How Maaz Ali unlocked his inner punk rock Buddha for ‘Record of Ragnarok’

“What the hell is Buddha?” Maaz Ali, the American Horror Story star who performs the English-language voice for the character (originally voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura in Japanese), once found himself asking. It’s a ripe anime part for the Pakistani Indian actor and dancer (who also lent his voice for video games, such as the role as Chairman Rose in Detective Pikachu), considering that The Enlightened One has a reputation of “perpetual adolescence” to other gods and emanates silly snack-munching quirks, a microcosm of the anime’s comedy coupled with worldly stakes for humanity. 

To say the least, Ali knows the stakes remain colossal in season three, which dropped on Netflix on Wednesday. Fresh from his showdown, Buddha is operating behind the scenes, but he’s no less involved as an advocate for humanity. I sat down with Ali to chat about finding the punk rock Buddha within himself, his own purification ritual, his nicest customs border experience, the Zen of a Gen Z-like Buddha, and how he lives in the present moment.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Caroline Cao: Did you grow up with any famous myths or folklore as a kid and anything that sticks with you? Because that’s what Record of Ragnarok is about.
Maaz Ali: I came from a Muslim family. I think that one of the cool things about being a Muslim is that it's really about the purification of yourself, “man in the mirror” type of thing, where you really got to look at yourself and figure out how to become a better person. And there’s a whole science to breaking down the ailments and the diseases of the spiritual heart. So those are like jealousy, rage, anger, miserliness, greed, right? I always found what was really cool about other deities is that they all represent the human condition. You will have, maybe, the god of love. You'll have a god of war. It all touches upon the state of mankind. That was always the bridge I found between my faith and what I was taught growing up. Everyone is ultimately just trying to be a better person.

In "Record of Ragnarok," Buddha is a mortal man who ascended to god status through nirvana and qualified to live amongst gods.

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CC: What was your relationship to or knowledge of Buddha or Buddhism growing up?
MA: Growing up, I think my teachers revered him very highly. I think there's a big part of our (Muslim) faith that draws from the practices that Buddhists inherit. One of my teachers growing up actually told me that he met a Buddhist, who he would see every day at the grocery store, who was just quiet. They didn't say one word. And he asked them one day, “Every time I interact with you, you just kind of give me a nod, or you just smile, wave, and that was it. Is there a particular reason for that?” He said that she was just trying to train herself to just be more present and also just to speak less, a purification process for her soul, for herself. I remember that was my takeaway with Buddhist people and for Buddhism, is that it’s very much about finding that inner peace, about crushing your ego. You are what you get, being Zen, right? It’s understanding that the way the world works is out of your control, and you just have to be at peace and okay with it, and that will ultimately bring you happiness.

When I first auditioned for Buddha, I went into it with that mentality. “Okay, what do I know about the Buddha? Right?” He is at peace with himself, very low ego. He never really puts on a big front. It's just kind of what you see, is what you get. And then I was thinking, “Okay, now, if he's in Record of Ragnarok, if he's fighting people, if he's in a combative state, what would he look like?” The result I ended up getting was sort of a naked voice and naked being that it just ended up being my own voice. 

CC: Was there ever a time you acted like this particular (rebellious) Buddha in your life?
MA: Oh, good question. I could probably look back and be like, “No, I was a good kid.” No, I was a bratty preteen. If I acted like Buddha, any time in my life, it was definitely around the time when I was like that. That’s exactly what Buddha is and how he acts. So I'm sure I wanted to watch TV when I shouldn't be or when I was wrestling with my friends at school when I shouldn't. Yeah, I was probably just being a nuisance. 

Maaz Ali has also lent his voice for video games, such as the role as Chairman Rose in "Detective Pikachu."

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CC: Do you have personal purification rituals, like meditation or breathing or something else?
MA: Aside from (me) trying to pray five times a day, I think that if you take the moment to breathe it in and say everything correctly, slowly, you walk away refreshed again. You're just like, “Okay, I'm now starting my next segment of the day.” Another thing I'm trying to do is first thing in the morning or last thing at night is just kind of sit and just not have anything to do. I think we are so quick to suddenly wake up, jump up on our phones, check our email, check our Instagram, start texting people, go on WhatsApp, and see how many new images and videos my mom has sent me on WhatsApp. I feel like if you start slowly on your terms, then you are in more control of the day. And also when you end the night that way too. I think it's healthier, and I feel like you end up sleeping a lot better as well. 

CC: When the new Superman movie came out, there emerged a common quote: “Kindness is the new punk rock.” I think that's what describes this Buddha. He “does what he wants” but also what he wants just happens to be the right thing. He helps people find their inner happiness, and he's giving a proverbial middle finger to social orders to accomplish such.
MA: He’s very, as a Millennial, he's very Gen Z in this regard. I think one of the really cool things about Gen Z is that they do not take crap from anyone. They have seen certain behaviors that can lead to certain traumas and certain fallacies in the world, in government, and in order. I think Gen Z is so against that. They just have a very punk rock attitude when it comes to civil rights, when it comes to everybody having a piece of the pie, so to speak. If you're not “about it,” then they will ridicule you, and they will make sure that it turns into a very angry and dangerous mosh pit for you ASAP, and you're not going to come out body surfing on the other end. You're gonna be lost in the shuffle, and it's gonna be a very scary time for you. That’s what’s cool about Gen Z, and I do feel like Buddha’s like that too, “Forget the social order, forget this crap. If the guy wants to eat, let him eat. He has a way to reach happiness and spiritual nirvana that may be different from all of you” (referring to an incident in the anime in which Buddha feeds a famished monk).

CC: Have you met any fans of your Buddha?
MA: The other day I was coming back from out of the country, and I was at customs at LAX. It was the nicest customs agent I’ve ever met. He looked at my passport. “I know him from somewhere, dude. Hold on.” He just looked at me and I was like, “I've done this. I've done that. I said, American Horror Story.” “Nah. Keep going.” And I was like, it's gonna be embarrassing if he doesn't get it. But then I mentioned Record of Ragnarok. He's like, “I watched that.” I was like, “I'm Buddha.” He just handed my passport back so hard. “That's right, that's you.” He got so excited. He's like, “Bro, Buddha, you have a good day, man, you have a good day.” It was the nicest customs experience I ever had in my life.

Last season, Buddha declared himself a champion for the mortals that the gods seek to annihilate.

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CC: How did your Buddha voice evolve?
MA: Mike (the ADR director) and I had worked on really making him an adolescent, a preteen, an angsty kid. He (Buddha) can kind of flip on a dime whenever he feels like it, right? And I think once I started leaning into that, then I was finding the breath a little bit more and that way of existing with everyone. By the time season three came around, I've been lucky enough to really sit with Buddha for a long time to hear enough of myself and read enough of the manga to know about him. I just think he’s 100 percent attitude, and he finds humor in everything as he traverses through the world.

What I like about (Record of Ragnarok) is that every hyped fight highlights something regarding the human condition: how we deal with attempts to do good, how we deal with self-righteousness, how we deal with power, and how we deal with jealousy. The negativity that drives us. It’s just the kind of reminder at the end of the day that everybody has a story. What's cool about the end of each fight is the respectful, “thank you for this fight.” Yeah, they (the winner) shake hands (with their opponent) before they kill that person, and then that person accepts their death.

CC: How will you live as Buddha today?
MA: Just be unapologetic. I think just developing a little bit more, as you said, that punk rock energy of being unapologetic about doing things and moving through life. I think it's a good reminder for me to just be that.