Pi star Suraj values his study

31 January 2013

Life Of Pi star Suraj Sharma has said he feels he must complete his education before embarking on a career in Hollywood.

The 19-year-old unknown became an overnight star after being cast in Ang Lee's epic big screen adaptation of the hit novel, and has now returned to Delhi University to study philosophy.

Suraj said: "It's important for me because I really wanted to go to one college for a long time, and I'm going there. It's really important and education in itself is important.

"It's kind of like this, if you want to tell stories, you need to have stories to tell, so you have to gather up as much information as possible before you go into the thing for real. So that's what I'm trying to do."

Suraj - who is now nominated for the EE Bafta Rising Star Award - was cast in the Oscar-nominated film by accident, when he accompanied his brother to the audition, with no intention of auditioning himself.

But now he wants to pursue a career in film.

He said: "I know I want to be in some way related to film making. I don't know how. I like acting, I probably want to act again, but I want to see what it's like behind the camera as well. So we'll see."

:: Voting for the EE Bafta Rising Star Award winner is now open to the public at ee.co.uk/bafta.