This story about Himesh Patel and “Station Eleven” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
When HBO Max’s sterling limited series “Station Eleven” began filming back in January 2020, lead actor Himesh Patel wasn’t a father, and he certainly wasn’t mired in a global pandemic like the one depicted in the show, which was adapted from Emily St. John Mandel’s novel of the same name. But oh, how things change.
As Jeevan Chaudhary, Patel shines as a character whose first impulse is always to take decisive action and whose second impulse is to immediately second-guess that action. After all, that’s why he ends up looking after young Kirsten (Matilda Lawler) in the aftermath of a tragic accident and why he becomes her reluctant caregiver as the world ends around them. “I’ve felt aimless at times in my life, and I’ve felt insecure and unsure if the direction I’ve taken is the right one. And I’ve definitely felt out of my depth,” Patel said of finding immediate resonance with Jeevan. “You know, I still feel out of my depth a lot of the time. But the first thing that you learn about him is he does something. He doesn’t really know why; he just feels it’s the right thing to do.
“I was told by my mom, actually, that when I was young, I would often have that same desire — if someone was getting bullied, I’d have to intervene. And then I’d get in trouble for it. [With Jeevan] there was that element that I could relate to.”
After filming the first and third episodes of the series in Chicago, production was halted due to COVID-19, which sent the cast and crew of “Station Eleven” back to their homes. Fiction had suddenly become reality. To say that the show carried much more emotional resonance would be an understatement, but with it came a deepened appreciation for Jeevan and the choices he makes in the face of adversity.
“We’ve all found ourselves in situations over the past two years that have been difficult and that we certainly felt out of our depth,” Patel said. “Through no decision that he’s made, Jeevan finds himself in a situation he didn’t expect to be in. He’s not a typical hero in the sense that he steps up to the plate and doesn’t complain. He complains! And when we see [Jeevan and Kirsten] at the beginning of Episode 9, it’s tense. He doesn’t want to be a dad to this girl, and it’s very real.”
More than two and a half years since filming those first episodes, things have changed for Patel. He’s outlasted a pandemic, starred in a critically acclaimed limited series and earned an Emmy nomination for his efforts, one of seven for the series. And before filming resumed on “Station Eleven,” Patel had a child of his own.
“I was a new father at the time, which has its ups and downs, learning your responsibilities and trusting in your ability as well,” Patel said of what he’d take with him from his time on “Station Eleven.” “It leads you to discover parts of yourself that you didn’t know were there. Telling that story with Jeevan has definitely left me with some idea of how I’ll be as a father myself.”
Read more from the Down to the Wire issue here.
