Suhana Khan cried alone in her room after she was rejected from a school play, realised she wanted to be an actor: ‘I was so upset, disappointed’

Suhana Khan recalled facing rejection in boarding school play. (Photo: Suhana Khan/Instagram)

After making her debut in Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies, Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan is all set to star alongside her superstar father in his next film, King. In a recent interaction, Suhana admitted that while she was not interested in acting while growing up and initially felt pushed into it, her desire to perform in plays during her boarding school years changed the way she viewed acting.

While speaking to Harper’s Bazaar India, Suhana shared that she was encouraged to balance creativity with discipline while growing up, and initially, she felt awkward and slightly uncomfortable while acting in school plays. However, her interest in acting deepened in boarding school when she desperately wanted to play a role in a play and even auditioned for it. Despite her efforts, she was cast in the chorus instead of her desired role.

Suhana was deeply upset by this and even cried alone in her room, as she was caught off guard by the rejection. However, this experience made her realise how much she actually cares about acting and her craft. “I was so upset and disappointed. And I think that’s when I knew that I really wanted to play those parts and enjoy the thrill of being on stage,” Suhana also shared that now, when she is an actor, it is the creative process that drives her the most. “Curiosity, purpose, but most of all, passion. It’s all of it,” she said.

Suhana Khan completed her early schooling at Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai and later attended Ardingly College in the UK for further education, focusing on drama. She then went to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in the US.

Suhana made headlines with her debut in The Archies. In an old interaction with Galatta India, her co-star Vedang Raina opened up about his experience of working with her and spoke about how she would take a lot of time in hair and makeup. Vedang shared, “She used to take the most time to get ready on set. The guys would get done in 15 minutes and then they would wait for 40 minutes just for Suhana. And many times, while doing takes, we were interrupted by her hair and make up team as they would stop us in between shots and be like: ‘Her hair is out of place’.” However, he quickly clarified, “It was not Suhana’s fault, it was the requirement of the film.”