Sway Bhatia is a force to be reckoned with. At just 17 years old, this absolute powerhouse has already mastered dancing, singing, drumming, acting, and graduating from high school. Her resume includes a stint on HBO’s Succession, as well as starring as Sofi in Disney’s The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. Her latest venture has her playing a vampire named Vera in Disney’s ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires.
I had the immense pleasure of chatting with Sway recently about her many talents, ventures, and current projects.
Check out the interview below!
Gabrielle Bisaccia: I saw that you’re from New Jersey, which I am too! So, I have to ask my most important question first. Do you call it “Taylor Ham” or “Pork Roll”?
Sway Bhatia: I have been asked this question before. I think I’ve heard “Taylor Ham” more!
GB: I saw that you’re going to NYU next year. That’s so impressive, congratulations! What will you be studying?
SB: I’m going to be studying film making, so I’ll be a film and television major. It’s been a dream for a long time, so it’s honestly surreal that it’s here! I just graduated high school last week and it’s all kind of happening now.
GB: It seems like you’re pretty close with your mom, which I can totally relate to! Is it safe to say your mom is your biggest fan and supporter?
SB: She definitely is! She has played a huge role in this entire journey. I honestly couldn’t do it without her. She’s pushed me in every way, and also has always been there to support me for every fall that I’ve had and I couldn’t be more grateful. She’s my biggest cheerleader and I’m always her biggest cheerleader as well. Thankfully I won’t be going too far from her with college, so she knows that I’ll be escaping to her whenever I need her! We’ve already planned our Sunday brunches and I’m really looking forward to that.
GB: You starred in The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. How did you hear about the role?
SB: Mighty Ducks was honestly such an exciting job for me because I was a figure skater from the ages of 4 to 7 when I grew up in Dubai. I never thought that my figure skating skills would come in handy as an actor. I remember as a child, people would tell me I should watch Mighty Ducks, since I was a figure skater and there were so many female characters in the movie that I would love. So when the audition came around, I finally got to watch the movie, and I fell in love with the message and the story that the movie told about coming together and bringing the underdogs to the championship. It was honestly such a fun project to be a part of and I’m so grateful to have introduced my character because I think it’s so special being a South Asian female hockey player because you don’t see that very often, if ever. I think a lot of young girls were able to see that and take it in any way that they wanted, whether that be hockey or something else. It showed that no matter what you look like, you can do what you want if you put your mind to it. I think that Sofi was a really encouraging character in that way.
GB: Since you know how to figure skate, did you get to do your own stunts?
SB: We had a three week boot camp before filming and we worked with NHL players, which was really fun! We learned so much from them. They were definitely intense sessions, but two other kids and myself knew how to skate before. For most of the cast, it was their first time skating, so it was really interesting watching all of us grow and I was so impressed with everyone and how they picked it up really quickly! I tried to use my stunt double as least as possible; I would like to say that I did most of my falls myself and I hold that with me to this day and I’m very proud of myself!
GB: You dance, sing, act, and drum, just to name a few of your many talents! Do you have a favorite?
SB: It’s so hard to name a favorite, but I think the answer that I’ve come up with for this question is acting because with acting you can portray any sort of character. Mighty Ducks is the perfect example of that. The cool part about acting is that you can become anyone and tell anyone’s story. I’m excited to see where that takes me in the future! I’ve continued to push myself as an actor with more serious roles and different genres. Especially with someone going to college for filmmaking, I really want to be able to tell stories that some people may be afraid to tell. I want to tell the stories that my family experienced growing up. To me, it’s so important to bring my grandparents’ stories to life. My grandpa was a playwright in his village in India and my grandma was a dancer in her village in India. They were never able to pursue their careers because of the social standards of the time and because those weren’t considered “real” jobs to their families. I’m so grateful that I get to continue my passion and pursue the arts and I almost feel like I’m pursuing it for them so it means a lot to honor their legacy. As a future filmmaker, I hope to honor my family in my own way so that people can relate and connect their own stories to that. So, acting and filmmaking are my favorite types of mediums because there is so much you can tell with it!
GB: Let’s talk about Disney’s ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires. How did you get involved in this project?
SB: Since I’ve already done one or two Disney projects, I’m familiar with the team, which was an awesome experience for me. I got the email at midnight to get on a Zoom 12 hours later and work with the casting director. It was a very quick experience for me but it honestly pushed me a lot to have that quick turnaround and by that Friday I knew that I had the job. Amber, who is the casting director, is such a huge cheerleader and I have so much love for her and she’s just so incredible to work with, so this project was an incredible experience for me. I remember that Milo [Manheim] told me that there would possibly be a ZOMBIES 4 and at that time, I had only approached him as a fan, and he jokingly told me that I would probably be in it. The fact that I was in fact in it a few years later and that he had predicted that was unreal! I’m a huge ZOMBIES fan, and I watched Disney movies with a passion growing up and I love every single cast member. I love Meg [Donnelly]! Meg and I grew up together in the city doing off broadway productions. It was the first thing that I did as an actor in New York and I watched her grow as an artist and getting to work with her on my first movie meant a lot to me because she’s been an incredible role model for all of my journey. I really loved the movie and all of the messages that it has to share and every dance and every song that kids can really relate to and sing along with to have a fun escape watching these films. I’m excited for everyone to have that escape with ZOMBIES 4, I think it’s going to be a great movie!
GB: How did you prepare for the role? Do you have any favorite vampires or vampire shows and/or movies that you drew inspiration from?
SB: I think because it’s very different from any other vampire project, I had to create this character more from within myself. It was more tapping into my sassy alter ego and really just creating Vera as human as I could and then the vampire part was really just another part of her. I know being a vampire meant a lot to Vera, but the cool part is that all of these characters are so real and so human in a way that you can relate to each and every one of them. I love how we were able to make them all monsters, but you can see that there is that humanness in every one of them. We all have such different personalities which makes us such a diverse cast in that sense and I hope that every person can connect to one of our characters with our range of personalities!
GB: Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about the film?
SB: Without giving too much away, I can say that the dancing is really next level in this film. The other really cool part is that you get to meet two new monsters in this film and you get to see not only their chemistry, but the way they take on challenges and the way the vampires live versus the way the daywalkers live. It’s pretty cool getting to apply that sort of chemistry to this film because normally in the ZOMBIES franchise, we’re used to just meeting one new monster, so I love that we’re getting to meet two new monsters this time that they have such huge backstories that we all get to learn about. The most amazing and heartfelt part is having Meg, Milo, Chandler, and Kylee lead us along. It’s so special and I think that’s one of the most amazing parts of this film to see those nostalgic moments!
GB: What’s next for you?
SB: I can’t talk about my new projects yet, but I can say that with college coming up, I get to focus on my own creative projects a little bit, which is exciting! Hopefully some new music and new films; I’ll definitely be making lots and lots of new films at NYU! I think I’ll see myself coming into a new light as a creator, which is really exciting because I’ve spent so many years as an actor and I’ve taken in so much information on set and met so many different film makers and so many different producers and cinematographers, so I’m excited to use all of that knowledge that I’ve gained on set at NYU. I’m eager to see what I will create and what I can put out!