Cast Trivia - Naveen Andrews
- His full name is Naveen William Sidney Andrews. He was born in South-West London, and is of Indian ancestry. His first name means “new” in Sanskrit.
- He clashed with his conservative parents from a young age. He saw starring in school plays as a “joyful release”, but his parents were very angry about his acting ambitions, hoping he would follow a more academic route. Naveen has since revealed that his father was ‘very violent’.
- At age 16, he fell in love with his 30-year-old math teacher. Many tabloids report that he moved in with her and her husband at this age (and that the husband was shocked to find them in bed together one day), but Naveen has denied this.
- His father died of a heart attack when Naveen was 18, and he began openly living with his former teacher. In 1992, though the couple had since broken up, they had a son named Jaisal. He now lives with his mom in London, but has a close relationship with Naveen.
- He attended the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, along with Ewan McGregor and David Thewlis.
- During the beginning of his film career, Naveen became an alcoholic and drug abuser. He’s also since spoken about being addicted to heroin for two years in the mid-90s. As of a 2008 interview, Naveen had been completely clean for four years.
- At age 29, he met actress Barbara Hershey on the set of an obscure indie film, and they started dating. She was 50 at the time and had a 25-year-old son. They were together for about six years, until a brief split in 2005. During this time, Naveen fathered a son, named Joshua, with another woman. However, he soon got back together with Barbara - until they split again in late 2009.
- One major reason that he wanted to audition for Sayid was that he “couldn’t bloody believe a prime-time TV show would have an Iraqi ex-Republican Guard torturer as a main character.”
- It was his idea for Sayid to romance Shannon, and the producers agreed with the unexpected match. They also thought it would deepen Shannon’s character.
- His nickname for Maggie Grace is “Miss America.”
- Naveen has said that he wishes he were more like Sayid. Unlike his character, he claims that he is “absolutely not competent” and “can barely change a light bulb.”
- He is a smoker, and would often go on cigarette breaks with Ken Leung during filming.
- He is a talent guitarist and singer, having played since around age twelve. Along with Terry O’Quinn, he would often entertain the Lost cast and crew during breaks. He’s said that he loves Country music.
- As of summer 2008, the only episode he ever watched of Lost was the pilot. He absolutely hates seeing himself act.
- He’s joked about the possibility of a Lost sequel, saying “Maybe it could be Locke… and Ben… and a baby!” But he opinions that if any sequel did actual happen “then Damon should be shot!”
Quotes:
“Older women know who they are, and that makes them more beautiful than younger ones. I like to see a face with some character. I want to see lines. I want to see wrinkles.”
”One of the great things about the show is that it is a collaborative process. For example, it was my idea to have the relationship with Shannon. I thought, ‘What would really shock Middle-America? What if Sayid was to have a relationship with a woman that looked like Miss America?’ The most unlikely pairing…to come completely from left field.”
“When I first got the premise, it was limited at best and dreadful at worst. People crashing on an island - how many possible permutations can you get out of that?”
(on “what’s going to happen next?” on Lost) “Look, I would love to bloody know, I really would, because it’s sort of like the Stalin Politburo. Disinformation and very little information from the very beginning. You think, ‘Why do they do this? We’re adults.’ I guess Stalin felt the same way about his minions. ‘No, they’re not adults.’ “
“In Hollywood, it’s normal to have white men with black women, but the reverse is too threatening. It’s not an issue for me or the people I know, so everyone should fucking get with it.”
“A slice of hot, buttered toast is the perfect meal. It’s not too much and not too little, and it gives you just the right buzz.”
(on the Lost monster) “At first I thought it was like a Dr. Moreau thing, like somebody must have built something that goes around and eats people. But I honestly think it’s a device put in by the producers that if any of the actors get out of hand, they get eaten by a monster. And it’s true. Everyone’s s**t scared of being eaten.”
(on what Lost mystery he’s most curious about) “The foot with the f**king toe missing. What was that and is it going to come back? Is there going to be two feet next time, with a geezer on top as the rest of the body?”
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