Life & Work with Tejas Shah of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tejas Shah.

Tejas, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a first-generation Southeast Asian Indian American actor, writer, director, and producer. Born to immigrant parents who arrived in the United States in the late 1970s. I was born in Queens, New York, the vibrant heart of diversity, and raised as the eldest child in a family of dedicated professionals: my father, a medical doctor, and my mother, a dentist. I was educated at St. Joseph’s Elementary and Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona, California, before attending the University of California, Irvine.

From an early age, my family and friends noticed my flair for performance, my spontaneous bursts of song, quirky impressions, and love for accents. A close friend once told me, “If you’re serious about acting, you need to learn the craft.” That moment set the foundation for my creative journey.

The story I want to share begins with my name and what it taught me about identity, bias, and perseverance. After college, while reading Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, I came across a chapter comparing “Caucasian” and “minority” names. The findings were staggering: candidates with traditionally white-sounding names were three times more likely to receive callbacks, interviews, and offers than those with ethnic names, even with identical résumés.

As an Economics graduate entering the finance world, I couldn’t ignore the data, or my own experience. I was struggling to land interviews, while less-qualified peers with more “mainstream” names were moving up. So, I decided to run a social experiment.

I researched name studies online, page after page of analyses on naming patterns, socioeconomic perceptions, and professional outcomes. I learned that even within Caucasian names, there were distinctions: “blue-collar” versus “white-collar,” “high-performing” versus “low-performing.” For example, Blake might suggest a hands-on worker, while Benjamin implied pedigree and education.

Eventually, I noticed two names that appeared consistently among high-performing professionals: Alexander and William. I merged them, created a new identity, Alexander Williams, and sent out applications.

Within 48 hours, my inbox exploded. I received three times as many calls, interviews, and offers. My salary jumped from $60,000 to $175,000 in a few years. The name experiment had worked but it also left me unsettled.

While my finance career flourished, my passion for performance never faded. I assumed Hollywood would be more progressive, but I soon faced the same obstacles. Using my legal name, I sent out nearly 200 emails to agents with no luck. Then I tried again under Alexander Williams, and suddenly, the doors opened. I received 20 calls, several meetings, and six offers of representation.

With those opportunities came incredible auditions such as, Better Call Saul, major studio films, and big-name casting directors. I joined SAG-AFTRA, but since “Alexander Williams” was already taken, I added a nod to James Dean, and Alexander Dean Williams was born.

As my acting career gained momentum, the political climate in the U.S. shifted. During Trump’s first campaign, I was disturbed by the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia. One story in particular, about a shooting in Olathe, Kansas, haunted me: a white military veteran, radicalized by misinformation and anger, killed one Indian man and injured another, mistaking them for terrorists.

I turned that tragedy into a short film titled, American Hate, a project born of pain, empathy, and truth. The film resonated deeply, earning recognition across the festival circuit. Yet while promoting it, I felt conflicted. Here I was, telling a deeply personal immigrant story, under a name that didn’t reflect who I truly was.

So, I made the choice to return to my legal name, Tejas Shah. My agents warned me I was “starting over,” and one by one, they dropped me. But I knew it was the right thing to do.

Today, I stand fully as Tejas Shah, an artist using my voice and heritage to tell authentic, human stories. I’m currently developing my first feature-length film, inspired by my parents’ journey from India to America and their struggle to balance two worlds, a story of love, identity, and cultural collision that ends in tragedy, but also truth.

American Hate Trailer: https://youtu.be/SWyUWWFfHXE
American Hate Film: https://youtu.be/1qktRYmitQU

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all, everything is earned. Nothing is given. Especially now with the onset of AI and the state of the entertainment industry in 2025 is pretty rough. Acting is a gig to gig profession. You are constantly looking for your next opportunity. Inherently an unstable career path but if you can make it work and make a living off of it, you’ve hit the jackpot, in my opinion. Pursuing the arts is worth it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an actor which got into writing and producing out of the realization that the power is in my hands to create something worthwhile. I do not have to wait for the powers for opportunity. I focus on creating stories from my community which are Indian Centric. There are not enough South Asian/Indian stories being told. I would like to be the one the help tell them, in the best way possible. I am really proud of the last project, American Hate back in 2019-2020. I left links for people to watch below.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
“Just keep swimming.” ::with a positive Dory like attitude::

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tejasnshah.com
• Instagram: @tejas.n.shah