00:12:03] but then the materialistic father or figure

[00:12:07] slash John the Baptist is dead

[00:12:10] so you're in pain, you're mourning.

[00:12:13] You can't be as available this year a little bit

[00:12:16] as he used to be as the kind of funny, loving

[00:12:19] everyone together vibe

[00:12:21] and he's going more internal

[00:12:23] because he's almost like deeply questioning

[00:12:26] where are we going in this path towards the divine

[00:12:29] and I think it's a transformational season for him.

[00:12:32] You mentioned you read the Bible

[00:12:34] did anything stick out after reading that

[00:12:36] before he jumped into this role?

[00:12:39] Did anything?

[00:12:41] I think reading about John was a big part of it.

[00:12:44] John the Baptist and it wasn't even just the Bible

[00:12:48] but like the teachings of John the Baptist

[00:12:49] was a big part of it.

[00:12:50] I was replacing Philip so I know that

[00:12:53] the previous Philip had also done a lot of exploration

[00:12:55] into the Essenes

[00:12:56] which is a group of Jewish people of the time

[00:13:01] that were kind of like monks

[00:13:03] that were very much about meditation and surrender

[00:13:08] and so a lot of it was just interesting lessons

[00:13:12] that you see variations of that in the modern day

[00:13:17] that are recycled in various formats

[00:13:19] as meditation practices and apps and so on

[00:13:21] and it was interesting to find almost

[00:13:23] like the root and source of that material

[00:13:26] that it's been there generation after generation

[00:13:29] historically, not even thinking about it

[00:13:32] from a faith-based matter

[00:13:36] which simply just that there are wonderful teachings

[00:13:38] out there that's so wise

[00:13:40] and so almost like calming and meditation.

[00:13:43] So that was an interesting thing

[00:13:46] and yeah, just reading the story

[00:13:48] and learning that however you look at it

[00:13:51] even when it is a metaphorical or as truth

[00:13:55] it has something to offer

[00:13:57] which is as one of the oldest texts out there.

[00:14:00] So

[00:14:02] What I mentioned earlier about joining us

[00:14:04] series like this too, as an actor for you

[00:14:06] this seems like it's a lot of work for a series like this

[00:14:10] does it take a toll on you?

[00:14:11] Does it make you tired after so many months being out there

[00:14:13] trying to film something like this?

[00:14:16] I suppose so and physically it is.

[00:14:17] It's very demanding

[00:14:18] and you walk around and in the sun

[00:14:22] and you get a two minute scene

[00:14:24] but that's happened probably at least 30 times

[00:14:27] because especially with the number of disciples on the poster

[00:14:32] it's so many shots.

[00:14:33] So it takes a lot of time and the sun

[00:14:36] and there's as someone who doesn't like

[00:14:38] snakes and scorpions and critters, there's all of that.

[00:14:41] So

[00:14:44] there's this challenges

[00:14:45] but I think like I said

[00:14:47] the level of love that goes on

[00:14:49] and the sense of like deeper contribution

[00:14:51] and the fandom which really have made

[00:14:54] this a transformational experience

[00:14:56] it doesn't for me at least

[00:14:58] I've been very energized

[00:15:00] and maybe I'm still new as it's my first season

[00:15:02] but I feel very

[00:15:04] like fueled in a way that I've never been fueled on a project.

[00:15:08] So

[00:15:09] the last question of the chosen family

[00:15:12] and friends that have watched you on this

[00:15:14] what's been their reaction?

[00:15:18] I think what I find interesting is

[00:15:19] the same thing I was saying before

[00:15:20] is I was a fan of the show from season one

[00:15:22] and now we're on season two

[00:15:24] but like and so some of the closer fans

[00:15:26] they are already known about it

[00:15:27] because I was a fan and I couldn't stop talking about it

[00:15:30] like generally speaking people who do watch now

[00:15:34] I think one of the things that is happening

[00:15:37] is people watch it from all sorts of faiths

[00:15:40] and all sorts of backgrounds.

[00:15:42] I find that quite a powerful thing

[00:15:44] it's one of the things I value but the chosen

[00:15:46] that it's very inclusive

[00:15:48] and it's about

[00:15:50] the message isn't about

[00:15:52] trying necessarily at least to me

[00:15:54] it's not necessarily about a faith debate

[00:15:56] it's more like how can you find valuable lessons

[00:16:00] from the story of Jesus and the disciples

[00:16:03] that you can apply to the modern day?

[00:16:05] That's what really first of all connected with me

[00:16:08] but also to the people I hear is they've watched a scene

[00:16:10] between Mary and Matthew

[00:16:11] or the two of the disciples struggling

[00:16:14] over something to do with ego

[00:16:16] and it's highly relatable and transferable

[00:16:18] to the stuff that we go through today

[00:16:20] and for me that's quite an interesting thing

[00:16:22] because I again,

[00:16:23] because I'm psychology oriented

[00:16:25] I always say the underbelly

[00:16:27] is far more interesting than the backdrop

[00:16:28] of the end of it and whatever angle you come at

[00:16:32] there's always something to offer.

[00:16:34] So, you're right about that.

[00:16:36] So now what's thanks for you know

[00:16:38] you mentioned the astronaut

[00:16:39] you got that coming out soon

[00:16:41] and you mentioned about Lolita too, Al sorry

[00:16:43] Yeah, that's right

[00:16:44] I mean reading Lolita is

[00:16:45] and yeah I'm very excited about that

[00:16:47] it was a big honor to work with Aaron Brickless

[00:16:50] he's like genuinely being a hero of mine

[00:16:52] and then to be able to work with him

[00:16:54] he's super humble

[00:16:56] like with the level of gravitas

[00:16:58] of what work he has behind his back

[00:17:01] he was so generous loving

[00:17:05] patient and artistic with his approach

[00:17:08] and I've never seen a man like that

[00:17:10] and I learned more than just

[00:17:12] directing and acting from him

[00:17:14] and I think working with Goldsheif DeFarahani

[00:17:17] and the Iranian young team there

[00:17:20] and also Zahir Mirabahimi

[00:17:22] but specifically with Goldsheif DeFarahani

[00:17:25] I got to work with her quite directly

[00:17:27] she was like my dream as a kid

[00:17:30] to ever get to work with her

[00:17:31] I thought if I get to work with Roman on 50

[00:17:33] I would be lucky

[00:17:34] and there I was learning from my guru

[00:17:39] and my you know

[00:17:42] biggest dream actor to work with

[00:17:44] so that was quite a special adventure

[00:17:47] as was the fact that you're honoring

[00:17:49] a historical time of you know

[00:17:51] where my parents were

[00:17:52] when the universities were closing down

[00:17:55] early times of the Islamic Republic

[00:17:57] and it felt quite surreal

[00:18:00] on all fronts representing that

[00:18:03] trying to channel something also

[00:18:05] about you know

[00:18:06] I play the Islamic Republic representative

[00:18:09] but it was very interesting

[00:18:10] because he wasn't there necessarily

[00:18:13] for the same I mean

[00:18:13] I wouldn't want to like

[00:18:14] and leave it to people to decide

[00:18:16] but it was quite oscillating between that

[00:18:18] and trying to relate to this

[00:18:21] freedom fighting professor Goldsheif DeFarahani

[00:18:24] you know Ozann Fisi

[00:18:27] who is trying to teach love

[00:18:30] through the lens of literature

[00:18:31] like Gatsby or Prada Pagidas

[00:18:34] and it was very interesting

[00:18:36] to see that oscillation

[00:18:37] because I think he almost stood for a lot

[00:18:39] that we see in the modern day

[00:18:41] where do you go forward

[00:18:43] your allegiance or do you go for love and freedom

[00:18:46] so

[00:18:48] are these planning to be on streaming

[00:18:51] these projects coming out

[00:18:52] I believe so

[00:18:53] I mean I think Louis is going to come out

[00:18:55] eventually

[00:18:58] as well as you know

[00:18:59] and then once they're out

[00:18:59] I think they're probably making

[00:19:01] it easy

[00:19:02] out of all these projects you've done

[00:19:04] what's been like is there one that sticks out

[00:19:05] the most like it's your favorite

[00:19:06] or would you say it's all

[00:19:09] it's very hard to say

[00:19:09] because all of them are very different

[00:19:10] I'm very proud

[00:19:11] and grateful for all of them

[00:19:13] I do say sometimes

[00:19:15] yeah every one of them is different

[00:19:17] really

[00:19:18] I mean maybe Tehran was a bit of a special one

[00:19:20] as it was my first

[00:19:22] and again like being exposed to like

[00:19:25] there was something about that

[00:19:26] it had something very special

[00:19:27] because it has a very interesting message

[00:19:30] and also

[00:19:31] there were so many Iranians in one place

[00:19:34] including the extras

[00:19:35] that were actual like

[00:19:37] you know

[00:19:38] refugees and Greece

[00:19:39] that were like struggling

[00:19:40] and you can actually relate

[00:19:44] it felt very sort of grounded

[00:19:46] and an opportunity to sort of

[00:19:48] collaborate on something quite special

[00:19:50] so maybe that

[00:19:52] yeah

[00:19:52] Reset will ask the now

[00:19:53] how can the listeners

[00:19:55] and the viewers

[00:19:55] that tune in

[00:19:56] follow you on social media

[00:19:57] keep up with you for future projects

[00:19:59] that chosen

[00:20:00] yeah I mean

[00:20:01] you know my Instagram is usually

[00:20:03] where I'm mostly active

[00:20:05] so that's like Residdiaka 93

[00:20:08] at whatever

[00:20:09] you know

[00:20:11] and then

[00:20:12] you know

[00:20:13] I'm out there

[00:20:14] wherever

[00:20:15] you find

[00:20:16] I like to have interaction

[00:20:18] so if you say something

[00:20:20] I will speak back

[00:20:21] because I care

[00:20:22] and you make this job

[00:20:24] what it is for me

[00:20:25] thank you

[00:20:26] that's great

[00:20:27] Reset

[00:20:28] I want to thank you for a few minutes today

[00:20:30] let's

[00:20:31] next project

[00:20:32] and sketch your back on

[00:20:33] we'll keep talking

[00:20:34] thank you so much

[00:20:35] thank you