OUTSOURCED
Parvesh Cheena Interview, Gupta in OUTSOURCED
Watch OUTSOURCED Thursday Nights at 10:30 EST on NBC
May 11, 2011
By Lena Lamoray

I spoke with the incredible PARVESH CHEENA about OUTSOURCED, culinary delights, some of our favorite shows that have all now officially been cancelled and so much more.  What a great guy and a true gift to the entertainment industry.  I know I can’t help but smile watching Parvesh bring Gupta to life every week.  I will warn you though, don’t read this interview if you are hungry.  I had to order a pizza while I was transcribing it. Apparently, I can be easily influenced and I have no self control.   Don’t miss Parvesh in the season finale of OUTSOURCED tomorrow night on NBC.  

Lena:  You have a musical theater background. 

Parvesh Cheena:  Yes, I studied at Roosevelt University in Chicago.  It’s a big musical theater conservatory.

Lena:  I’m sure that has helped you out.

Parvesh Cheena:  Oh totally, especially with all of the musical elements that we’ve had on the show. 

Lena:  It has always been my belief that if you can do musical theater then you can accomplish anything. 

 Parvesh Cheena:  Yes, I mean look at Anisha Nagarajan (Madhuri in “Outsourced”), she’s the goddess of the show because she was in “Bombay Dreams”.  She left school at NYU when she was a freshman or sophomore and then they cast her as the lead. 

Lena:  What was the first project that you worked on that made you realize you had a passion for acting and performing in general?

Parvesh Cheena:  It was the fifth grade production in my elementary school called Georgetown. We did a play about George Washington and I got to play King George III. 

Lena:  Wow, fifth grade.

Parvesh Cheena:  Yeah, King George III.  You must give any fifth grader the chance to put on a bad British accent, a red cape and then act in something.

Lena:  What were the costumes like?

Parvesh Cheena:  A white button down shirt, black pants, a little fake gold crown from the party store and a red cape that my mom made.  Actually, my grandmother made it.  I remember that she had gold embroidery stitching on the edge of it.

Lena:  That sounds so sweet.   

Parvesh Cheena:  Yes, when Indian grandparents come to visit, they come for a few months at a time and she made my cape.

Lena:  You were in “Til Death”.  I loved that show.  Brad Garrett and J.B. Smoove were so funny.  What was it like on the set of that show?

Parvesh Cheena:  I did a few episodes and I did my first episode when Kat Foster and Eddie Kaye Thomas were on it.  Kat’s a good friend of mine and we have a lot of friends from that whole NYU contingent that was out here.  We have a lot of friends in common from NYU and they were there the first time I did it and one of my best friends that I do musical improv with, Carrie Ann, knew Kat so whenever you have that kind of in or someone who knows someone when you join a set it just makes it that much easier and you are not a stranger.  Kat was awesome and then the second episode J.B. was on.  They are just funny people.

Lena:  I’m sad they got rid of that show.

Parvesh Cheena:  Yeah.

Lena:  Everyone that I have ever interviewed has either been in “The O.C.” or can be connected to it.  Instead of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon you can play that game with “The O.C.”. 

Parvesh Cheena:  You’re kidding.  I always thought it was “ER”. 

Lena:  What was your experience like filming that show and how cool was Peter Gallagher?

Parvesh Cheena:  Peter Gallagher was great.  I really liked Peter a lot.    I ran into Chris Pratt, who is actually on “Parks and Recreation” now at Ahmanson Theatre in L.A. with his wife Anna Faris while they attended the tour of “Next to Normal” with Alice Ripley.  I remember I hadn’t seen Chris at any other NBC events.  It’s funny how those circles of friends come back, too. 

Lena:  I have added a Peter Gallagher clause to all of my interviews because the man must be talked about.

Parvesh Cheena:  Oh, of course.

Lena:  Yeah, he’s so funny.

Parvesh Cheena:  He and I both have big eyebrows, so that’s nice.

Lena:  Oh, I don’t think you could ever beat him. 

Parvesh Cheena:  Oh, you would be surprised.  I should not shave between my eyebrows and then take him on.

Lena:  If you hide your tweezers for a week does it get bad?

Parvesh Cheena:   Oh, exactly.  I have an Arminian lady who waxes them every so often. 

Lena:  Well, there you go.

Lena:   Is it hard to keep up your accent in OUTSOURCED?

Parvesh Cheena:   Not at all, when you grow up with it with your folks.  I used to do impressions of my dad.  All of my Indian characters are really just rooted in some of my relatives.  If it’s dumber, I go to one of my dumber relatives and if it’s well educated I go to a smarter one. 

Lena:  So you are covered either way with the accents.

Parvesh Cheena:   Seriously, I just do them.  I really just do imitations of them constantly. 

Lena:  That is great.  I don’t have that talent so I respect actors that can do it. 

Parvesh Cheena:   I don’t really know what a Rhode Island accent is.

Lena:  It’s nothing exciting. 

Parvesh Cheena:   I think of like a Stephen King novel. 

Lena:  Yeah, that is usually Maine, I think.  Also, there is the Waltham (Massachusetts) accent that Julianne Moore’s character had in “30 Rock”. 

Parvesh Cheena:   Yeah, wicked.  I like the Boston accent. 

Lena: I do love your character in OUTSOURCED.  Gupta always makes me laugh.

Parvesh Cheena:   Thanks.  He’s a fun guy for people to like.  He just speaks his mind.  It’s fun to play him because I don’t have to worry about anything and I can be kind of crazy. 

Lena:  The episode with the hot pepper roulette wheel (“Charlie Curries a Favor from Todd”) was so funny.

Parvesh Cheena:   Yes.  In that one what happened was the props department, who is awesome, especially for being in Los Angles and recreating India, but the peppers that they got for the very first take were supposed to be ones that were not spicy.  Peppers are still going to be peppery but the very first one that I had was the wrong one and it was a really hot one.   Throughout that entire scene while they were taping I was just wrecked from that very first pepper.

Lena:  Aw…

Parvesh Cheena:   I drank the milk but it didn’t help because it was one of the extremely hot ones. 

Lena:  Oh, no.  I was originally going to ask you if you used stunt peppers or if you paid the ultimate price for your craft.

Parvesh Cheena:   I paid for it in the first round by getting the wrong one.  Diedrich (Bader) paid for it just in sheer number.  Even if you eat the lighter ones, if you have twenty of them it’s going to get you.

Lena:  Oh, yeah!

 Parvesh Cheena:   He’s a pro and he pulled through every time.  I love Diedrich.  He always gives us a lot of advice.  He’s been on series that have lasted nine years and does a lot of animation and voiceovers so he’s awesome.

Lena:  He’s definitely my favorite.  I loved him in “The Drew Carey Show”.  He’s amazing.

Lena:  What is it like working with Diedrich?

Parvesh Cheena:   You would expect him to be this total dude, just brash and loud but he is actually so sweet.  He’s so giving and caring and patient as an actor.  He knows what works for him.  He can sell and deliver.  He’s just very giving and he’s lovely.  His family, his kids and his wife are lovely and just really good people.  We all hung out with the cast and he had a barbeque at the end of taping in March and it was just awesome. 

Lena:  What is it like working with the rest of the cast?  Is everyone nice?

Parvesh Cheena:   No, I hate all of the Indian people on the show.  Really, they are all mean and rude and they are all angry at me because Diedrich likes me the best.  No, they are all my friends, too.  Rizwan (Manji) and I have worked together before.  Rebecca (Hazlewood) and I have worked together before.  Sacha (Dhawan) I saw last night and we are all hanging out as a cast tonight to watch the episode at Guru’s (Singh) house.  We are like family.

Lena:  It must be nice to work with a friendly cast that you really get along with.

Parvesh Cheena:   Oh, it’s a dream.  That’s what Dierich keeps on saying too about “Drew Carey” and our show.  It’s not something that happens too often.  Especially for the most of us, it’s our first series as regulars, so it’s a blessing and I hope it continues. 

Lena:  I really hope you guys get a second season.  Do you know when you are going to find out?  It should be soon.

Parvesh Cheena:   It should be within the next week or so.  Our up fronts for NBC are May 16th.   It could be any day.  It’s a little nerve-racking.

Lena:  Oh, I can imagine. 

Parvesh Cheena:   I would love for this show to come back.  I love the response that I get from people.  I love playing Gupta but at worse I have a year of television under my belt. 

Lena:  Well, the show can’t be doing that bad because NBC would have cancelled it already, like “The Paul Reiser Show”.  (R.I.P. “The Paul Reiser Show”)

Parvesh Cheena:   Exactly, our ratings were enough so far for them to grant us a full season.  I think the time shift is an issue, too.  We are on too late.  10:30 is late for our type of show.  It’s a little sweeter and more innocent, the sex novelties not withstanding it still isn’t a raunchy and dirty show.    We have a lot of kids that watch our show so I know when I was that age I had to be in bed by 9, 9:30 or 10.

Lena:  At least you are not going up against “American Idol”.

Parvesh Cheena:   That is true.

Lena:  Gupta has inspired me to always keep my cabinets full of sweets so I can proclaim “Candy Land” every time I open them. 

Parvesh Cheena:   That is awesome.  I love that.

Lena:  He’s been a bad influence on me. 

Parvesh Cheena:   I’m sorry.  Try to limit yourself to one a day.

Lena:  I know …

Lena:  What would we find in your cabinets compared to Gupta’s? 

Parvesh Cheena:   I really don’t know how to cook and I really let things rot.  I have one of those bachelor fridges.  I have leftover pizza, soda and beer in my fridge.  Nothing fresh at all, so that is really sad.   I don’t really have a big sweet tooth.  I can be okay with one bite or two bites of birthday cake or whatever it is and then I’m done.  My problem is salty stuff.  I will just eat chips and salsa all night.  Nachos are a big weakness of mine, too.

Lena:  You don’t switch off from salty to sweet?  I know I do.

Parvesh Cheena:   No, I will just eat salsa and nachos.  Pizza is my big weakness.  I could have pizza every day.  Normally, I’m just an order outer.  I’ll order a lunch and have half it for dinner.  One day it will be Mexican and the next day Indian and that is generally on the weekend. 

Lena:  You must miss Chicago for the pizza.

Parvesh Cheena:   I was there recently and I had deep dish pizza twice in the course of four days.  That’s a lot of deep dish. 

Lena:  Oh, yeah.  That is a lot of cheese and stuff.

Parvesh Cheena:   Yeah, but the good thing about it is that you can have one or two slices and you are done. 

Lena:  Do you forsake fruit like Gupta?

Parvesh Cheena:   No, I actually do like fruit.  I’m a big fan.  I know being home totally influenced me.  You know how moms always have fruit in the fridge.    We always had the fruit bowl that was filled with grapes, apples and pears.  Oh, when you are on the go the banana is the best fruit because it has its own wrapper that doesn’t fall apart into ten or fifteen pieces like an orange.  A banana is just one wrapper and then bam, you’re done. 

Lena:  And no seeds.  (Gupta doesn’t trust fruit with seeds)

Parvesh Cheena:   Very small seeds, but barely.

Lena:  Do they force you to eat all of the snacks on set so you can film all of your parts?

Parvesh Cheena:      No, fortunately because Indian treats are not sugary sweet but more creamy.  I don’t know how to describe it. They are more sweet tart like a pie, more like fat with a lot of butter.     We like a lot of butter in our Indian food. 

Lena:  What is the world like though the eyes of Gupta?

Parvesh Cheena:    I think the world through the eyes of Gupta is like an animated cartoon meets a couple of live actors.  It’s kind of like Roger Rabbit. 

Lena:  That is perfect. 

Parvesh Cheena:    Rajiv is definitely more like Bob Hoskins’ character to my Roger Rabbit of the Gupta world. 

Lena:  That is so insightful.

Parvesh Cheena:    Yeah, if Gupta was a cartoon he would be Roger Rabbit. 

Lena:  What has been your favorite call center item on the show so far? 

Parvesh Cheena:    My favorite so far was the electronic buzzing pen.  The electric pen where you get to press the top of it and that one was real.  It wasn’t a fake one where we had to try to shock ourselves.  We had a few real ones where we went around and made everyone in the cast and crew try them out.  The reactions were awesome. 

Lena:  Do you get to take any of the props home like the koala nanny cam a.k.a. “the court reporter”? 

Parvesh Cheena:   No, they keep them all under lock and key. 

Lena:  Aw, they didn’t give you anything?

Parvesh Cheena:   No.  I have nothing.  Our prop people are very strict about it. 

Lena:  I would love a koala nanny cam.  I loved when it closed its eyes.  That was so cute.

Parvesh Cheena:   Yes, that was awesome.

Lena:   The season finale of OUTSOURCED is coming up.  What can you tell me about that and what we have to look forward to from Gupta?

Parvesh Cheena:   There is going to be some more dancing and actually for the first time I’m going to be singing a little duet with Charlie.  So again the musical theater is going to pay off. 

Lena:  That is fantastic.  I love it when shows do different things and mix it up like that. 

Parvesh Cheena:   Yes, we are very daring and the scene with Diedrich is insane. 

Lena:  What other projects do you have coming up? 

Parvesh Cheena:   I’m shooting a movie with some friends.  It’s a little indie film with my friends Abby Miller and Brian Dietzen, who is one of the actors in NCIS.  I’m doing an animated project that I can’t talk about too much, yet.  That should be fun.

Lena:  You are lending your voice to an animated character.  That is cool.   

Parvesh Cheena:   Yeah, it is awesome.

Lena:  Is it weird doing that?

Parvesh Cheena:   No because it is closer to my own voice than Gupta. 

Lena:  It is funny, you hear the accent on television and then to hear you speak normally.  It’s very different.

Parvesh Cheena:   Yeah, especially since I just got back from Chicago.  I still have a couple of those flat vowels. 

Lena:  Do you watch the “Chicago Code”? 

Parvesh Cheena:   I do actually.  I like Shawn Ryan and I like “Lie to Me”.

Lena:  Yes!  I hope that comes back.

Parvesh Cheena:   Me too.  My boyfriend was script coordinator and he wrote on the show and if it comes back his episode would be one of the next ones that they film.  That would be a dream for him, too. 

Lena:  Yes, Shawn Ryan is incredible.  I loved “Terriers”.  I don’t know if you watched that.

Parvesh Cheena:   Yeah I did on FX with Donal Logue. 

Lena:  Only one season.  Oh, Donal Logue, he is so nice. 

Parvesh Cheena:  Yeah, he will always work, always.

Lena:  Oh yeah, he is an incredible actor.

Lena:  Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, it has been a pleasure.

Parvesh Cheena:  Thank you for all of the support.  We are very grateful to all of our fans that watch the show.