ATHLEISURE MAG #102 JUN ISSUE | CHARACTER MASTERY Reza Diako

We love when we have the opportunity to sit down with actors that let us think about the characters and the situations that they present to us in the roles that they play! Reza Diako has been in a number of shows that we have enjoyed from Guy Ritchie's The Covenant to Apple TV+'s Tehran, and Netflix's The Diplomat! His approach to his characters; his belief in having to shake hands with the characters that he is portraying; and the need to dig into himself in order to present them to us on screen is amazing. We talked about his approach, how he got into the industry and his portrayal and approach to Apostle Philip in international phenomenon, The Chosen.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What is the first film or TV show that you fell in love with and at what point did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?

REZA DIAKO: Let’s see. One of my first favorite films was actually – it was quite – well let me say that there are a lot of films that I watched and as the story goes, my mother was a big film buff since she was young like 11 or 12. She would watch Ingmar Berman (The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander) films. So I think that that got passed down to me. You know, I have a psychology background so I was always interested in psychological films and so I think that at some point when I was quite young I was exposed to Persona by Ingmar Berman. I found it really profound, but it was a lot of serendipitous affects that got me into acting.

There was a time when I was studying psychology and then in medical school and I was struggling because I was getting ill. Weirdly, I was watching some videos by Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, City of Lies, Black Mass) and it was weird because I spent a couple of months looking into his interviews. I was taking a lot of acting classes since I was a teenager. Art ran in the family because my mom was a painter, I did a lot of music so forth and so forth and here I was studying medicine and watching Johnny Depp's interviews could there be a career here and is it too late? It was funny because I was taking classes more so for the psychological reasons of embodying humanity more at the individual level, rather than what I was studying which was categorical. What is really weird is that some months later serendipitously, I ran into Johnny Depp on my birthday, and we actually talked to each other and I told him about how much I cared for him.

AM: It all lends itself to how you navigated one part of your life and continued into this direction that also meant a lot to you.

RD: Right, it just shows the synchronicity of the situation because after that encounter, things just kind of flew. He actually signed a Happy Birthday message for me and after that we just kind of parted ways. About 6 months later, I’m at a place where I’m pausing medical school because I had a very difficult illness situation going on. Then my acting continues and that’s when I realized that my acting gave me a sense of meaning and purpose and an impetus and happiness. I decided to apply for drama school because I had a great acting coach in London for years and I got in. Then I trained at Mountain View in London and it was so serendipitous and that’s when things started unfolding as I was coming out of drama school. They were casting Tehran and looking for young Persian heritage actors and I never thought it would come by so quickly and it was so interesting. But yeah, I was always watching films with my mom and I would say that Ingmar Berman's Persona and a lot of interesting Iranian films as well people like Asghar Farhadi (The Salesman, About Elly, The Past) – A Separation which had a big impact on me, but it was the whole range. Then there was Johnny Depp and his performances in the Pirates of the Caribbean or I’m a big Heath Ledger (10 Things I Hate About You, A Knight’s Tale, Lords of Dogtown) fan so watching The Dark Knight that was a big moment as well into – I think that I was always working on how to make an impact on the world. Sometimes when I saw those things and realized that it was in my own internal world, but also in the collective and in the impact that it made, it was cool to see. It took me a while to realize how much art can make an impact and that’s when I knew. When I went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to do a play I knew that this was it.

AM: We enjoyed you in Tehran as well as in The Diplomat.

RD: Thank you.

AM: I thought that that was amazing. What do you enjoy about storytelling?

RD: Thank you first of all as that is kind of you. What I love about storytelling, and I guess in acting as well is coming at it from a psychological background. I always like to leave something behind that impacts the world and makes us think a little more. I think the world is a little bit scared of looking internally. We always point fingers outward and I think that there is something about art and play and creativity and story that I have even encountered through studying people like Carl Jung who gathered the collective stories and found there were common grounds. It’s fascinating because through the collective or through the story or the mythology, people find the individual and through the individual that seems very specific and particular about a particular cultural area, people can find something profound and collective. That is something that I deeply love and resonate with and that’s kind of the aim when I work. It’s the work I do on projects with directors that I love and on characters that portray the complex weird parts of humanity in a way that dares someone else to say, “hey, that could be me” and I can understand it and it makes them reflect I guess. It's kind of the point!

AM: What is your creative process in terms of how you look at getting into the characters that you play?

RD: Yeah, I mean, that’s a complicated one and it really depends on the people and the teams that you are working on and the director. I always believe in surrendering deeply as I think it’s the core of it. I learned that after medical school that life is not a formula and that art is not a formula. I think that the purpose of art is actually to let people know that the exhale is more important than the inhale sometimes. Because if you inhale so much -

AM: I have kind of been learning that and being more aware of that lately.

RD: I know right? That’s what happens! You inhale so much and somehow you have to let go! So I guess that the process is a cocreation. It’s something that in all of my training, it’s about being receptive to the other and also to everything around you and let everything impact you. That’s sort of part of it to the core and with that, without getting too technical because I don’t want to – there is something about coming from within and finding that throughline and kind of making a handshake with the character. I always try to and to find that which is hard. You have to dig deep again to the corners of yourself like the character in The Diplomat. Playing someone who is so different than who you are and you’re trying to find the common ground through both imagination and also your own experiences. I always like to go to the child because of my psychology background looking at the pains and the little buttons that get pushed and how the character tries to build a world and character and persona on top of it. You can kind of layer things up a little bit. The true self and the mask lets say.

AM: What kinds of characters and projects are you drawn to? What do you look for when you decide to attach yourself to a project?

RD: What do I look for? I love to work with certain directors because I love their work and that is always a big thing. When I say that I love their work, it’s not from a personal cool vibe thing. It’s more like going back to what I was saying before. I like directors and projects I suppose that are looking into exploring some complex, taboo, or unspeakable act of human nature at the core. Trying to aim for something specific, cultural, and potentially different cultures that is always something that excites me. Despite that, and despite the specificity, to have a collective relatability at the heart and when I say that, it’s something quite simple and essential about the common human heartbeat. So if you’re doing that, you’re doing quite well. Having said that, I’m really open to exploring all sorts. I’m a musician so I like projects with music, I like projects that demand physical change, I’m also a personal trainer and I’m kind of a freak about accents, dialects, picking up languages. So I always love to work in different areas like that, especially because of my weird and complex background. I have never really been able to be one thing.

AM: The Chosen has become such a phenomenon and I know the 4th season is currently streaming right now. You play Apostle Philip. What drew you to the series and why did you want to be involved in this?

RD: Yes, it is definitely turning into a phenomenon, and it is definitely fascinating to watch. I have been a fan for some time, and it has been really cool to see it grow. I can’t believe it started as a short film and it’s insane!

What’s it like to be part of it? They call it a Family, A Chosen Family and it was quite a big embrace. So when I came, I felt very grateful because like many of the fans, I was a big fan of Philip and the way that character was played. It was an interesting, slightly scary, and extremely honorable experience of joining. I think that what I tried to bring is a lot of love as a fan and a lot of that heartbeat. That was also so deeply reciprocated as I have never seen a set like that where there is so much love and respect and a sense of deeper meaning involved through and through from the kind people in catering that offer me free desserts, to my room for whatever reason – I have a gluten-free diet so that is really sweet, to Dallas Jenkins (What If, The Ride, The Shift) himself and even production.

AM: When you were approaching to play Philip, it’s very unique as Yoshi Barrigas (Six, Criminal Minds, Forty-Seven Days with Jesus) previously played him and now in S4, you are playing him. Did you feel the need to marry the two because you're playing a Biblical character that existed, but now you have the layer of playing someone that was played by someone else in the same production a season apart. How did you approach that as I think that that is a unique situation.

RD: It is, it was very fun. It was fun and challenging. Going back to kindness, I met Dallas on day 1 and he gave me a big embrace and he said do it your own way and you don’t have to replicate anything. Having said that, being a big Harry Potter fan, and seeing the Dumbledore (Editor’s Note: In the movie franchise Richard Harris (Patriot Games, Unforgiven, Gladiator) played the character in the adaptations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. After his death, the character was played by Michael Gambon (Book of Eli, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Judy) in the 6 remaining films of the adaptations) change and certain other characters that changed -

AM: Right!

RD: You feel like as a fandom, you want to see some type of continuity or else it feels jarred. It was kind of a fun challenge and I felt very safe to bring myself which was not so difficult. I really felt connected with Philip when I watched it because of the fact that I had been to 10 schools in 4 different countries and I’m kind of a nomad anyway. People notice that I can sleep anywhere on set and I’m known to do that especially since the last 2 years the work in Egypt, in Europe, and in America you’re always on the go! I understood that nomadic side and living in the wild and living in a simple way and also I think because of my personal journey in psychology and having that interest in Jungian therapy, I have done a lot of soul searching and facing the different difficult parts and my therapist as well as other people say that I am kind of an old soul. People have said I’m an old man in a young guy's body which is not necessarily the funnest thing to say or to receive sometimes! I’d rather be young! So that part wasn’t so hard for me to relate to the heartbeat. Someone who has lost as in S4, Phillip is losing his mentor, and I had a therapist that passed away after a long journey and there was a lot of common ground there and on the other hand, it was a very interesting process along the lines of what you learn in drama school in terms of the craft. Sort of the body work, the dialect work, I watched the previous actor’s work who portrayed Phillip, obsessively and I was inspired by people like De Niro (Taxi Driver, Cape Fear, Goodfellas) who took over Marlon Brando’s (Last Tango in Paris, On the Waterfront, Apocalypse Now) role in The Godfather and I felt that he did that so I felt that I should probably take a lead from his papers. So I obsessively followed that, and I tried to sustain some level of mannerisms and aspects of him the best way that I can to keep some continuity and more so because as a fan, I would have wanted to see that.

AM: S5 is currently in production correct?

RD: That’s right!

AM: More often than not, people are always talking about it and where they are in the season or bingeing the previous seasons to get current.

You also have additional projects coming out that I’m also excited for. Can you tell us a bit about The Astronaut which has Kate Mara (Transcendence, House of Cards, Class Of ‘09) which we love and Laurence Fishburne (Matrix franchise, Clipped, Megalopolis) which is amazing. What can you tell me about it and who do you play?

RD: Sure I can! It was a deep honor to work on that. It was a very lucky encounter that got me on that project, and I was so grateful to work on it. I was offered to work as the NASA Director, Ethan Marshall. Going back to the old soul thing, they said this guy needs to be 50 and I’m not. Even though I have a beard and I may not look young.

AM: You still look under 50 even with the beard.

RD: When I shave, I will show you and I will prove it!

So it was interesting and I had to think again, both from an age and experience wise in terms of how he would embody things around him. The fact that it was a NASA leader, I tend to try to be very obsessive and very inspired again by what I was talking before about shaking handshake with the character, you have to let the character direct you and if that’s not happening how can you reflect that back to someone. I let myself be so consumed with all the parts of the character that may be different to me. So I went to the library and got a bunch of different books and everything I could get, videos, footage, etc. about NASA projects and I basically had to do 2 Doctorate degrees in physics and engineering in a matter of weeks which was a challenge and it was doomed to fail. We gave it a shot and it gave me a lot of interesting knowledge into that whole world of NASA and it just was very interesting. I was particularly happy about it because I had been working very hard to convince the industry that I am not just the Middle Eastern and Iranian guy, so having that honorable position to work as an everyman kind of Ethan Marshall guy was a good step in the direction that I would love to go. So that was a big happy moment for me and the team was amazing as well! Kate is amazing and it was such an honor to work with her!

AM: You also have Reading Lolita in Tehran which will also be out this year and I know it’s based on the bestselling memoir of the same name. Can you tell me about the film/book and who are you playing in this?

RD: That was a different one. As much as The Astronaut happened very quickly, Reading Lolita has been almost a 2-year journey! We knew that the film was being made and Eran Riklis (Miral, A Borrowed Identity, Spider in the Web) had us read for a while and he is a genius and I adore him. The project took a long time and I think it’s because he wanted to have Golshifteh Farahani (Girls of the Sun, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Brother and Sister) on. There was a revolution in the 1980's in Iran and then what ensues is a cultural revolution that went on for a few years. It was interesting because it was a real-life historical event and it was also one that I know that my mother went through as well as other Iranians that I know. They have those memories, her university closed down, she had to pick up painting underground because she was studying fashion and they don’t do fashion anymore because that’s now against the religious political viewpoints of the time. So it was a very interesting period, both historically and personally and I think that it is one of those stories where you read about something in the corner of Iran about something that we may not know exactly about, but it can say a lot about, the level of chaos that follows after a revolution where people expect some kind of immediate euphoria. The euphoria comes, but then after it’s some kind of peace or Lion King kind of story – that "Pride Land" has some type of moments that potentially might not come. So, that’s the kind of fun thing that I love about Reading Lolita.

I love the character Bahri which means maritime or the sea in Arabic. I found that really cool. Something about this guy is so interested and in love with literature and art. He is an artist at heart. But at the same time, he is very deeply enamored by his teacher and lecturer Azar Nafisi played by Golshifteh Farahani - which for me was a dream lifetime goal to work with. He’s oscillating between the two places of that plus being part of the Islamic society out of need and out of his personal reasons, but it is interesting because again it’s one of those great complex characters where you would make a judgement and say he sucks because he’s part of this tyrannical group and how dare he, especially the way he is describing the book. His writings of Huckleberry Finn and what he thinks of that, but then also secretly watching Azar Nafisi, it’s one of those where you don’t know what to do with it. But you see the human spirit and the heart underneath it. It was a lovely thing. I saw him as a caged dove.

AM: Are there any other upcoming projects that you have coming up that we should keep an eye out for besides the 2 we just talked about?

RD: I can’t wait for S5 of The Chosen. The script is amazing and I can’t talk about it. The moments are great and I think it’s going to be kicking things up a notch! Other than that, there are some things in the pipeline that are coming up. I need to keep those a mystery for now.

AM: We were talking about your background obviously before you became an actor, your background in psychology, going to Medical School and all of those things that you did, why were you initially interested in those areas and why is mental health so important to you?

RD: Thanks for asking that! I think that when I was 15 or 16, I would always think that I wanted to do something that make a massive impact on the world and not from an ego standpoint, but in a way to make the world a better place. Over the next 3 or 4 years, slowly this idea emerged that I would love to set up a psychotherapy center particularly for children and adolescence. I think that my reason for that was in my travels and attending 10 different schools, I had friends from Korea, India, and Iran – I went to American schools and those in England etc. Everyone has some sort of trauma whether it was acute or chronic, something from their families or from school and they are carrying these things around. They would talk to me about it, but if someone could actually hold these people the level of impact that it would have on the next generation it would be massive. That was kind of the drive. I kind of went on this big self-discovery as I am a fan of The Dark Knight so I was on a sacrificial Batman journey saying that I am going to make my life about this. It led to a bit of challenges when it came to my illness in medical school, but it was interesting because this diagonal path that emerged with acting – the dream is still there. I feel it every time I get success it comes from God, The Universe, The Collective, or however you want to put it. I feel very humbled and blessed. It makes me want to save up the finances and all of the wonderful blessings that come with it as part of the plan to hopefully become an advocate and to create this center for the future and serendipitously, I ran into someone else that had the same dream so it’s nice when you surrender and the weird stuff that happens.

That was the main thing and I did a lot of personal therapy and I love Jung because he looked for the common as opposed to the difference and in all of my travels, that is something that speaks to me as well.

AM: When you’re not on set, how are you taking time for yourself as you’re busy and you’re focused on doing the impact for others – but you have to fuel and infuse yourself.

RD: I’m learning that myself and am learning to do that more! I am a bit of a workaholic and a bit of an obsessive. But not from an ego place, I am on a mission to make things happen that is good for me, but also for everyone else. That takes a lot of energy and I think you should give your 100% and then you surrender. It either works out or it will work better – there is no other way. Even if there is pain or suffering, it’s only for a while and it just means that something good is on the horizon.

What do I do? I have a very nice therapist who has taken over the job of the previous one who had died from COVID. Jokes aside, that is very helpful because when you’re trying to constantly be on set and you get exhausted, I’m a very big advocate for it.

On the other end, piano is a big part of my life. That’s where I find myself! Ludovico Einaudi, I’d like to learn his entire repertoire – a lot of classical. That’s how I started. Engaging in art –drawing, painting, playing piano since I was 7 or 8. I sometimes write – I would say that it is emotional vomit, but some would call it very bag poetry. But that’s really helpful just to get in touch and then other than that I try to just have a cross between work and not work. I love this art and I love this medium and currently I’m on a break from The Chosen so I am in NY immersing myself in theaters and going to Lincoln Center and watching my heroes like Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, The Talented Mr Ripley, The Hunger Games franchise) and John C Reilly (Gangs of New York, Moonbase 8, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) doing True West and then watching films from all over the world. I love to get inspired by the unknown as opposed to the known. I like to open myself to new places and then try to keep healthy the best that you can physically – exercise, sleep, read – the basics!

AM: Haha right? Taking a shower! Try to live like a normal person!

RD: Haha I just took one a couple of hours ago! So I’m doing well – coffee, black coffee.

IG @rezadiako93

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | OC Ryan West