Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil recently revealed that he declined an offer from The Revenant director Alejandro González Iñárritu for a Hollywood film, explaining that he let go of the opportunity as he wasn’t willing to compromise on his natural accent.
In an interview with Cue Studio during the promotions of his new film Oduṁ Kuthira Chadum Kuthira, the 43-year-old actor looked back at the time he was presented with the Hollywood offer.
“What didn’t work for him [Iñárritu] was my accent. To fix that, he said I would need to stay in the US for about four months, during which there would be no payment. That’s why I let go of the opportunity,” Fahadh said.
Known for films like Amores Perros, The Revenant and Birdman, the Oscar-winning filmmaker had connected with Fahadh over a video call. Fahadh said that he didn’t feel the need to put in the effort to undergo a speech transformation for the sake of a movie, something that many actors would be willing to do.
However, the Pushpa 2 actor doesn’t regret missing the chance to work with the acclaimed director because he’s grateful of what he has received from Malayalam cinema.
“All the magic in my life has happened here. If any change is to happen, I want it to happen here itself. I don’t feel the need to go outside Kerala in search of that change or magic,” he said.
Fahadh's statement has fans divided on social media, with some yearning to watch the actor in an Iñárritu film, while others say it was a huge miss.
“God I would have loved FF in a Inarritu film,” one of them wrote. “Huge miss. It would have been a better choice than the Pushpa series had he chosen to work on the accent. Nevertheless, it's his preference,” another fan commented.