Meet Pranshu Mishra | Actor, Writer, & Game Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pranshu Mishra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pranshu, what are you inspired by?
In my work, I tend to focus on the little things – for me, finding those moments and exploring them further gives me the most joy. That joy of discovery inspires me in all of my walks of life.

When I perform, what ties into my work are the little details that structure out who the character is – anything that lies underneath the surface, speaking to the subtlety of who a person (or creature or thing) is, becomes the most exciting and interesting thing to explore and dissect. It’s something you see in the people around you as well! After all, what defines your best friend to you probably isn’t something that everyone can see on the surface, it’s something at their core that means something perhaps only to you, but it’s a small thing that speaks volumes. You can say the same for your loved ones, strangers, people you don’t get along with, your pets, and on and on and on. Not only that, but in a collaborative setting, you have the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by the other small things that your fellow cast and crew discover and reveal. It’s one big vortex of little things, and that’s what makes the process incredibly exciting and fun for me.

When I write, I gravitate toward a small idea or thought and write my pages surrounding that thought, motions of exploration coming out in a vast majority of pages that don’t even get used. Over time, my role as a writer has become less about creating a script and more about this understanding of the different ways I can see an idea or a thought. Several different versions of an idea might be cut for a new solution to the script, but those drafts were still created – they still inform what I write next. When I look back at them, it’s an abstract diary of who I was when I wrote these pages, growing and evolving within the context of writing, and each time, I find another little thing to take with me on my next project. I wish I had better words to explain this, but then again, this isn’t a script – this is me just sharing a little thing I love.

When I produce for game developers, it’s the little things you need to watch out for the most. There are so many complications and curiosities that pop up in the most well-laid plans as they get put into action, and every day is seeing another set of new challenges and victories. One of my favorite stories is working with a programmer to line up all the small things he needed to do in order to start working on a side of the game that he enjoyed parsing much more – all while working on the feature that needed to be completed. What meant more to me was that small achievement of supporting him through the work we had to do for that reward of working on something that brought him joy. In the grand scheme of things, small, but for me, that little victory meant so much.

The little things and the joy they bring. Yeah.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I do a little bit of everything which also means that my resume is relatively varied. I went to UCLA for a degree in theatre, initially for acting, then adding on playwriting as a second concentration. During that time, I tacked on self-producing personal projects for both myself and my friends. College feels like a blur now, but I’m grateful for the time and collaboration I was able to have to set the foundations for how I view my art.

I could open the Pandora’s Box of navigating Los Angeles as an actor of a “model minority” still bogged down by certain performative constraints, but that is (a) better explained by others and (b) not entirely my journey. What I will say is that very early on, I realized that my trajectory of auditioning and working with people who didn’t quite understand my strengths wasn’t going to work for me. For me to find my own growth, I had to own my growth, and waiting for a “yes” from the universe wasn’t going to work. I wrote my own projects, storing them away for an opportunity to produce them, and discovered voiceover.

After all, voice actors were all around me in the mediums I consumed as a child and as an adult. A small joy for myself was imitating their performances, from Vegeta to Dehaka (points if you know the second one). The joy I felt finding all the little things about my voice (both physically and metaphorically), about my performance, about the technicalities – I had a new love of performance in a way I hadn’t felt before. Nothing has beaten that joy or rush.

The hardest thing for me was accepting that my journey wasn’t linear. I think that in every step I’ve taken, I’ve always felt behind compared to the others around me. I felt like I was coming into the game late, that I was already behind compared to people who knew they wanted to perform and write their whole lives. Compared to them, I was an initiate, a novice. Who was I to say that I could stand there, too? Imposter syndrome is the absolute worst.

The hardest thing to learn was that my journey is my own. There will always be others around me with differences and miles upon miles of experience, but I have my own. The joy isn’t who I am compared to others, the joy is just who I am. That’s the core. A hard core to maintain, if I’m being honest.

To get to know me as a performer and collaborator, here’s my go-to.

I would first direct people to my favorite ongoing project: my co-narration alongside Sharmila Devar of Kritika H. Rao’s Hindu-inspired sci-fi trilogy of novels: the Rages trilogy. From our process of worldbuilding and fleshing out the performances of each character in the books during the production of The Surviving Sky to the trust we had in diving deeper for the narration of The Unrelenting Earth, this project has given me so much joy – and as you can guess, it was from the little things. The depth of Kritika’s knowledge, the care that we all took in bringing the characters to life, Sharmila’s joie de vivre in tackling each and every aspect, and the sheer joy of telling a story that was unabashedly, powerfully South Asian. It’s a wonderful story, and I am honored to be able to give voice to it. By the time you’re reading this, book 2 should be out!

To others, I hope they learn this about me: I am first and foremost, a storyteller and listener. I love stories, and when I meet new people, I love learning what their stories have been. To tell a story is to bring a new opportunity to the audience. That’s what I pursue, that’s what I live for. It’s my joy.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
No one leaves the city without first meeting our cats – unless they’re allergic, in which case, we show plenty of videos and pictures. We love our little queen and our chaotic bowl of beans.

After that, we run a pretty tight ship on food planning. I don’t think you can be in LA without foraying into its wild ecosystem of food. We have a running list of our favorite spots – Gokoku in NoHo for a fantastic vegan Japanese menu, Pura Vita in WeHo for vegan calzones that are the size of your head, First Fridays in Venice if we’ve timed the trip right. If they partake in the full menu of taco fare, Leo’s Tacos is a new discovery for me (about time, honestly). Food is going to define where in the city we linger in that day.

Food aside, my favorite spot is somewhat of a cursed one. On the 405 at night (I’M SORRY), just as you’re passing the northbound exit for Skirball, you see a gorgeous nighttime view of the Valley. It’s the closest thing to man-made stars that I think Los Angeles has. It’s been years since I’ve moved here, and I still love the view every time I drive through the pass.

There’s always something to do if you’re out and about in the city, and there’s always something for everyone. Oftentimes, we ourselves find new sides of LA when people visit to see things that they’re interested in. LA’s a labyrinth of joys and interests – it’s fun getting lost in new things.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I cannot attribute my success to myself, not entirely or even as a majority part of my own efforts.

The three people that mean the most to me are my partner, my younger brother, and my mother. Without them, I would be nowhere.

I credit my culture – or the amount I’ve been able to hold onto in the turmoil of being the oldest child of an immigrant family – with how I view storytelling, my worldview, and some modicum of my personal philosophy.

I thank English translations of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana – without them, I wouldn’t have the core of my childhood as well as one of my personal dreams – to one day know enough Sanskrit to read both original texts.

Website: https://www.pranshumishra.com

Instagram: @pranshuland

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prashastmishra/

Twitter: @pranshuland

Image Credits
Emi Yoshino, Deidhra Fahey