Angad Bedi says actors are ‘very fragile’ as they are always ‘judged’: ‘They should be thick-skinned about social media hate’
Being active on social networking sites has become a part of the job for actors. The number of followers on social media defines how popular an actor is among the audience, thus attracting the attention of casting directors. But actor Angad Bedi, who recently starred in the short film The L, believes that people are making social media followers for a fanbase.
Bedi suggested that social media followers are only those people who like to see your posts. They won’t necessarily come to watch you on the screen. While talking to , he asserted, “People are making their number of followers on social media as a fanbase. They are two different things. The fanbase is the number of people who like your work and go out to watch it, they may or may not follow you on social media. The followers on social media are based on how much you post on social media. The more you post, the more followers you have.”
The Inside Edge star also suggested that if an actor decides to be active on social media, and draw attention through the medium, then he/she should be ‘thick-skinned’ and not get affected the mean comments on their posts. Agreeing that in today’s age it is important to share one’s work on social media to stay relevant, Angad Bedi opined, “Not everybody is as talented as Ranbir Kapoor. He is a gifted actor. So, if someone wants to cast him, they will cast him irrespective of whether he is on social media or not. But that is not true for everybody.”
Hence, the actor suggested that to stay relevant people should put their work out on social media. “It’s a great medium. You just have to use it to your advantage. But then be thick-skinned about the comments, and the number of likes. If you are doing it for work, just do it for that. I do it for work. I put up pictures of my styling as people want to know how you are looking since it is an appearance-based industry. But beyond that, you have to peace out and relax in your own head,” he told us.
Bedi also feels that “actors are anyways very fragile since they are always judged” so they should “protect” themselves from social media hate. He said, “Social media is just one part of life and not your entire life. A good mental state is necessary for a good mental balance.” He said he doesn’t read comments on his post and is not even interested in social media beyond a point.
Bedi’s latest film The L, streaming on Amazon Mini TV, focuses on a young couple who are too invested in their professional life and lead a robotic life. They lack emotions for each other and get entangled in a monotonous life. However, unlike his character in the film, Angad Bedi tries to keep his life with his actor-wife Neha Dhupia far from getting mundane. And, it is their two children, Mehr and Guriq, who play a major role in keeping their life interesting.
“We have a good friend circle and then we have our kids. Dropping and picking Mehr up from her school gives me and my wife a lot of joy, and taking our kids out gives us joy. Travelling gives us joy. For me it’s very important to have grandparents’ influence in raising the kids, so we try and maximise that. We do all the regular things with our children that our parents did for us. So, with children it automatically gets interesting,” shared Bedi.
