Jim Sarbh on Navigating The Age of PR: 'Greatest Role Most Actors Seem to Play is Their Public Persona'

The actor says authenticity and image management are pulling further apart, and admits that insecurity never goes away.
Jim Sarbh
Jim Sarbh
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Jim Sarbh can't fake it. The actor, who has been in the industry for over a decade, says his endevour is to always be, no matter what, himself.

"I'm quite emotional. I have feelings and I let those feelings out," he tells The Hollywood Reporter India.

"In a world of very pretty PR, where essentially the greatest role most actors seem to be playing is their public persona, I don't get that. Or I haven't had the media training to teach me that. I haven't been taught since childhood how to approach that." 

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Jim Sarbh

Sarbh also feels he's mellowed over the years, especially in how he reacts to some "intrusive" media questions.

"If somebody has the audacity to ask me that in an interview, then surely I can question it, right?" he says, adding that as everything becomes more PR-friendly, and audiences clamour for authenticity, "the two are drifting further and further apart."

His alternative to this is a real exchange. "People should be allowed to be impatient. People should be allowed to express their emotions and say what they have to say. It should be a discussion. You can disagree. You can criticise. You can converse in a fun way without it being demeaning or intimidating."

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Jim Sarbh

Asked what he's insecure about after a decade in the industry, Sarbh says the feeling never leaves. "Insecurities are a never-ending battle. The people who are truly not insecure are saints, because I think they would have managed to deal with their hypocrisy. Every other human being that's not a saint is basically a hypocrite, and inevitably insecurity will creep in. You could be feeling sad but also feeling better than others at the same time."

The Hollywood Reporter India
www.hollywoodreporterindia.com