Naveen Andrews and Ethan Suplee talk Pittsburgh culture, sophisticated youth & ‘The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh’

Created by Executive Producer Vijal Patel, Prime Video’s The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh is a comedy series about a family that’s emigrated from India to the United States, settling into a home in Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh culture features prominently on the show, and its cast had a lot of fun exploring that with Patel.

Naveen Andrews plays Pradeep patriarch, Mahesh, a man Andrews says “has genuine good will in his heart. Toward everyone, it seems.” One of the central elements of the show is Mahesh’s burgeoning friendship with his neighbor, Jimbo Mills, played by Ethan Suplee.

TMS staffer and native Pittsburgher, Rachel Leishman, had a chance to talk to them about the show and asked Andrews and Suplee what was fun to discover about Pittsburgh culture as they worked on its first season.

Suplee went food-first, citing food like the burger with fries served on it that you can get at Pittsburgh’s Primanti Bros. He also loves the slang. “‘Yinz’ [basically Pittsburgh’s ‘y’all‘] is awesome. I think ‘yinz’ is so cool. But [the Pittsburgh accent] is such a tough accent to accurately pull off. I went for the ‘Pennsyl-tucky’ accent, because that’s easier for me than the straight Pittsburgh accent.”

Meanwhile, Andrews has enjoyed playing a lighter, comedic character like Mahesh, which contrasts sharply with the roles he played in projects like The Dropout, Sense 8, and Lost. “This particular character was unusual for me,” he says. “In fact, I’ve never played a character like this before. There’s no malice or rancor. There’s no aggression, or rage. He genuinely believes that he and his family will somehow prevail through love. He also has this childlike curiosity about the place that he’s moved to, and that includes his neighbor.”

The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh also features the Pradeep and Mills children very heavily, and Leishman asked the actors what it’s been like to examine current American culture through the eyes of their young co-stars.

“Well, they’re so much more sophisticated compared to me!” Andrews exclaimed, referring to the young actors’ media savvy and taste.

“It is really wild,” Suplee said. “I remember being a kid and thinking my parents were nerds, and they ‘don’t get it.’ And now, my kids are constantly talking and referencing things that I have really no clue…they have their own slang, right? And it’s the same working with kids. You realize there’s a whole new generation of stuff that I can’t relate to at all, you know? It’s wild.”

Season one of The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh is available now on Prime Video.

To watch the interview with Andrews and Suplee in full, or to check out any of our other convos, you can find them all on the TMS YouTube Channel!