Before The Family Man, Manoj Bajpayee had never reprised a role for the screen. All his film roles were one-offs, and he had not worked on a show with multiple seasons. But the success of The Family Man changed now. As the show’s third season is set for release, the actor spoke to HT about returning as Srikant Tiwari in the popular show and why he is ‘always panicking’ on set.

‘I am always panicking’

One would assume that for an actor of Manoj’s calibre, reprising a role would be a cakewalk. But it isn’t so. The actor explains, “I am not one to take my work for granted. I can’t achieve without working a bit too hard. I am a very nervous person, and I pass on my nerves to my directors.”

When asked if he doesn’t like doing things the easy way, Manoj replies, “I never think it’s easy; that is the problem. I am panicking all the time. I am nervous all the time.” The actor clarifies that this panic of catching a character’s beat is not limited to The Family Man alone.

‘He wouldn’t let his nerves show’

The Family Man co-creator Raj Nidimoru agrees. “I caught on to this much later,” he tells us, “Because he wouldn’t let this nervousness show. On set, he would crack jokes and be normal. But in his head, he would keep thinking and stressing. I realised it much later.”

Manoj says that in every season of The Family Man, he sits with the creators and directors to pick their brains for a good 15-20 minutes on set to get back to the character’s beat. “In the initial stages, it is a lot of struggle,” says the National Award winner.

About The Family Man S3

The Family Man S3 also brings back Sharib Hashmi, Priyamani, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Ashlesha Thakur, Gul Panag, and Vedant Sinha. The new season also introduces Jaideep Ahlawat as the antagonist alongside Nimrat Kaur. Season 3 premieres on Amazon Prime Video on November 21.