Dino Morea: OTT gives you time to practice, which is important to hone your skills
All set to appear in The Royals and Rana Naidu 2 up next, Dino Morea talks about how OTT kept the actor in him satiated when film offers were drying up
Actor Dino Morea started his acting journey on the big screen, but it’s been a decade-and-a-half since he last did a featuring role in one. In between, he credits OTT for keeping the actor in him satiated. “I was not getting good offers to do good films, that is the truth. But I've done some really good shows on the web like The Empire and Hostages season 3,” Dino Morea says.

Now, he is all the more excited as he is a part of two much-awaited shows this year. “I have finished shooting for The Royals, and Rana Naidu 2. I have been getting good offers for shows, but films have been dicey. If somebody offers me a great role. I'd definitely want to be a part of films. But the role has to be such where I can show my skills again, like I get to do on OTT,” he insists.
Ask if he feels that the longer duration of shows and the versatility of the platform has made him a better actor, and Dino denies it. He says, “OTT doesn't make you a better actor, but it gives you time to practice more since the length of the project is bigger. And practice is important to hone your skills as an actor. The format gives time to focus so much on the characterization for each role.”
The actor admits that it was his experience of doing The Empire that opened his eyes to the capability of the medium. “It was an author driven role. It was a solid character, and in films, I have not done such a role. I worked on it very intensely and hence it became such a fantastic character, and everybody who saw the show loved it. All the roles I have done in films have been of a sweet boy, romantic or a lover boy. They weren’t like a solid character where I could sink my teeth into, but OTT did give me that kinds of roles,” he says, adding that even South had been kinder to him in that regard as he did a couple of films down South as well during this while: “Jab achi kahaniyan hi South se aati hain, so I thought that let me expand my audience. To be a part of larger-than-life cinema is a good thing. India is watching the South films because their directors are pushing and telling these Indian stories. They're making films that aren’t restricted by language and it’s great to be a part of it.”
