Bardia Seiri Talks Playing Koosh in Netflix’s INCOMING, High School Coming of Age Comedies + MORE

my name is B Siri and I play cush in the movie incoming coming out August 23rd and you're watching pop culture with [Music] Pat welcome back to pop culture with Pat so I am so excited to be joined by today's guest today we are going to be talking all things Netflix's upcoming comedy film incoming with Bia SII who plays Kush in the film thank you so much for coming on the show today Bia thank you so much thank you for having me you're very welcome so I wanted to kind of just first actually start off and just say that there will be there might be some possible spoilers about the film in here so make sure you check it out on Netflix it's hitting on Netflix this week so make sure you watch that come back and watch the interview uh but I just wanted to kind of start things off you know for the interview too for people to just to kind of get to know you a little bit Bia how did where did your love for film you know kind of come from and how did you just kind of get started and acting in the first place well it all started back when I was living in Iran and um my my dad was actually a filmm filmmaker and actor so he would go in and out of the house uh every single day and one of the days he asked me if I wanted to join him and I started as Shadow to him a little bit I was super young and um I just started to go into more and more and I fell in love with after that it was just a Snowball Effect that's really cool that it's something that you and your dad shared that you got to kind of work on it together was there like growing up was there any particular like films or or TV shows or anything that you watched where you're like you know that's something that I really want to do you know as I get older I say a lot of um I don't remember a lot of the stuff that got me in acting but I know stuff that keeps inspiring me to this day like uh the show Barry by Bill hater great show I've watched it three times um and uh a lot of the movies that are kind of like incoming super bad Project X all these really kept me motivated because I I love party movies I love dramas uh I love dramatic comedies um but yeah it's all these movies kept kept me loving this industry and what they do perfect I mean we'll get along just fine then because like the high school team comedy sub genre is probably like one of my favorite to watch so seeing the trailer for for incoming I was just like oh man this is you know right up my alley I have a soft spot for for these films in particular and uh yeah you play you know you play cou in incoming which I you know hits Netflix this week um this is your feature film debut can you just talk about kind of making the transition of you know going into a a big major film like this I think my last thing I did was uh my last big thing that I did was Graz anatomy and obviously that was a show a series and it's really different uh one because it's a TV show going into a movie and one going from a uh drama going into comedy so it was a 180 flip um but I really enjoyed it it was definitely exciting that I mean my dreams of being in like a super bad froger x movie came through a party movie um but it was definitely super super exciting and Grace Anatomy I mean that's no small role I mean that show it's been around for for so long now and has such a a big audience so I think probably something kind of good to to get you started before making the transition into a big feature film like this is there anything that you learned from the experience of you know working on your first major picture that you feel like is going to help you with your career kind of moving forward definitely a lot of the people that I worked with um Dave and John the directors um were definitely very special to my heart because they um they're really helpful they talk you through the scenes some of the scenes where you don't understand uh or you're going in the wrong direction they'll kind of shift you they won't pick you up and place you where they want but they'll shift you in the right direction and see what you Branch out into which I really love uh I love those those kind of directors and I I had mentioned that you know like previously like this is one of my favorite kind of genres that just like the high school comedy genre I mean films like American Pie 10 Things I Hate About You She's all that super bad and stuff like that uh you named a couple but can you kind of just go through some of your favorite teen comedy films and then did you watch any of those to kind of prepare for filming incoming so what I did I I've actually never watched American Pie um gota watch that the two prominent ones on the top of my head are always super bad in Project X One this isn't teen ComEd this is a pre-teen it's good boys um that um that one I really loved um but what I prepared for this role um I I saw that it was dve and John and um I saw that they they made the mick so I proceeded to watch uh the entire the entirety of the mick um to prepare for this role because um that show is a comedy and this is a comedy and I wanted to see how Dave and John um perceive comedy and how they look at things and how they they think what's funny and I would try to point that in that direction yeah comedy is kind of a I mean it's a tough genre because it just varies from person to person what everybody thinks is is funny so it's like you never know what's going to land you know with people but I can tell you uh watching the movie I got to watch it last night and there were some scenes where just like some of the the shenanigans that happened I was I was laughing pretty hard so you guys you know succeeded as far as Vos how were you uh how were you able to connect with Kush and was there any aspects of him that maybe were a little bit harder for you to initially connect with when you kind of first read about your character definitely the cush is um almost the complete opposite of me uh he's I mean he's a complete douche um that was probably the most difficult part to do um how but something that I I really connected with and kind of open the gates for me to get into this character was just the four boys and Kush going into high school and um I was a freshman before I I've I know the feeling of being in a big new place um with people 10 times bigger than you 10 times stronger than you uh that have more experiences and they're older than you and this that really helped me put everything into perspective and play the role right and I feel it must be fun though too to kind of play a character that's just so totally complete completely opposite of you too where you said this is I definitely could I definitely could uh Ranch out and like go over the top a little bit it was definitely super fun and I'm sure probably like watching the film to watching it back now kind of seeing your performance you're probably like man who who is this guy this is not not me at all as far as like out of all the characters in the film who would be most likely as yourself who would you see yourself hanging out with at a party like as yourself not as the character like K I'd say I'd say it's a good question Ramon uh who uh Ramone Reed um I I think I'd honestly get along with I'm really thinking into this I've never even asked this question before uh I think all four boys really because they're all so different but um we all just clicked really fast uh both I mean the characters and the actual the actual actors so honestly I'd say I mean I'd probably if I was in a party alone I'd probably hang out with them the whole night yeah yeah and speaking of you know those guys too working with you know your your friends in the film can you just talk about you know working with your guys some of your favorite memories with them and how you kind of developed that that Chemistry Between all you guys because was this your first time meeting them all Yes um rol and Rafa uh vaguely knew each other uh from another project they did um but me Mason Ramon Rafa were all basically strangers uh and when we got to the table read the first day um I interact with them a lot because we went in there we said hi and we started doing the table read but the first day of shooting where we went to the school to shoot the hallway scenes that's when we started clicking because then between takes um and between turnarounds we sat and um one one thing that really connected us was um crafty the food I mean we we walk H we'd walk a bit of crafty we' get to know each other on the way there see what we liked got to know what we liked over there and then on the way back we got to know each other and I think that first day we really really hit it off and uh I I appreciate it a lot yeah I know it's cool that you guys almost had just like that that in instant connection between you and the characters cuz you know that's not necessarily doesn't always happen with people especially if they you know they've never met before or anything and do you have like you know any favorite scenes of you guys working together or any like just memories that come to your mind about you know working with them even if it's kind of like maybe just hanging out behind the scenes or I'd say a lot of the the the great times and the connections were definitely uh in between takes where we sat down and actually talked uh or doing lunches uh but definitely onset I'm thinking uh because you in this movie uh we get pretty much split apart yeah uh but the beginning and during the school scenes that's where we all are actually together um so when we're sitting down by the lunch tables and we're talking about the party um that was that was probably one of the memorable moments when we all worked together yeah I mean you guys were all yeah you were like split up you know at times during the film but you were all at some point at the party just like kind of like different you know different areas I imagine shooting just like the party scenes overall must have been a ton of fun oh yeah I mean definitely it Dave and John their creativity is through the roof I mean I walked into this house and I actually thought if like the camera's aside it was an actual party happening like wow this is this is this is crazy that's it's pretty cool and um who who out of like the the characters like who is you said obviously said that you're kind of the complete opposite but who is most like their character in real life I'd say um on different levels we're all diff we're all um we're all alike and different in our rules but I'd say uh Mason who plays bench um definitely he's branched out now but when I first met him on the set the first day he was like mirror his character which I I found out I found pretty funny but uh yeah it's definitely definitely aming and what about when it comes to shooting like some of the like the more comedic scenes was there one of you guys that was more likely to to break because you know a joke was made or or something funny happened who was kind of the the one out of the group that was more most likely to do that uh well that that would be me uh I was probably the most unprofessional person on Set uh but the person that really made me laugh was Ramon I mean his F screams comedy uh every time like he doesn't have to say anything like it would be my closeup and this his face would make me laugh and the way he would say stuff if like in the movie some of the stuff that I was I was watching the movie the other day and like man he's really funny even when he try to be he's just hilarious yeah no and I definitely I got friends like that too where sometimes you're just you talking about something it could be something like serious that's like going on and that you just like look at them and you're just like oh cuz you're you're going to make me laugh when you you know look back as far as just like filming the movie um is there any other like kind of memories that come to you know mind just like favorite things that you'll always remember from this experience you know moving forward definitely the friendships that I've made uh the unforgettable people that I've met um the incredible casting crew the crew is insanely nice insanely helpful um the directors are incredible the the cast I mean talented really really talented funny um but I mean that's that's probably what's most more memorable like not the movie aside the people that I met on set on and off were what made me get up in the morning and start playing cush yeah just getting get to hang out with all those people and be be in their their presence yeah I mean it's some sometimes you know these projects it's you you work with people for you know a couple months or whatever and sometimes those relationships that you form or something that you know last a lifetime so hopefully we get to see you guys you know pop up in some other projects together in the future and just to kind of wrap things up for you Bas there you know what what is next for you you know after incoming and where can people kind of keep up to date with your work moving forward as of right now I mean I'm going full steam in into incoming I I want this to be the best movie um that has came out this entire year um that's that's really it really yeah are you on do you have like any socials do you have like Instagram and stuff where people can kind of give you a follow up to date yeah I have um I have an Instagram ATB Siri um that's where you can really get into my life you can see what I'm doing perfect well definitely I'll make sure to put the link to your uh you know your Instagram Down Below in the description so people can give you a follow definitely make sure guys go check out incoming like I said I watched it last night and number of scenes had me laughing pretty hard I miss these kind of movies I feel like we don't get enough of these you know funny comedies you know as as much anymore and so it was nice to to see one of these again and uh B I just want to say thank you so much for your time it was great and getting to to chat with you about your career and uh incoming and yeah congratulations on the film and you're welcome back anytime in the future thank you man I mean this is really fun thank you so much you're very welcome my name is B Siri and I play cush in the movie incoming coming out August 23rd and you're watching pop culture with Pat