In the world of acting, there is no better school than the set, especially if you are hobnobbing with the versatile Randeep Hooda. For Danish Sood, who began his career with smaller roles in A Suitable Boy, Hostages, and The Fame Game, the golden opportunity came when he was offered a pivotal role in the Netflix crime thriller, CAT.

Playing sibling to Hooda’s character, Sood studied his co-star’s acting process with the hope to emulate the learning in his next. “Randeep’s character goes through a transformation in each episode. From being subdued and submissive, he becomes aggressive. So, in every episode, he [changed] his body language, posture, hand gestures, and mannerisms,” says Sood, who claims to have found a brother in Hooda as they sat through hours of discussions on the craft and navigating the industry.

The actor confesses that while there was a lot to learn, he was intimidated by Hooda. “As much as he is a great actor, he is a little scary to be around. I wanted my performance to be at par with him [so], he would improvise and that helped me open up as an actor,” he explains, adding that Hooda advised him to pick projects where the weight of a role mattered more than the scale of the film.