Interview with actor Karan Brar, of Disney’s ‘Jessie’

We met actor Karan Brar who starred as Ravi on the Disney Channel series “Jessie” when he was at Planet Hollywood recently.

In Jessie you’re not very athletic. In real life are you athletic? If so, what sports do you play?

Absolutely not. I’m not athletic whatsoever. I just like to go on hikes or runs or whatever I could do to keep active. I have terrible coordination so like I couldn’t do baseball, basketball, soccer, any of those sports. So I stick to running, like that kind of exercise.

What would be the funniest thing Mrs. Kipling [Ravi’s pet lizard] has ever done?

Sometimes the most entertaining thing Mrs. Kipling would ever do is ... all the time we want her to stay she will always want to move. And when you want her to move she’ll just sit there. I feel that the lizard could understand everything that we’re saying and does the exact opposite. You’d be surprised — working with lizards is extremely difficult.

In “Jessie” is Mrs. Kipling a trained lizard or a robot?

Again a little bit of half and half. We have three parts of the lizard. There is a real lizard. Mrs. Kipling is actually a male lizard named Frank, which is an Asian water monitor lizard. And Frank is very old. He’s an elderly man and he just kind of sits there and hisses and then we have the full body replica. There’s a puppeteer who actually made a full body replica of him. Since I’m a kid like you guys I can’t exactly go very close to a lizard with razor sharp teeth. So they put me next to this fake lizard most of the time and then the third part is whenever you see Mrs. Kipling do things such as pressing buttons, taking the elevator down, they have puppet parts.

What inspired you to become an actor?

My father wanted me get into sports and that didn’t go very well. My father was like “Hey, I did theater back in college and if you want to try it, I’ll take you to an acting class.” I did my first acting class and the rest is history.

Did you enjoy making the movie series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”?

It was a lot of fun. It was the best way to spend my summers. It was cool working with some of my best friends. We were in beautiful Vancouver, Canada. It was just an awesome experience overall.

How do you feel about “Jessie” ending?

We were really sad about it, the whole cast in general. It wasn’t just me. Like we told each other we’re not going to cry. Of course when they called, “Cut” and “It’s a wrap,” we all burst out crying. It was sad because we were closing a chapter to our lives that was really important to us but at the same time it was exciting because we were moving on to “Bunk’d.” We were not a 100% sure it was happening yet. We had heard rumors that it might happen. We had gotten hints to it. We were really excited about the next show possibly going to happen in we’re all family so we’re just kind of stuck together regardless of what we were doing whether it’s movies, music. We all keep in touch.

Were you in shock or did you know it was coming?

Yes and no. To a certain extent I knew it was coming. We had an amazing four-year run. This is eventually going to have to come to an end and when they said this was going to be our last season I kind of saw it coming. I was like it’s OK but at the same time I was still sad.

If you weren’t an actor what other job would you prefer?

Probably a baker because I have a very bad obsession with cake. I would probably be a baker or a chef. I’m a terrible cook, but regardless I would love to learn and my mom’s great at cooking so I would pick up a few tips.

Was there a part you didn’t enjoy playing?

I’ve never disliked any of the characters I portrayed. I just find ways, if there’s ever a character that’s boring, which I’ve never come across, just make it a little bit more interesting so that you guys as an audience will enjoy it better.

If you could spend one day with anybody, living or deceased, who would it be?

I probably would want to spend it with my wife, Jennifer Lawrence. She’s a wonderful girl and unfortunately she’s very very busy with the “Hunger Games,” and I know her movie is coming out, but I hope I could spend more time with her. I would say we’re getting married so it’s a big deal.

Is there a role that you have played that is exactly like you?

Part of me believes that Ravi is exactly like me to a certain extent. It’s a little crazy but I’m nerdy exactly like him. You’d be surprised, I’m extremely nerdy. We’re both very curious. We’re both interested to see how things work. Ravi always has his nose in a book. I’m kind of the same way. I’m starting to read a little bit more.

Has acting affected your school work?

Not at all. My parents are big in supporting me on my education. A lot of people have this misconception that when you’re starring in film or TV, there’s a ton of cash and you don’t have to do school ever again. But it’s kind of the other way around. The state and your production they encourage you to keep schooling. I actually have tutors on set. So there are studio teachers and when I’m done rehearsing a scene I’ll just head up there. When I have some free time I do some school work and I get normal school just like you guys do, I follow the same exact syllabus as you guys would and my teacher grades and pretty much everything is the exact same. I pretty much do five hours a day. It’s never like I give it up. I feel that people might get that misconception that you give up on your education, but it’s a big part of growing up and I feel like it’s very important for an education.