By Mike McCarthy
If you watch Galavant on ABC on Sunday nights, then you have been enjoying the comedic genius that is Muzz Khan. Muzz is from across the pond over in the UK and Galavant is Muzz’s longest stint on a show over here in the US. He definitely likes New York better than Boston, after we told him where we were calling from, but we won’t hold that against him. Besides working on the show Galavant, Muzz has a role in the new Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin film, “Me Before You,” which releases later this year.
Muzz went to the same drama school as Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) and Rupert Friend ( Hitman: Agent 47) back in London. He then went on to work on some minor parts in some shows, including the last season of 24: Live Another Day. Not only is he Muzz an actor, he’s also been a DJ over in London for quite a few years at places like the Ministry of Sound, O2 Academy, and Es Paradis in Ibiza. Make sure to check out Muzz in the season finale of Galavant this Sunday on ABC and in Me Before You later this year.
Wingman Magazine: Your stint on Galavant just started back on January 10th, you are fantastic so far. Tell us about your character Barry and what parts of Barry represent your personality.
Muzz Khan: Barry is essentially a stroppy assistant to Wormwood, who is the newly-installed wedding planner in Hortensia. At the audition, I played him as a stroppy intern who didn’t give a f*&# about the job and also a little bit dim. He’s the kinda guy who would consistently get your lunch order wrong at work, or who would call a girl the wrong name persistently on a first date! He’s not the sharpest tool in the box, or a bright spark. He does have a good heart, though, and that makes itself known and comes to the fore towards the end of the season. Me personally? I CAN be a little bit dimwitted sometimes – just ask my wife! My memory is awful and she will attest to that! I’m very forgetful, so it’s a real shocker that I remember my lines most of the time! My head is generally filled with scripts or DJ sets, so there’s little room for anything else! Haha!
Wingman Magazine: What about Galavant made you want to be a part of it?
Muzz Khan: It was the fact that I’d never read anything like it before. I hadn’t seen something of this ilk in the US or UK before. I’d never done a musical comedy for a major network in America before. And I’d never auditioned for anything like it before! I, honestly didn’t think I was the man for this job. I know some actors go up for a part and think, “Oh yeah, this has me written all over it.” But when I went to the audition, I felt: “This is a guy named an all-singing, all-dancing guy named Barry – not Mohammed or Singh! Add the fact that it’s for one of the biggest networks in America and is a primetime show! He’s so far removed from who I am as a person that there was no way I thought I would get it. How wrong I was….
Wingman Magazine: If you had to explain Galavant to someone who hasn’t seen it, what would you say to them?
Muzz Khan: It’s like Spamalot meets Glee meets Disney meets Game of Thrones…but without the gore and the sex. Oh, and Galavant doesn’t kill off your favorite characters! Haha!
Wingman Magazine: Besides Galavant, you have a film coming out in a few months, Me Before You. Tell us about the film.
Muzz Khan: It’s a film adaptation of a best-selling book of the same name by British author, Jojo Moyes. Not to say too much about it, but it centers on Lou played by the super talented Emilia Clarke. Her dress sense is even more eccentric than Bjork in this! She is very much a singleton – given her dress sense – and her quirkiness, unfortunate ledger with jobs. In the film, I play her job advisor. He tells her that she’s tried every job going and essentially they’ve run out of options. A job comes up where she could prospectively take care of a gentleman in a wheelchair and she accepts it. He’s a paraplegic (played by Sam Claflin from The Hunger Games). The film is about that relationship and how it blossoms. It’s really sweet.
Wingman Magazine: How does your preparation differ when changing genres in film or television?
Muzz Khan: Preparation-wise, it’s the same across the board, really. I approach everything in the same manner, which is to investigate and excavate everything about the project you are working on – whenever possible. I glean through the essence and flavor of the characters and project in question. It’s a basic thing you learn at drama school: who, what, where, when, why is how you approach it. The given circumstances. Obviously I make sure all of my lines are learned! Haha!
Wingman Magazine: Did you read the book, “Me Before You” before you read for Syed? Or did you read it after, or at all?
Muzz Khan: I didn’t get the chance to read it before the audition because with screen auditions, you get them at very short notice. It was only a few days lead up time and I definitely can’t read a book in a few days. I’m way too slow! My wife probably can, she’s an avid reader and luckily had read the book, along with every female friend in my life! I was able to talk to them about the character, and google-stalked the crap out of the book. I did, however, read the shooting script for the film. I didn’t really read the book afterwards, since it was only really one scene with Emilia (Clarke) and it’s pretty straightforward. If I had the lead in the film then I definitely would’ve read the book top to end, but I was able to get a good handle of Syed from my wife, my friends, Google and the portion of the script that I had. You know something? Thinking back, the whole thing was such a quick turnaround for “Me Before You”, it was only a week or so between the audition and when they started shooting my bit. We were shooting in Wales and a car picked me up at my house in London and drove me all the way to Pembrokeshire, which took about 3 hours.I got taken to set, said hello and introduced myself to everyone and then went straight to costume and makeup for a fitting. I thought I was gonna be able to go back to my hotel afterwards to go over my lines, get some rest and then start shooting the next day. But, no, we were straight in! No messing around. They got me into costume and makeup and immediately into shooting. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how zippy it was! Emilia Clarke was such a dream to work with. I can see why she has scores of fans all over the world, she’s such a beautiful, kind, wickedly-talented human being. She just made the whole day.
Wingman Magazine: What made you want to become an actor? Was there one film or one part that lead to your decision?
Muzz Khan: Not really, actually! Most actors will tell you it was a certain film or actor that provided them with the catalyst, but me, not so much. For me, I was in high school and the BBC came to film a detective show at our school and were looking for students that wanted to be in it. I put my hand up and got in. It starred Patricia Routledge, and the other lead actor was Dominic Monaghan – from Lost. It was my first gig and I was totally hooked, with the lights, the cameras, the sound guys with head pieces rushing around and the showbiz glamour of it all. And as a 14 year old kid I thought, “people actually get paid to do this?” I was completely in, and I went to college to do a performing arts course. I joined a theatre company in Manchester for a year and auditioned for ten drama schools and got rejected by all of them. I took the year off and re-auditioned and out of six, I got into four drama schools. It was the same drama schools that a year before said no, and yet, that year they wanted me, and offered me scholarships. What the actual f*&#? It’s a funny world acting, one year they don’t want you and the next year they can’t get enough of you.
Wingman Magazine: You went to acting school at Webber Douglas Academy of Performing Arts with the gorgeous Natalie Dormer. Have you hit her up to get you a part on Game of Thrones?
Muzz Khan: Haha! No, I haven’t! The main person I should probably ask on that would be Emilia Clarke anyway, right? If not, then MAYBE the casting director could be a potential person to approach! A lot of my buddies have done Game of Thrones. They’ve called me in three different times for three different seasons so far. Hopefully they’ll find something that fits me to a tee. It’s amazing to see how much the show has grown over the past few years. It would be superb to work on it, and hopefully next season, they’ll call me in again and we’ll strike gold.
Wingman Magazine: There are a lot of film and television show remakes and reboots. What is your thought on remakes and what is one movie you think should never be remade?
Muzz Khan: I am a big fan of remakes. I quite like it when they remake stuff from the 80’s. I loved all the classics from the 80’s like Back to the Future, Karate Kid, Beverly Hills Cop, Short Circuit and the rest. I’m a real 80’s kid. I would love to see Back to the Future get redone, but I know it’s probably never going to happen. When Karate Kid came along, I was so disappointed. I really wanted it to be as spectacular as the originals. Every time, I see it listed on our TV listings here in the UK, it’ll say Karate Kid and I’ll get excited and think it’s the one with Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. Sadly not. Remakes should definitely be done, of course, just look at 21 Jump Street with Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. If you do them, at least execute them well. Give justice to the old films. Filmmakers are getting wiser to it in more recent times and are really working hard to honor the originals by putting their own stamp on it. I think they’re thinking about remaking House Party, in which case I’ll stake my claim here first exclusively at Wingman and say that the part of ‘Kid’ (played by Christopher Reid) has me written all over it……
If you want to see more of Muzz Khan, check out his social media links below:
https://www.facebook.com/MuzzKhanDJ
https://www.instagram.com/muzzkhan/
Andrew Cristi