Up-and-Comer of the Month: “Patti Cake$” Scene-Stealer Siddharth Dhananjay on His Rise From Worldstar to Hollywood

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When I first saw Geremy Jasper’s directorial debut PATTI CAKE$, I was so blown away that I was the last person to leave Fox’s screening room, as I needed a minute to compose myself.

I had just watched Danielle Macdonald deliver one of the year’s best performances as the titular New Jersey rapper, but as impressed as I was with her work, I was left equally impressed by the Indian actor who plays her best friend in the film, Siddharth Dhananjay.

While I knew Macdonald would receive the lion’s share of attention (and deservedly so), I also knew that I didn’t want to be the 100th person to interview her, and I thought Dhananjay would be the perfect subject for our Up-and-Comer of the Month feature.

Born in India, raised in Indonesia and educated in Iowa, Dhananjay was first discovered on WorldstarHipHop, where he’d posted (surprisingly catchy) parody rap videos as Dhananjay the First. Commenters made jokes about 7/11s and curry, but they only served to fuel his passion.

Like Patti, Dhananjay has big dreams, and he knows he has a long way to go before he truly makes it in Hollywood. But the rising star has already come a long way (literally) in his journey from aspiring rapper to professional actor, and he is certainly starting his career off on the right note with his winning turn in Patti Cake$, which showcases his ability to handle both comedy and drama — not to mention sick rhymes.

Check out our interview with Dhananjay below, and be sure to keep an eye on him, because he’s definitely one to watch. Enjoy…

You’ve had quite the journey, growing up in Indonesia and then going to Grinnell College in Iowa before moving out to L.A. What was the hardest part for you? I mean, what was it like being an Indian kid in the middle of Iowa?
For me, coming to America wasn’t as much of a cultural shock as most kids, because I went to an international school in Jakarta, so I had a feel for the culture in America. That’s one of my biggest strengths in life. I’m such a chameleon, and I can adapt so quickly. I was born in India, raised in Indonesia, and then moved back to India for boarding school for four years. It didn’t seem as crazy to me then as when I think about it now. On paper, it was a wild situation, but I took life as it came and ran with it.

Tell me how you were first discovered on Worldstar, and how you became a part of this project.
I was making these spoof rap videos with my friends. They were supposed to be funny, and we did them for fun, just to put them online. And then people loved them, so we kept doing them. I was just about to graduate from college when I got an email from Michael Gottwald, one of the Patti Cake$ producers, who had seen the videos and found my Dhananjay email address. He said, “we’re doing this new project, would you like to be part of it?” and I was like, “fuck yeah, where do I sign?” It was just this crazy thing that came to me. So they sent me some original pages and I sent them back a tape, and right before graduating they asked me to come join them for the Sundance labs in 2014. So that was the first time I met Geremy, and we worked on it for a week. Bridget [Everett] was there for a week, too, and Danielle was there for like, three weeks.

At that point, I was just graduating with a degree in philosophy and economics. Now I’m not American, so I had a lot of visa issues, and I was just riding it out until I had to leave, thinking there was a sliver of a chance that they’d end up picking me for the movie and I’d get my visa figured out. I was flying back and forth between rehearsals in New York and Jakarta, India, just hoping it would end up working out, and fortunately it did.

This role seems tailor-made for you, but was there any hesitation on the filmmakers’ part, given your lack of acting experience?
They were very honest about it. They said right upfront, “you were the most risky move. We didn’t know if you could do this or not.” It was a ‘let’s hope this works out based on trust’ kind of move, and they were very happy. It has certainly changed my life forever.

What I’d heard from Geremy coming into it was, the character we’d created with Dhanajay in the videos was very similar to what he had in mind for Jerry, and he almost felt like we’d beat him to the punch with the character. The Dhananjay aspect of Jerry was one of physical resemblance, just the outer shell image. The characters themselves are very different.

I’d never really acted before, so my challenge was to make this a believable character. Dhananjay was all pomp, but I had to humanize Jerry and make him a real person, and make him Patti’s best friend. So that was the challenge. The music side was effortless. That came easy to me. But the acting was the opposite. I had to work at that to keep up with Danielle. We were kind of going through the same thing, but in opposite realms.

I read that Danielle got a rap coach to work with her. Since you already had that part down, did you work with an acting coach?
Yeah, so before they finally decided that I would be in the movie, they said “Sid, you should probably take a couple acting classes to get a feel for it.” So right before, I took like, two months of Intro to Meisner in New York, and it definitely helped me a lot in terms of how I think about acting and being in front of the camera. It was less about technique, and more about changing my perspective on how this all works.

Fox Searchlight bought this film for $10.5 million following a heated bidding war at Sundance. Did you stay up all night to keep tabs on the deal, or did you just wake up to the good news?
I tried to find out whatever I can, probably to an annoying extent to the producers and the director. I’ve been such a film-head for such a long time, I was so interested in that part of the process. I had learned so much about how movies are made — like, I had no idea another human pulled focus — but there were so many things that kept blowing my mind. It was such a small family that let me in on a lot of this stuff, and they recognized it was out of pure interest. Usually, us actors are the last people to know. I mean, as soon as the movie premiered, we knew something big could happen. And then we had a huge team dinner and everyone was asking about it and talking about it. I don’t think they slept that night. They could sense something big was happening.

Fox Searchlight

How did you meet your manager Colin Stark, and what convinced you to sign with him and place your career in his hands?
At Sundance, the crows were definitely flocking in to get a bite of the action, and I met with a lot of people who were interested in possibly representing me. I was asking the other actors and producers around me, “do you have an agent, or a manager, or both?” We were at the Verge party at Sundance for emerging talent, and Lakeith [Stanfield] was part of that. He was at the party and I’m a big fan of his, so I went up and started talking to him, and then he introduced me to his manager Colin. I ended up getting them tickets to Patti Cake$, so Colin just watched it randomly, and after that we had a conversation. I didn’t make the call at Sundance.

I’m new to L.A., so I met with a lot of L.A. film-bro types, but Colin and I were just on the same page in terms of everything. Not just in terms of what I want in my career, but we were ripping on La La Land together, and it just felt real. He never put on any airs, which I got from others, and he also picked me up in L.A. when I landed. I just went with my gut there. I also needed to get the O-1 visa, and if I didn’t have someone like Colin to go above and beyond to make that happen as quickly as possible, I wouldn’t even be in a situation like this.

Are you planning to sign with an agent soon?
We’ve talked to a bunch of people, but we’re waiting for the movie to come out so more people can talk to us and we can see if it makes sense. There’s no rush. We’re just figuring out the visa issue and trying to lock it down. I’m thinking of it more in terms of, who in the future will be able to help me make movies that are a dream of mine.

What has been the biggest pinch-me moment of your career so far?
When I was at the Sundance labs back in 2014, there was an incredible moment I’ll never forget. We were workshopping a scene out in Utah, and as part of the labs they have these mentors and veterans who are there to help the filmmakers develop their projects. So they’d come by to watch you work, and I was doing this scene that’s not in the movie. It’s me telling Patti that she can do this, and she has the skills. I had this crucial line and I wasn’t getting it, and then Ed Harris comes by to watch us and I’m still flubbing it, and he says “Everybody stop! Timeout! Sid, come with me.” And he takes me aside, talks to me for five minutes and breaks it down, and gives me some advice. I was so struck by what was going on that I went back and got it. And then we fist-bumped, and he just walked off. I hope to meet him again at some point.

But honestly, just being at Sundance was really awesome. It felt like I was part of something crazy special. And then I got to go Cannes!

Are there any directors you’d love to work with one day?
The guy who did The Lunchbox [Ritesh Batra]. It’s different being Indian, versus being Indian-American. He’s like me, in that he’s actually from India, and now he’s making movies in the Hollywood space. I think we’d vibe a lot. I’m excited to see Good Time, because I love the Safdie brothers. Wong Kar-Wai is my favorite filmmaker of all-time. That’s complicated too, because I think his movies just don’t translate in English. There’s something so poetic to his Chinese films, but My Blueberry Nights wasn’t very good.

Listen, for me, at this point coming off my first thing, I have an advantage in terms of what path I decide to take, and I feel like I’m in no rush to decide. I want to be able to take my time and work on good projects and play interesting roles. It almost feels like I don’t deserve this, and you can just feel other people thinking “fuck this, why does he deserve to get this?” But it just makes me try to work that much harder.

Who’s on your Mount Rushmore of rappers? Besides Patti and Jerry, obviously.
50 Cent, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and Pimp C.

What’s the story behind your Twitter handle, @TheRealBrahmin?
A lot of celebs go by @TheRealWhatever, so I just wanted to be @TheRealBrahmin. I’m just poking fun at that whole Indian “caste” system.

What’s next for you? Did you audition for anything this pilot season?
I’ve been going out for a lot of stuff, mostly just to start a relationship with casting directors and show them who I am. Everyone was so excited after Patti Cake$, they all wanted to meet me, and I got sent a lot of random pilots and stuff that I wouldn’t have done even if I was offered it.

Like, I auditioned to play an engineer on this new workplace comedy in space, where everything takes place on a space station. It was a good learning experience, because I’d never auditioned before and it was fucking hard. It’s just been fun getting into it and seeing what I’m good at and what I can improve on. I’m not at that level yet where people are just throwing things at me, but it’s nice to get into the actor grind and prepare for roles and do self-tapes. It feels real now.

The main issue right now is that I don’t have my visa yet, so no one can really hire me yet, but it’s been good to meet all these people. Things are really falling into place. It feels like Sundance was a fast-paced dream that went away, and now reality is setting in and things are a little slow.

I’m sure they’ll pick up soon. How are you keeping busy in the meantime?
I’ve been doing some extra recording for the Patti Cake$ soundtrack back in L.A., and I’m also trying to write a script, too. Something specific to my situation. There’s a lot of stuff out there now, so I’m just trying to find a space where I can contribute.

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 Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief