When people think of a finance consultant, they often imagine someone who is only laser-focused on numbers, investments, and market performance. But what if that same person once took theatre classes in secret, hiding them from his mom while studying finance at Arizona State University?
That’s exactly what Sasidaran Subramaniam did. And it paid off — he even landed an “extra role” in a blockbuster Marvel Studios movie.
But that doesn’t mean he gave up on finance — in fact, he grew to love it. He went from “I didn’t like finance” to “I breathe, eat, and sleep finance.”
“I got more interested in the investing part because I could see the real impact it has on people’s lives,” he says. “Helping someone grow their money for retirement, or to achieve their dreams, whether moving to another country or living a more stress-free life, drew me in.”
Today, Sasidaran is pursuing both his interests — acting and finance, proving that you don’t have to choose between passion and profession.
At first, Sasidaran was interested in pursuing drama, but after talking with his parents, he opted for a finance degree. Source: Sasidaran Subramaniam
Movie buff turned finance grad
Raised in Subang Jaya, Malaysia, Sasidaran wasn’t the typical finance guy. He didn’t grow up obsessed with the stock market or reading annual reports. What excited him was acting. From a young age, he was the kind of student who said yes to everything — football, handball, track and field — but drama? That was something special.
“I’ve always been a movie buff,” he says. “Growing up, one of the few things that transported me into this space of imagination was films. Movies had this way of sparking a heightened sense of imagination in me.”
It started with a school play. A senior asked him to fill in for a missing actor, and that one role changed everything.
“After my first stage play, my friends were all really encouraging. They were just like, ‘Hey bro, that was fun.’ So that felt very, very invigorating,” he says.
After completing his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exams — Malaysia’s national secondary school examination, where he scored 7As and 2Bs, it came time to choose a degree.
“My dad wanted me to study engineering because he comes from a very technical, engineering-type background,” he says. “When I told my mom I wanted to study drama, she just said, ‘Sasi, you need to study something that puts food on the table.’ That was her response.”
So, like many others, Sasidaran compromised by choosing a degree in finance at Arizona State.
At the same time, he quietly kept the arts close. In university, he signed up for theatre electives without telling his parents. He couldn’t risk hearing, “I sent you there to study finance, so why are you studying theatre?”
Sasidaran graduated in 2014 and stayed on for a year using the US one-year Optional Practical Training (OPT) visa available to non-STEM international students. “I tried my absolute best to stay,” he says. “But it was quite hard to get an employer who wanted to hire a foreigner, especially for a non-STEM job. So I moved back to Malaysia in 2015.”
Sasidaran has worked on various productions, including a commercial with Bollywood actress Kiara Advani and a Marvel Entertainment movie. Source: Sasidaran Subramaniam
Sasidaran’s passion led him to Marvel
Sasidaran was still working in banking when he started pursuing acting on the side. Most of his early experience came from theatre, and in 2018, he found himself immersed in multiple productions. That same year, he auditioned for a programme at KLPAC (The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre) called Theatre for Young People.
At the time, his days were long and demanding. He was clocking in at the bank at 5 am, wrapping up by 3 pm, and heading straight to rehearsals, which often ran until 11 or 11:30 pm. For about four months, he kept up this routine, learning as much as he could. The experience pushed him to put himself out there more, auditioning for everything from musicals to stage plays.
Eventually, Sasidaran began landing roles in commercials and short films. One notable project was a commercial for the Indian beverage brand Slice, starring Bollywood actress Kiara Advani. Sasidaran was cast as a featured extra. Although he had no direct interaction with her — she was surrounded by bodyguards, her team, and even had a body double — he watched her work closely.
“She was amazing at what she did,” he says. “How she committed to the scene, even something as simple as drinking juice, was impressive. She was very professional and focused.”
Another major highlight in Sasidaran’s journey came when he was cast as an extra in the Marvel film “Thunderbolts.” It started with an unexpected call from one of the biggest casting houses in Malaysia.
At first, Sasidaran hesitated. It was an extra role, something he hadn’t done in over five years. He thought about passing on it. But the casting team persisted, encouraging him to come in anyway. Then he saw the NDA and realised it was for a Marvel Entertainment movie.
“Let’s just say, my eyes popped until my sockets couldn’t hold them in,” he says.
Sasidaran (middle) shared that Marvel was highly selective with extras, choosing only from a specific pool of candidates. Source: Sasidaran Subramaniam
The set was unlike anything he’d experienced before. Marvel’s production was on a whole different level, especially when it came to security. Out of a huge pool of Malaysian applicants, around 100 to 200 were selected, and only a few were positioned close to the lead actors. Sasidaran was one of five people placed near Florence Pugh in a particular scene.
“I’ve worked on around 60 film and commercial sets, but nothing compared to this in terms of security,” he says. “We weren’t allowed to keep anything on us — no headphones, no wallets, nothing that could record. We had to enter the building and hand over all our belongings to the casting team.”
Although he had taken plenty of photos on other shoots, this time he was contractually forbidden from sharing anything. “Even if I had wanted to tell a close friend, the first thing they’d ask would be, ‘Show me a photo,'” he says. “And I couldn’t. I had nothing to prove it. So it was hard to get anyone to believe me when I said I had worked on a Marvel set.”
But for Sasidaran, the experience was unforgettable. From quietly taking theatre electives in university to landing an “extra” role on a Marvel movie, his journey shows how far passion and persistence can take you.
Sasidaran takes on a range of roles, from drama in Geng Kubur to action films like War on Terror and Legasi: Bomba The Movie. Source: Sasidaran Subramaniam
Big roles, bigger dreams
Sasidaran has a major movie release coming up — “Legasi: Bomba The Movie” hits cinemas on August 28. It’s a project that’s been two years in the making and comes from the same team behind “PASKAL” and “Air Force The Movie,” two well-known titles in the Malaysian film scene.
“I play one of the main cast members, so that’s a very exciting project for me,” he says.
Recently, he wrapped filming “Banduan,” a movie that brings together some big names in the local industry, including Dato Rosyam Nor and Afdlin Shauki. Being on set with such veterans was a learning experience and a reminder of how rich Malaysia’s film heritage is.
Sasidaran isn’t stopping there. He’s eyeing opportunities beyond borders.
Last year, he was cast in a Singaporean docudrama that went on to be nominated for Best Series at the New York Film Festival. That moment gave him a taste of what international recognition feels like, and it lit a fire in him.
“That experience inspired me, and I’d love to be part of more international storytelling projects in the future,” he says.
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