Exclusive: 'The Handmaid's Tale' star Daniel Chaudhry talks about deadlines being his biggest motivation when it comes to work
Daniel Chaudhry, who will be seen in the second season of Hulu's original, The Handmaid's Tale has always had an eye for the spotlight and with the upcoming TV show, he sure does have that in his bag. Talking to Meaww, Daniel explains how movies had been his inspiration ever since he was a kid.
"Growing up watching movies sparked my interest in performing," he said. Everyone in this industry inspires me. It’s impossible to narrow that list down from what it is, and I like it like that." While showbiz can take a toll on anyone's personal life, Daniel believes that he had things figured out on his end and does not let the work-life get better of him.
"There are no real conflicts in any of those aspects of my life," he explained. "I’m extremely comfortable in that my focus is tilted more towards coming up in my career than say being in a relationship. I do believe that you can’t base your happiness off of work alone, you need a balance."
In order to keep his mind busy, Daniel tends to look for new activities and in the process, learn. "On my time off I spend it picking up new activities and learning them as much as I can," he said. "There’s so much out there to learn. The way I feel about it is that my work is my work, and my free time allows me to meet new people and try things I’m interested in, which usually benefits my work anyway. The thing about acting is, everything in my personal life really can be attributed to my craft, it’s a blessing in disguise really."
However, one thing that truly excites Daniel is deadlines. He believes that having a deadline along with working on projects that are exciting pushes his creative juices to flow. According to Daniel, it is important for all artists to have an inspiration as it is the driving force for creativity.
"It’s one of the reasons we do what we do in any line of work," he confessed. "We produce material so that others may look at it and want to emulate it or even advance it." Daniel finds happiness in knowing about new things and tends to spend only a brief amount of time on social media. "My opinion on social media is that it’s equally as important as it is unimportant," he said.
"It’s an amazing tool. If you know how to use it, it can help you a lot, but on the other hand, it could do nothing for you and just be your photo library." In Daniel's view, the significance of social media comes down to how one decides to answer these four questions: "why do you have it? Who’s looking at it? For what reason are they looking at it? And how are you managing it?"
As for Daniel, he uses different platforms for different purposes. "I use different platforms for different reasons. Instagram is my library of personal photos and a first-person view into what I’m up to work-wise," he said. "Twitter I love for having a dialogue with fans, sharing things with them and creating moments."
While Daniel loves to engage in a conversation with his fans, another thing that he is fond of is competition. It is that one factor that pushes him to do better and improve. "Competition is what drives me to want to win/succeed," he revealed. "If you have a healthy mindset you can read that answer and not bat an eye." Even though he values competition so much, he believes that his biggest competitor is none other than himself.
"It’s a cliche response, but my greatest competition is myself. Who else will test my limits any better than me?" he said. However, one thing that he holds above everything is "Patience and perseverance." Daniel is of the view that one can achieve a lot in life if they have the will to wait. However, he does not spend much time thinking about the things that have happened in the past.
Learning from his mistakes, Daniel hopes to move forward and make sure that he is able to learn from things in the past. "What has happened, has happened," he says. "Without making mistakes I wouldn’t have any value for what I’ve learned from them." But if given a chance to go back in time, Daniel says he would "travel back in time and start working in the industry at an earlier stage" or he would "go back and tell a very young version of myself to stop living for other people. I wish I started doing things for myself much sooner."
Being part of an industry which yearns for fame and money, Daniel says that for him money will come first at any point when he feels that he is not being taken seriously. "I wouldn’t let people walk over me, that’s not a quality you should have," he said. As for the fame bit, he is not someone who wants the spotlight on him always. Daniel believes that one should do what they love and fame must not be the only motive.
"Apart from that, my reason to work is, and always will be about communicating," he said. "I don’t seek fame. What I do want, is to let out my creativity and cater to my soul. That’s what’s important to me, to communicate my passion to others." Even though Daniel has done a fair share of work in the industry, he is not ready to call himself a "celebrity". He says that he hasn't reached there just yet but is sure that one day he will.
But there is one thing that Daniel has come to realize while working in the industry and that is his habit of not being able to give his 100 percent. " I sort of give 90% and never more, and I figure it’s “good enough”, he said. " I’ve dug deep into why that is and ever since I’ve been more activated. I think people should activate their fullest potential at all times; be 300% for whenever you mess up, your lowest will still be above 100."
However, when there are positives, there is bound to be negatives and the Hollywood industry is no exception. One thing that Daniel has realized during his career is that he is "addicted to intensity." Throughout his life, he has been surrounded by intense situations but he does not let them get him down.
"All my life things around me have been intense. My relationships, my family, the situations I found myself in," he said. "So much that if things were leveled out, I’d look for a problem just to feel comfortable. I would feel I worked better when I’m fixing something. I’m now learning how to be okay if things are going smoothly for once." Now, Daniel focuses on the positives and loves meeting new people and getting to know them better.
"I’m a very open human," he confessed. "I enjoy embracing connections with people. I enjoy people." Daniel thinks that when two people meet, they have a lot to offer each other. One can learn and find out more about things just by interacting with someone for few minutes. "More likely than not, we’ll be able to offer each other something," he said. "That’s what I love the most about meeting people, you can always learn something and keep that with you. I’m a sucker for the kind and warm-hearted folk."
With many more years and aspirations in mind, Daniel has one goal which he aims to accomplish in the coming years and that is to get a dog. "I’ve told myself that I will only get myself a pup when I’m a series regular on a TV series," he revealed.
While he may not be sure of what he wants in 10 years down the lane, he sure has one advice that has always helped him to be the better version of himself. "Don’t steal your potential away from people. They deserve to see it," is a thought that Daniel always keeps in mind. Meanwhile, he also emphasized the importance of surrounding oneself with loved ones. "If my life has progressed by the end of it. Even if it’s a day off, keeping busy with friends or getting things moving with upcoming work will always put me in an ideal mood," he said. There is no doubt that Daniel knows how to juggle between personal and professional life and we think there is a lot we can learn from him.