‘The Cleaning Lady’ Star Naveen Andrews Reveals The Worst Thing About How The Cult Fave ‘Sense8’ Ended

Naveen Andrews’ path to stardom began in a big way in the UK in 1993 with the release of the miniseries The Buddha of Suburbia and he started to get a taste of international success with the release of 1996’s The English Patient, but it was his role as Sayid Jarrah on ABC’s Lost that made him into a familiar face on prime-time TV in America. 

Since then, Andrews has continued to work steadily, making further small-screen inroads with Netflix’s Sense8, CBS’s Instinct, and – earlier this year – on Hulu’s The Dropout. Now he’s joined the cast of Fox’s The Cleaning Lady, and during a round of press tied to his arrival on the series, Andrews discussed his role on the show and how much he’s enjoying the experience, but he also took time to talk about spending time with David Bowie, how Lost makes him feel old now, and how Sense8 really made him feel his age.

DECIDER: How did you find your way into The Cleaning Lady this season? Did they come looking for you specifically? 

NAVEEN ANDREWS: Yes, an offer came in. But then I found out from my girlfriend that she’d seen the entire first season, unbeknownst to me, and it was one of her favorite shows! [Laughs.] So because of that, I saw the first season, too, and…there you go.

So what can you tell me about Robert, your character?

I guess what’s maybe slightly unusual about him is that he’s an educated criminal, and it’s interesting: someone who’s highly educated doesn’t preclude them from moral depravity or criminality. It’s like the great leveler, isn’t it, really? It doesn’t matter if you have an education or not. You can still be a complete black hole of a human being. 

Had you been on the outlook for a series-regular role before this opportunity landed in your lap?

Well, as I say it, it was an offer. But then I saw the first season, and it was the actors, really, that drew me to it. They brought a sort of emotional force and punch – heart and soul and guts – that I really got into. That, and the fact that it was a show about immigrants. I’m the child of immigrants myself. My parents came to England in 1965, and the country I live in now – America – is made of immigrants. So it seems important to see that onscreen.

How did you and Eva [De Dominici] get along when you first met? Or had you met her prior to doing the series?

We actually spoke before we shot anything together, because we wanted to establish a kind of back story for our characters and discuss the complexity and depth of our relationship and how many years it went back, how important it was… And I’m very glad we did, because I hope the audience can see that it is an intimate relationship that has meaning to both of them.

At this point, I’ve only been able to see the season premiere, but I presume there’ll be considerable progression over the course of the season as far as delving into that back story onscreen.

Oh, absolutely, yes.

I know you can’t say but so much about what’s upcoming, but would you be happy to go on beyond this season if the opportunity presents itself?

Oh, God, yeah! Because I actually enjoy being on this set. It’s a very easy set, considering he darkness of the material and the carnage that sometimes tends to transpire. It’s a good experience. 

Do you find yourself needing to go home and watch light-hearted comedies to cleanse your spirit?

Well, as you get older, it’s easier to leave all that stuff behind. Earlier it was harder. But that’s one of the benefits of getting older! [Laughs.] 

I mentioned before we started the interview that I’ve been a fan since you starred in The Buddha of Suburbia, and since I have both the DVD and the soundtrack, I have to ask about your interactions with David Bowie.

Yes, well, we had to do a video for his song, “Buddha of Suburbia,” and then we had to do an interview with…I think MTV at the time, which was very odd, sitting in Beckenham, which of course was where he lived in around 1970 or ’71, just before the Hunky Dory album, I think. Yeah, we spent the better part of a day together!

Was it everything you would’ve liked for it to be?

Well, yeah, because from what I remember, he was impossibly glamorous. [Laughs.] And he was very important to me as well because of the work he did with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, the fact that he produced Transformer, and Raw Power, The Idiot, and Lust for Life. And then, of course, Blah Blah Blah. But those records were very important to me.

How do you look back at the Lost experience overall?

Well, it’s so… [Hesitates.] In terms of time, it’s been interesting, because my youngest was born during the shooting of that…and he’s sixteen! He’s almost a so-called grown-up! I meet cast members on shows now who are obviously younger than I am, and they grew up watching it! And that’s really odd. [Laughs.] It makes you feel old!

Is there a favorite project you’ve worked on over the years that didn’t get the love you thought it deserved?

That didn’t get the love… [Pauses.] I can’t say that, actually. I mean, of all the things I’ve done… I mean, The Dropout, people dig that, you know? No, I’ve been quite pleased, actually, with the way things have gone.  I mean, The English Patient…and Sense8, that received a certain amount of attention as well.

What did you think about when people started having a bit of fun at The English Patient‘s expense for being a long film?

Oh, my God. But it is a long film! [Laughs.] It’s nearly three hours, isn’t it? And that was, what, 1996? People’s attention spans have gotten even shorter since then!

I’ll just thrown in that I quite liked Instinct.

Oh, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I had fun with that one, too, working with Alan [Cumming]. 

Had you worked with him at all in the UK?

No, but it’s interesting: we had the same agent at ICN, unbeknownst to each other. But we never bumped into each other until we worked together on that. 

Lastly, since you mentioned Sense8, that’s a series that ended too soon as well.

I think a lot of people felt the same way, because I do remember that we were given…not a third season, but an opportunity to finish it off, to do a movie to finish it. So at least we were given that. But, wow, that was tough to shoot. That was… We were all over the world! And moving a crew on five continents… That was exhausting. And I’m sorry to bring age into this, but it’s on my mind, obviously, mortality, but the older you get, the harder that kind of schedule is! I mean, if you’re in your twenties and you’re going to Berlin and then London and then Chicago and San Francisco and Paris, whatever it is… That kind of travel is exciting, but when you get old, it’s hard on the body!

Will Harris (@NonStopPop) has a longstanding history of doing long-form interviews with random pop culture figures for the A.V. Club, Vulture, and a variety of other outlets, including Variety. He’s currently working on a book with David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. (And don’t call him Shirley.)