At the beginning of January, Shazad sat down with Principle ahead of the long-awaited movie’s global release to discuss the exciting role, working alongside a star-studded cast, his passion for sports, while teasing future work.

Hi, how are you? Happy New Year! Did you do anything nice to celebrate?

I’m good! I spent time with just mates and their kids; it was great. It was chill. I was supposed to be in New Zealand to see a friend, but I had to come back and sort some stuff out. But it was lovely.

Leather jacket Mithridate / Shirt and knit Margaret Howell / Trousers Dolce & Gabbana / Loafers Russell and Bromley

You have an exciting 2026 ahead of you with the release of Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights, where you’re cast as Edgar Linton. How are you approaching this iconic Gothic material, especially alongside Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi?

I mean, it was a dream project. How did we approach it? I think Emerald just made such a safe space to explore stuff. First of all, we would have conversations with her. How are we going to make Edgar different in this version, in her version? And how are we going to make him a credible threat to Heathcliff? She [Emerald] said, “In the book, he’s a bit of a sap.” She actually said, “Milquetoast sap.” So it’s like, how do we change it up? He’s not just the rich guy. He’s clever, he’s kind, but she does love him. So just exploring all those things, and also my own backstory. You’re playing a guy, he’s in 1850 textile, and then he’s, you know, a brown guy. And just all these conversations and what that conflict would be, and why he’d have to be more gentlemanly than the most English gentleman out there. And what’s his repression, and why he can’t be dangerous, whereas Heathcliff can be a savage, in a sense, you know. All of those things that he’d have to box up and keep safe. He’s all about security. Then, as soon as she enters his world, that wild thing Catherine is, he tries to tame it, and that’s the sort of downfall. But then he’s so modern, and he loves this woman who loves someone else. He’s so good. It’s so heartbreaking. There are so many layers to it. To play the love triangle is always heartbreaking, because if the love triangle doesn’t work, if my character doesn’t work, you need that.

How do you balance personal authenticity within the demands of a director’s or a writer’s vision, especially in a project like Wuthering Heights, since it is coming from a classic piece of work from the 1800s? Some things can’t really be changed, or themes evolve.

We get to, I suppose, explore our scenes; however, we’ve absorbed them in our scenes. The elements will always be there. It’s just how far you place emotion in the scene. I guess that’s the fun of what happens on the day on set and what the editor does afterwards. That’s the beauty of it and how the music comes into play. We do our prep, play around, and then the movie gets made. That’s the beauty of the collaborative process. There are so many people involved in how the final product goes. And it’s just fun to jump into that world and give our version.

Shirt Mithridate / Vest Dolce & Gabbana / Tracksuit bottoms Lacoste via Atika Vintage London / Socks Lacoste / Loafers Russell & Bromley

What excited you most about working within a classic like Wuthering Heights?

I was excited to be involved, and it’s going to be in cinemas and a Warner Bros. production. It’s an old classic. It’s been played by Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon in a huge 1939 movie. This is part of a Hollywood film; it’s something bigger. So it’s great to be a part of that. And then I got to work with Emerald, which is just unbelievable, to work with someone of that calibre. I remember watching Saltburn, and I’m going, “Oh, I’d love to work with that person. Man, that would be a dream. It’s never going to happen.” Then suddenly, it just happened. Then you’re with Margot [Robbie], Jacob [Eldori], Alison [Oliver], and Ewan [Mitchell], who are just four of the best actors on this planet. And Owen [Cooper] and Charlotte [Mellington], the younger cast as well, just everyone. It was just great to be a part of something like this.

You’re born in London and have a main cast of two Australians. Were you of any help in their dialect to perfect the Yorkshire accent?

They’d already done all that prep before we even arrived in rehearsal, but there was a lot of Aussie slang chat. I lived in Australia for two years, so that was sort of how we first bonded. I remember speaking to Margot and being like, “Oh, I know Bunnings,” which is like their Home Depot store. And she’s like, “What? How do you know Bunnings?” I was like, “I lived there!” Jacob’s from Brisbane originally, so I sort of knew all the areas that they knew. It was quite nice. I felt like an honorary Aussie.

Full tracksuit The Frankie Shop / White Shirt Mfpen / Tie Tiger of Sweden / Loafers Russell and Bromley

Did you use the original book as any research or study to get into the role?

Yes, yes, I started with the book just to see. The book’s so long, and most adaptations don’t get past certain parts of the book, or how big the family tree is that you get down. And there are elements, again, that make it almost impossible to adapt this book. So it’s always going to be a version. Then the script’s going to be different from what it is. Your character is going to be different. But it was a nice jump in, and to get back into the world, it was a good place to start.

As a whole in your career, you’ve got a diverse range, playing everything from sci-fi (Star Trek) to literary characters, horror (Penny Dreadful), and romantic leads. How do you shift your creative focus when transitioning between such different genres?

I think the core stays the same as an actor. You’re always starting from the same sort of prep point. What’s this character’s history? Where does this go? You know, like, what are his intentions? What’s he doing? What’s the truth? Then it’s just, okay, what world are you in? You can’t play the genre, but sometimes, I suppose, there are elements of things or styles of acting. But in general, you’re not going to play horror, or you’re not going to play rom-com. You know what your function is, and you know how you serve the story, but you’re going to play the truth. I guess what I’m trying to say is you’ve just got to turn the dial a little bit.

Full suit Tiger of Sweden / T-shirt Sunspel / Trainers Adidas

It’s such a headspace element to it. To be an actor and get into that headspace for that character, for that movie, for that scene, takes a lot. Do you have any tips or tricks you use to get into the mentality of these different worlds?

Yes, there’s a buildup. There’s always a level of stress and anxiety while you’re at home and prepping, and stress of character building and all that stuff, and then rehearsal. There are lots of things that you’re just sort of anxious about until you get there. You start getting a bit of flow after the first day. You want to be extremely focused, but also extremely relaxed, as you’re trying to find that balance point in between, which is sort of it. I remember Djokovic talking about the optimum zen moments, which is when your brain, which I seem to get when I play table tennis or any sport, or when any person is doing their creative passion. They sort of go into another thinking state. I think there is a similar thing on set where you sort of want to get it. If you can hit that spot, you’re in the sweet spot. And maybe you don’t hit it most of the time, but if you do and if you can find a level of confidence and relaxation, as well as focus, you just try and block everything else. And that’s, I think, what you have to do. Otherwise, it would just be constant worry and stress, which you probably do not want to do.

Trench coat Aquascutum via Atika Vintage London / Shirt and knitted vest Mithridate / Jeans Levis / Loafers Russell and Bromley

Is there a type of character you haven’t played yet that you’re eager to explore?

I’m sure there is, there are loads. I guess I just want to keep working with the best. I mean, that’s the dream of every actor: high-quality projects, good scripts, and just see where things go. It’s always weird how certain things find their way to you. I’m trying to think… I’d definitely like to do a sports movie one day, a football movie. I like all the genres. I like everything. I like jumping between period dramas, jumping between comedies, and rom-coms. I like doing it all. I can’t think of a specific role.

Are you a big sports fan?

Yeah, I love football! That was my number one sport growing up. I’m really into pickleball at the moment.

That’s a big trend in sports going around!

Here [in Europe], it’s more paddle, but I love pickle. I’m a pickle guy. And I like table tennis. It’s nice to see Marty Supreme because I love table tennis, so it’s good to see a movie about it.

Jacket Sandro / T-shirt Tom Ford / Jeans The Frankie Shop / Loafers Russell & Bromley

Now, how do you know you’ve “nailed” a character or scene? Is there something you look for in performance or feedback?

That’s always stressful. But to say you’ve nailed it, I suppose, is probably the one thing you don’t want to say. I don’t want to have that thing of thinking, “Oh, I’ve nailed this.” It’s like hitting a winning point, again, a sports reference. But sometimes it feels like it’s gone right, but then you never know what the director will say. Feedback’s always terrifying, and you’re like, “Oh my God, what are they going to say? What are they going to say?” It’s always a day when your time is running out, so you’ve got a certain amount of time. So I guess you try and give your best in the time you have, and that’s what it’s going to be. But how do I know I nailed it? I don’t know. Because you might think you nailed it, and then people watch it. So who knows? I guess the process is the thing. You’ve got to try and enjoy the process, whether it be awkward or tough, or even if it goes bad. You’ve got to try. That’s all we really sort of have, the moment between action and cut. Because really, everything after that gets taken away from us. We have no control over it unless you’re the producer, unless you’re the editor. And you can’t really change what people perceive when they go and watch the movies, and how the audience feels. So really, you’ve got to just sort of let it go and let it become its own ethereal, poetic thing. And then you move on to the next thing, and you’ve got to pay your tax. You’ve got to get back into the real world. So I don’t know, because otherwise I think you’d be stressed all the time.

Is there then a way of you feeling proud of yourself for a performance or project, even if an audience doesn’t agree? You feel in yourself, I did the best I could?

I guess there are always elements of that. I guess I’m very grateful and proud to be part of a calibre movie like this. You know what I was really happy with? Usually I’m quite cringed up, but when I watched this, I wasn’t as cringed out. Because the way I was matching up with it, into the music, I was like, “Oh, it’s like part of a proper movie!” It’s the kind of movie where you go and watch something in cinemas. I felt like I was in a proper movie. And that, for me, was a moment of pride, going, “I’ve achieved one of my goals I had when I was a child,” which was to be in a fucking Warner Bros. movie on a big screen. I’ve done a few movies before, but in this sense, and as the character, and after Margot and Jacob being one of the leads, that was a proud moment for me.

Full suit Tiger of Sweden / T-shirt Sunspel / Trainers Adidas

Anything else you’re excited about or can share for the upcoming year?

There is a project I can’t really share right now. There’s stuff I’m working on with friends that we’re excited about. I don’t want to jinx it just yet, but it’s stuff we’ve been working on and writing. I’m excited, and I’m just excited for audiences to watch this [Wuthering Heights] from February 13th and for people to get back into the Wuthering Heights world.

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