Sunkrish Bala Biography

Fast Facts

• Co-founded A'shore Productions, an Indian-American theatre company in the Bay Area
• Graduated from San Jose's Bellarmine College Preparatory in 2002, followed by UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television, where he earned his bachelor's degree in theatre in 2006
• Began as a child actor in community productions, leading to theatre productions while training at UCLA before his onscreen debut in "CSI: NY" in 2005
• Quote: "I don’t have a problem with playing Indian and I’ve done it before․ The problem I have is, it just seems so tired playing on ethnicity as a punch line․ That seems to be happening less and less but it’s definitely still out there․"
• Quote: "My identity is independent of my ethnicity, which is generally a very difficult thing to come by as an actor-of-color․"
• Quote: "(His words to aspiring actors/actresses) "I guess my advice would be to come for the right reasons․ Don't get into this line of work with the hope of becoming a huge star․ I never hoped that, and I don't hope for it now․ Do it because you love the work․""
• Actor whose work includes TV's "Shameless," "Awkward․," "I Just Want My Pants Back" and "Notes from the Underbelly․"