Clickbait is Netflix's most recent jaw-dropping thriller, which premiered on the streaming service on August 25. The story, full of twists and turns that not even its cast could guess, centers on the apparent kidnapping of Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier, Entourage), which is revealed via a sinister video promising to kill him once it reaches 5 million views.
His wife Sophie (Betty Gabriel, Defending Jacob) and sister Pia (Zoe Kazan, The Big Sick) are desperate to find out what happened with him, and they are assisted in their search for truth by Detective Roshan Amiri (Phoenix Raei, Stateless). Rohan begins with his focus on upward mobility for his career, but he soon becomes personally invested in Nick's case and Pia's well-being.
Raei spoke to Screen Rant about Roshan's arc from career-obsessed to truly empathetic and shared his thoughts about unfulfilled romance in the series.
WARNING: This interview contains spoilers for Clickbait.
Screen Rant: In a world where you can trust no man, and sometimes no police officer, Roshan feels like a breath of fresh air. He's righteous, even if he's frustratingly slow at solving this crime. Can you talk about playing him, and how he approaches this case?
Phoenix Raei: One of the things that really interested me about playing Roshan was the fact that he was quietly obsessed about moving forward in his career. And bringing that in at the start, I think, lends its way to finishing off with the sadness he feels and the burden he feels once he realizes that he couldn't save Nick - spoiler alert.
Did you get everything all at once, or were you getting it script by script? What was your process of trying to figure out the clues, like Roshan?
Phoenix Raei: Yeah, we got the scripts in blocks, so we got two episodes a block. First of all, I didn't figure it out. You couldn't.
But what I tried to do is stay focused on one person. If I felt like this is a person that might have done it, then I'd write as much as I can about that person, where they've been, what they've done, and that sort of thing. And that really is the process that I understand detectives go through: really obsessively thinking about one person at a time before you move on.
One thing I really liked was how his Muslim background was incorporated subtly - like in the scene with his parents, for example. What was it like for you to flesh out that side of him? Was that all in the script, or were there conversations about what to include or not?
Phoenix Raei: Yeah, there were some conversations. The idea was that he's not as devout as he once was. That was the idea. In the first episode, I think he does ask Pia for a drink: "Let's go out and get a drink."
And initially, that was supposed to be part of his life, drinking and, "I pray, and I do that. But I also drink..." That kind of half-religious [identity] some of us have in us. But we didn't talk deeply about it. We thought it's just good to touch on in the background. I think he's more religious about his work than he is about his worship, you know?
Obviously, there is quite a bit of chemistry between the two of them, and maybe not as satisfying of a conclusion. But can you talk about working with Zoe and what that balance is like?
Phoenix Raei: It's true, it wasn't satisfying. But the reason that we decided not to go that route too hard was because at the forefront of everything, was this case. I don't think it would have made sense for Pia's character to want to be in a relationship at a point where her brother's missing. That became sort of in the background; it had to be.
It was great. Zoe's such a talented actress, as we all know. We've seen her in so many things, and she's as great onscreen as she is off-screen. So, she was really lovely to be around and learn from.
I cannot wait to see what you will do next. I assume there won't be a season 2 of Clickbait, although maybe you could solve another crime - just solve it a little faster next time.
Phoenix Raei: I'm better. I've learned my lesson now, so I probably will be able to do it.
All 8 episodes of Clickbait are currently available on Netflix.