A self-avowed sci-fi nerd, a gym rat and oh yeah, a gifted actor, Sachin Sahel is turning heads in the new showThe 100, an eerie post apocalyptic thriller that is keeping its viewers guessing. Here Sachin shares thoughts on coming up as an actor, working on the show and his undying love for Back to the Future.

YOUNG ADULT: What is the most exciting part of being involved in new show The 100? What appealed to you about this script in particular?

SACHIN SAHEL: The most exciting part? Oh you mean besides being in a post apocalyptic show where I play a doctor…IN SPACE? Haha, truthfully I love me some sci fi, but other than that it’s the amount I get to learn.  I am lucky enough to be up in ‘The Ark’ where every day I get to act alongside Paige Turco, Henry Ian Cusick and Isaiah Washington, and these actors have seen and done everything you can in this industry and being able to watch them work for a whole season has taught me so much and is something I wouldn’t give up for anything.

YA: Describe your character Jackson. Who is he? What about him most resembles you?

SS: Jackson is the apprentice to the head doctor on the show, played by Paige Turco, and he resembles me in that, like I said before, I am watching and learning working alongside her and the rest of these veteran actors trying to follow their lead. In this show Jackson is trying to absorb as much as he can on the fly in this new world and these new circumstances into which they have been thrown, and he has to do it quick because peoples’ lives are literally in his hands. In my eyes, they are in his hands and Jackson’s life is in mine.

YA: You’re also involved in another interesting project, Only Human with Jamie Lee Curtis. Any interesting tidbits on that? 

SS: There’s not much I can really say about it until they release more news, but what I can say is Jamie Lee Curtis is even cooler in person, the script is amazing (written by David Marshall Grant) and it is directed by Gavin O’Connor (director of Warrior) so you know it’s going to be good.

YA: Any fun stories to happen off camera while on set for any of your projects?

SS: I get most of my scenes on The 100 with Paige and we always try to have as much fun with everyone as possible, but this one day I remember we walked into a cafeteria scene and it had to be very serious but every time we walked in Ian would make a different face, wave or get the extras to start staring at us and we couldn’t keep it together. That guy is always trying to see how prepared you are haha. I think we got one good take and we moved on because it was all they were going to get out of me with him and his shenanigans.

YA:  What has been the best acting or professional advice you’ve received? Who are you dying to work with?

SS: Best acting advice I ever got was from my long time acting coach Debra Podowski who told me, “If you don’t want it bad enough someone else will and the person who wants it more, gets it.” It took a year or two for that one to sink in but ever since I listened to it and stuck my nose to the grindstone, things have only looked up.

As for whom I want to work with, one day I want to be in a scene with Jeff Goldblum, Kyle Chandler, Paul Giamatti, Stanley Tucci or Will Smith.  I have all those names prepared off the top of my head. Any of those will do and I can die a happy man; everything that those guys have done makes me want to work harder.

YA:  If you could play any role from any film or TV show in history, who would it be and why?

SS: MARTY MCFLY IN BACK TO THE FUTURE. I don’t know how many interviews I am going to mention Back to The Future in but it’s just so far ahead of anything else in my head it’s impossible not to.  It would be so difficult to do anything close to what Michael J. Fox did but that is my answer, without hesitation.

YA:  What other pursuits are you involved in, other than acting?

SS: I love the gym and playing basketball. If I am not sitting in front of my typewriter doing script work or watching movies, I am on a court playing basketball or in the gym attempting to lift something too heavy for me. THE RAPTORS WERE ROBBED… just saying.

YA:   What would you say is your favorite Young Adult story, book or film?

SS: Since I was forced to read it for class in grade 7, The Giver has always stuck in my mind.  How does a writer explain someone seeing color for the first time or feeling feelings for the first time and have it make sense and make YOU feel it again?  That book is so beautifully written and its premise is not just poignant but important; I will always be a fan.
Thanks for asking questions that I have definite answers to. I feel like I was preparing for this interview my whole life, thanks! Be sure to watch The 100 Wednesdays on the CW.