Sachin Bhatt makes it look easy

I was running late and I was mortified. It was one of those LA mornings where driving into West Hollywood seemed like a breeze, but when I finally hit the road and reached Laurel Canyon, it was backed up—a lot. My drive time increased by 5 minutes, then 10, then 15 minutes. Well sh*t. I had scored an interview with someone whose career I truly admire in the entertainment industry, and I was going to be late.

When I finally arrive at First of All, a very cute traditional Mexican breakfast spot on Santa Monica Boulevard, Sachin Bhatt is already seated in the back. Although we had been following each other on social media for a few years, this was our first in-person meeting. Dressed super casually in a cream-colored hoodie, he has an ease about him as we hug hello and order our coffee and breakfast. That’s what I notice right away: his unbothered energy, and cool, calm and collected demeanor. Bhatt’s presence immediately helps me shed the stress of my drive and I  quickly lock in for our conversation. 

And as we start talking, I slowly have a realization: Bhatt just makes it all look easy. 

Fresh off the success of the first and only season of Boots (Netflix cancelling this was absolute sacrilege), on which he played Major Wilkinson, Bhatt already has several new projects in the pipeline. You may have seen his previous work in shows including The Company You Keep, Queer as Folk, and Grace and Frankie, or in films such as Monogamish (which he wrote). 

Growing up in St. Louis in a traditional Indian household in a predominantly white community, the South Asian actor was exposed to Indian art and culture early on. “My dad owned a motel, but he also was a finance teacher at a university and a charcoal artist. And then my sister went to college to study Bharatanatyam (classical Indian dance) in India for six years,” Bhatt says. “The arts were definitely in my family. My dad brought a lot of musicians from India over, so Indian art was very much part of my upbringing.”

As we speak, I realize there are many parallels in our personal stories. I was also exposed to Indian art and music through my father. But being a second-generation Indian American, I rejected these parts of myself and my culture early on in my life. I was curious if it was the same for Bhatt. “I think I shunned it for sure. I was definitely trying to fit in, in school and I always kind of felt like (I was) on the other side.” he says. “I think music and art and dance all helped fill that space that I was kind of running away from. It wasn't until after college, and I got the lead in Bombay Dreams, which was a musical, and that kind of got me back in touch with Indians and connecting.” 

Bhatt and I are also both openly gay South Asian men. To this day, the South Asian community isn’t traditionally welcoming of LGBTQ+ identities, relationships, or culture. Representation is sparse. And there is an inherent tradition of hiding feelings or emotional struggles—to pretend like everything is great. Bhatt had his own experience with these issues. “South Asian parents, you just don't talk about anything. You put on a good face. You keep doing your work and push forward,” he says. “There was definitely a struggle of hiding all parts of me. Which was hard because then I was never authentically me, with making friends and being seen.”

Once he entered college at Indiana University, Bhatt became immersed in the music and art scene—which was inherently queer and which gave him a sense of liberation to accept his sexuality. He soon came out to his two sisters separately when he was 18 and 25. Though it wasn’t until he was 30 that he flew home to St. Louis and officially told his parents. “It wasn't dramatic, but it was a quiet kind of processing. They were like, ‘We love you,’” he says. “But my mom was still at times being like, ‘Hey, there's this woman in India.’ But I'm like, ‘No mom, I'm not interested.’ And now it's very different. My dad (who died in 2019), was fond of my husband. And my mom is very fond of my husband. We're always traveling to see them and they come to stay with us here. It's great, but definitely took an adjustment period.”

After embracing his sexuality in college and quickly finding success as an actor, going on tour with a few theater productions, including Bombay Dreams and West Side Story, Bhatt’s life took an interesting turn. He booked his first lead in The Ode, a feature film that brought him to LA, and was the impetus for his move to the city. But once he found professional representation here, Bhatt was told to once again hide his sexuality. “New York theater, no one cares. You can just live your life,” he says. “And then coming to LA was kind of a shock. Going back in the closet. I had a manager who was like, ‘Don't tell anyone. I don't know if you are, but don't show that side. Don't (do this or that),’ which got into my head. So it took a while to find who I was.” Although Bhatt never officially “came out” publicly, it was during his time on the Peacock reboot of Queer as Folk that he openly discussed his queer identity in the press.

As he continued to pursue acting in LA, he also had to navigate the stereotypical mold of the roles being offered to South Asian actors. “In New York, there were a lot more stereotypical roles where I'm going out for also Middle Eastern, and everything had an accent,” Bhatt says. “In LA, I think I was going out for any ethnicity, the lead guy sometimes. And then I was like stereotypical something, with an accent or, or always a sidekick best friend.”

Bhatt quickly broke through that mold, and soon landed guest spots on many popular TV shows, leading up to his series regular roles on The Company You Keep and Queer as Folk. He was also auditioning for lead characters regularly. But in an industry that still struggles to feature people of color in prominent acting roles, even though BIPOC audiences are the majority of streaming viewers, Bhatt still questioned the system. “For me, I’m getting auditions for the leads, but are they going to pick an Indian guy? That’s the question. Do they want to invest in that?” he says. “I get really tired on TV if I only see the same ethnicity. I want to see Brown and Black people…and their stories, and what they have to say, and also just to see their skin color on TV because it is so pretty.”

Which leads us to what Bhatt considers his breakout role as Major Wilkinson. Although he’s only in a few key scenes, his onscreen presence and storyline made a huge impact with audiences. Unfortunately, despite the success of the series (viewership for the series peaked at number two on Netflix's global weekly chart, generating 9.4 million views during its second week on the platform, and receiving 90 percent critical and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes), it was canceled after only one season. Which raised the question of whether Bhatt thinks queer and BIPOC creators have to overperform in order to achieve even moderate success. He agreed, saying, "you have to be a better storyteller, I think, with queer, with Brown stories, because they’re just going to say no. They’re going to say there’s not an audience for it. It’s not going to change unless we continue to advocate for ourselves and the stories that we want out there.” Which may be why Bhatt is writing his first feature film, in addition to pursuing more acting roles. A story that is near and dear to his heart, and highlights non-traditional families through a queer lens.

As we wrap up breakfast and our conversation, and say our goodbyes, I think back to my initial impression of Bhatt. And what I realized in that moment wasn’t that he makes it all look easy, but it is his ease with himself—the embodiment of who he is throughout his journey. With his family. In the entertainment industry. He isn’t easily shaken. Instead, Bhatt walks with the certainty of someone who knows he is on the path that is meant for him. And as someone who had already admired Bhatt for his work, I drove home from our meeting with a newfound inspiration for my own path in this industry.