A New Experience

The acting profession is a minefield of disappointments – and surprises.

Just ask Sugith Varughese. The Indian-born Canadian actor auditioned for The Girlfriend Experience, a new Starz limited series executive-produced by Steven Soderbergh and based loosely on his 2009 film.

Premiering Sunday, April 10, The Girlfriend Experience focuses on a law student played by Riley Keogh, who interns at a law firm by day but is drawn into an illicit career as a high-end escort. She provides not just intimate encounters but the illusion of a relationship and emotional closeness – a "girlfriend experience" that comes at a price.

Varughese auditioned for a small role – and with more than 80 credits to his name in films, TV programs, radio drama and theater, the veteran actor was confident that he was more than qualified to land the part. We'll let him explain what happened next.

"I went in for a three-line part as an East Indian businessman who's on the phone with his wife in Bombay just before he's about to hire one of these escorts. I used an Indian accent for that part.  And then a week later my agent called and said 'You didn't get that role.'

"I was shocked because I thought I'd really nailed it. Then they continued, 'But they want to cast you in a major role as the managing partner, which was originally written as a white character.' They even changed the name of the character so it would be more consistent with me playing the part."

Instead of a brief appearance, Varughese plays a critical role in the series as Tariq Barr, a managing partner in the law firm where Christine, the heroine, works.

He explains, "Later, I asked Gary the producer why they cast me. And he said when they saw me audition for that other part, the light bulb just went off. They hadn't been looking for a diverse actor to play the part, but it struck them that it made perfect sense to have someone like me in that role. They weren't looking for me, but they found me anyway! So that's my Hollywood story."

The producers had the flexibility to reinvent characters on the fly because the series is not an adaptation of the film so much as, in Varughese's words, a "reinvention" – a new story with different characters, exploring the same themes as the movie.

He says, "Because the show is serialized, it's like a really long movie – like True Detective, it's a novel for television." And like True Detective and similar shows, he expects that should it return for a second season, it will be with a different cast of characters and story arc.

This season consists of 13 episodes, all of which will be available at once on Starz on Demand – a format made for binge-watching.

"I think with a show like The Girlfriend Experience, it's designed in a way for that. If you wanted to watch all the episodes back to back it makes sense to, and you would get caught up with the story. As long as you have the stamina, you can watch the whole thing!" says Varughese.

He sees this love of watching episodes back-to-back, in way that wasn't possible before streaming TV, as a phenomenon that is shaping the way shows are conceived and created.

"The newer TV outlets are really seeing the serialized story, spread out over multiple episodes but having its own integrity throughout. It's the new miniseries, but nobody's calling them miniseries, and I think it stems from the love of binge-watching."

From House of Cards to Luther, two shows he cites as favorite candidates for marathon viewing, he believes the way stories are told on the small screen is being transformed by our changing viewing habits.

Although the series is not an adaptation of Soderbergh's film, it does share a quality that is one of his hallmarks – subtlety. It's another way that Varughese sees the show stretching the boundaries of television.

"I don't think it's like a regular 'TV show,' because so much of the story is not told through dialogue. You could probably turn the sound off and still know what was going on." he says.

"It's not about yappity-yap, it's about how people look at each other. It's about the camera finding somebody when they're glancing over their shoulder at something else and that tells the story more than anything someone says. So much of what acting is, is acting the subtext. Knowing that tension between what you're saying and what you really mean."

Creating the illusion of instant intimacy with the audience and with the rest of the cast – is acting itself a bit of a "girlfriend experience"? Varughese laughs and acknowledges the point. 

"I did most of my work with Paul Sparks and Mary Lynn Rajskub, and I just loved going to work because I got to hang with people like that. Paul's character and mine are almost buddies on the show and you develop that rapport off-camera. I don't think it's false, but it's because you're doing this show together. It is very intimate on some creative level."

On April 10, viewers can plunge into their own relationship with "The Girlfriend Experience."