Harleen Sethi was recently seen playing a grey shade character Shreya in the web series Shaque: Trust No One, and she admits it was “challenging” to understand the complex relationships her character explored. However, it brought her a different perspective. “One of the things that acting has brought into my life is a lot more empathy. Shreya definitely was a morally ambiguous character but I took it up as a responsibility to give a voice to a character like this and make people like this in the society feel seen,” she says.
Shreya is shown indulging in infidelity and betraying her friend, played by actor Parineeti Chopra. The actor insists that it is important to demarcate the person and the character, not just as an audience but also as an actor. “It's very important to keep your own morals aside to be able to humanise these characters. Right and wrong in society is very subjective, and when we see these kinds of characters on screen, there is an understanding that is created,” she says.
Through the shoot of the show, Harleen Sethi got a lifelong friendship with actor Jennifer Winget. And at her wedding recently, she got to be part of the celebrations. “I was very happy for her and it was very emotional. We shot this show almost a year-and-a-half ago and that's when she shared with me about her love story with Will (William Ishmael). At that time they were dating and over this time period, I saw her go from being a girlfriend to a fiancee, and then being a bride in front of my eyes,” she gushes.
Sethi also got inspired from Parineeti Chopra with the way she handled trolling regarding her weight gain post having her child. “Parineeti is very comfortable in her own skin and she is a very confident woman. I don't think she is somebody who gets too affected by what people are saying or if they are trolling her. It was a joy to see her promote the show with the confidence that she did. Everyone was asking her about these kinds of questions and the way she was answering it was amazing. She articulated everything so well, which made me realise that she has so much clarity about how she sees her life. She is in no rush to lose weight just to basically please people. She is very clear about the work-life balance. She is very happy in the phase of life that she is in,” she says, adding, “It's always very inspiring to see inspiring women around you, when women speak and carry themselves with so much confidence. It only motivates you and it makes you want to do better.”
{{/usCountry}}Sethi also got inspired from Parineeti Chopra with the way she handled trolling regarding her weight gain post having her child. “Parineeti is very comfortable in her own skin and she is a very confident woman. I don't think she is somebody who gets too affected by what people are saying or if they are trolling her. It was a joy to see her promote the show with the confidence that she did. Everyone was asking her about these kinds of questions and the way she was answering it was amazing. She articulated everything so well, which made me realise that she has so much clarity about how she sees her life. She is in no rush to lose weight just to basically please people. She is very clear about the work-life balance. She is very happy in the phase of life that she is in,” she says, adding, “It's always very inspiring to see inspiring women around you, when women speak and carry themselves with so much confidence. It only motivates you and it makes you want to do better.”
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