Arty Froushan - Actor of the Month for September 2026
Actor: Arty Froushan | Interviewed by: Destiny Lilly, CSA
1. Has there been a Casting Director who has really championed or supported you in your career journey?
Work begets work, so every CD who has cast me has played a huge part in helping me get to where I am now, but to narrow it down, I have to thank Amy Ball for pretty much single-handedly helping me break into the theatre scene in London, and Meredith Tucker for being such an enthusiastic cheerleader of my work in the U.S.
2. What is the project you’re most proud of, and why?
Tough one, but probably playing Noël Coward in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. Embodying Noël not only in voice and behaviour but also in singing and piano-playing (which I learned virtually from scratch) was an insane endeavour but one I’m very proud of.
3. What or who inspired you to pursue acting as a career?
The films of Robert De Niro, my mother taking me to watch plays as a child in London, the support of my former mentor, the great theatre producer Thelma Holt, and the belief of my acting teacher, Jenny Lipman.
4. What was your first IMDbPro credit and how did you feel when you saw it?
A short film called ‘Washbag’ I shot while still at drama school. It was so rinky-dink I couldn’t believe it counted as a credit, but it will always be the beginning of my on-screen journey and I love that.
5. How has IMDbPro helped you either to market yourself or connect with other industry professionals?
IMDbPro feels like my passport to the industry. It joins the dots of the thousands of people involved in making movies and TV and helps me make sense of it all and draw connections I wouldn’t otherwise make. I’d be very confused without it.
6. Any funny or memorable casting room stories you can share?
All sorts of regrettable moments, but the worst (and this has happened multiple times) is sprinting to get to the meeting, making it just in time, and the second the camera starts rolling, the sweat literally beginning to pour down my head, and I end up doing the scene completely drenched, which if the scene is a doctor examining a patient, for instance, it becomes unintentionally surreal and disgusting. I set off very early these days.
7. If you could play any character in any movie, past or present, who would it be and why?
Travis Bickle or Rupert Pupkin, two of De Niro’s most freakish creations. I could never do it better than him, but their sheer eccentricity and the darkness they struggle with make them fascinating to me.
8. What show or movie that you’re currently watching or have watched countless times could you nerd out about forever? What do you love about it?
I came late to ‘Slow Horses’ but love the combination of wit and action. A deeper cut that will mean nothing to Americans is the British 2000s comedy ‘Green Wing’ — think ‘Scrubs’ but wackier and with more heart, and some of the sharpest comic performances ever given. Movie-wise, I’ll chew your ear off about ‘School of Rock’, ‘Layer Cake’ or ‘Four Lions’ for hours.
9. Tell us a fun fact about you outside of acting.
I’m a MasterChef superfan and a part-time wedding DJ. I’m proud of the former, but the latter is my darkest secret.
Actor of the Month is a monthly collaboration between IMDbPro and Casting Society that celebrates the casting community and spotlights its members through a series of interviews between casting directors and actors about their acting journey, the casting process, and how IMDbPro helps them advance their careers.