Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Shameless’ Patrick Sabongui

Patrick Sabongui has been a staple in Hollywood for more than two decades. Whether he’s starring on the screen or working behind the scenes, his mission as an artist has always been to push the story forward and amplify the voices of underrepresented communities.

This year, Patrick has not one, but two exciting new projects: Firefly Lane and Shameless.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to catch up with Patrick to chat about both series.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
Patrick: I love this question. Not to get too abstract, but I discovered my passion for self-expression through martial arts. I was taking a kung fu class in the Hung gar style, which is based on five animals: tiger, snake, crane, leopard, and dragon. There’s something about being in that class—our instructors would encourage us to take on the expressiveness of the animal to express the style.

There’s something really fulfilling about being that expressive and using my whole body, voice, and getting into the skin of an animal to express movement. I translated that to being expressive, telling stories, and embodying characters.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Patrick: I can only respond from the moment that I’m in now. There’s something about activism and having something to say about the world around you that I was heavily influenced by from a very young age. I’ve found a lot of that through music. The images that come to mind for me were Chuck D from Public Enemy, Bob Marley, and stories of people who had an impact and used art to send a message, to speak truth, to have an impact. I try to hold myself to that. I’m no Chuck D or Bob Marley, but I want to be one of those artists who has talent and uses their platform to make a positive impact on the world around them.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success throughout the years. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Patrick: The landmark experience for me has to be 300. I don’t know that I’m one of those actors who has had a breakout moment. I’m not a household name; I’m a journeyman, a blue-collar actor. I’m still trudging along and trying to tell stories, but something happened to me during my time on 300, where I hit my stride. I did double duty on that film. I had a role, but I was also on the stunt team.

Zack Snyder created something magical with that experience. It stayed with me, and that felt like a turning point in my career where I felt like, “This is a community and a world that I do want to make a living in.”

PC: In addition to acting, you’re also a writer/producer/director. How has your work behind the scenes made you a stronger actor and vice versa?
Patrick: It allows me to focus on my intention. When I set out to be involved with a project, it begins with, “What story can I help tell and what is my intention with the story?” If I get involved behind the scenes, it’s because someone I believe in is telling a story that I believe in, and I want to help them bring it to life. I’m less interested in what my credit will end up being.

Sometimes it’s connecting the dots. Sometimes it’s helping go over the script. Sometimes it’s showing up and hitting marks and saying words. Sometimes it’s fights and falling. I don’t really make a distinction with what part I’m participating in. To me, it’s all about the unique experience and the people that I believe in that I want to spend my time with. I think of myself as a storyteller and part of a community of storytellers.

Firefly Lane

PC: Tell us about Firefly Lane, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Patrick: Firefly Lane tells the story of two childhood friends that grow up together. It’s based on a popular book by Kristin Hannah—that drew me to the role of Chad Wiley. Chad is a journalism professor who has Tully Hart, played by Katherine Heigl, in his class. They have a bit of a contentious teacher/student relationship at first, and then it evolves past that.

A couple of things drew me to this project. The story really revolves around the friendship between the main characters and these women that grew up together. It’s a very female-forward project. We’re at a time in our society where we should—and need to be—amplifying female voices. I was really eager to participate in a story that was featuring two women and their friendship that didn’t have guns or violence.

We’re living in a really political time, and this story puts love, friendship, and beautiful things at its center. I want to be part of that and help support female stories.

Shameless

PC: You’re also joining the cast of Shameless. What should fans know about your character and his story arc?
Patrick: It’s hilarious. I get to be in Firefly Lane and then Shameless, and they’re the complete opposites in so many ways. What’s exciting about the world of Shameless—other than just being a fan of the show and loving William H. Macy and the rest of the cast—is that each character has some dirt, some darkness, some filthy corner that you get to explore.

My character shows up at the end of the series. By this point, the Carl character is in law enforcement, and we’ve got a bit of a confrontation. For a couple of episodes, Arthur, my character, is helping Carl navigate who he wants to be and helps him find his voice before we end the series. Everybody wants to know where these characters are going to end up. The conflict between myself and that character drives his storyline forward.

PC: You’ve done it all in your career. Is there a character or story that’s still on your bucket list to either create, tell, or portray?
Patrick: I’ve been working on developing a series with some writing partners and some producing partners. It’s a TV series that follows a character who used to be a homicide detective in his home country in the Middle East. Then, he ends up in Toronto and gets trapped between worlds.

I’m really fascinated by people being translated from one culture to another and how identities get erased when you try to adapt to a new environment, especially when it’s from a different part of the world. The character that I’m really interested in playing in the series is the one that is trying to find himself while he’s also adapting to a brand new world and environment.

This particular character was a homicide detective in his home country of Syria and comes to North America. His skills aren’t recognized. His appearance is recognized. He finds himself at the center of an investigation because of prejudices against him. He’s trying to reconcile where he fits into this new world. Stories that flesh out humanity is what I’m interested in.

To keep up with Patrick, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Shameless on Showtime.

Photo Credit: Brick Patrick