Naperville actor playing call-center worker in 'Outsourced'

Actor Parvesh Cheena said one of the great things about landing a role in a network television show is that now he has a daily routine.

"I actually have something to do now, Monday through Friday," said Cheena, who grew up in Naperville. "Before getting the part, my job, really, was to go on auditions. I always had to make sure I was available."

Cheena, 31, is in the cast of "Outsourced," the new NBC sitcom that premiered Thursday. He plays Gupta, a nerdy, awkward but good-hearted worker at a customer call center in Mumbai, India.

NBC has placed "Outsourced" in its Thursday night lineup of comedies, behind sitcom heavyweights "30 Rock" and "The Office." Cheena, who remembers watching "The Cosby Show" on Thursday nights as a kid, said it's surreal to be part of a show today that airs that same night.

"When I think about it, it's crazy," he said. "Thursday night has an impressive history on NBC, and to be on next to a show like 'The Office' is amazing."

Cheena was born in Elk Grove Village but moved to Naperville as a young child. After graduating from Waubonsie Valley High School in 1997 - the school recently granted him the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award - he attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a year, then transferred to the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University to study theater.

"Chicago is probably the best place to be as a young actor," said Cheena. "It's smaller and a little more humane (than New York and Los Angeles), but the theater in that town is first rate."

Cheena spent his time in Chicago working in theater and in commercials. After appearing in the feature films "Barbershop" and "Barbershop 2," he decided it was time to move to Los Angeles.

"I'd had a nice slow build, and I'd worked pretty steadily, so I felt I had the experience I needed to head out west," he said.

"Outsourced" gives Cheena his first regular role on a network show. He said he enjoys playing Gupta because he likes getting inside a character who tends to annoy people at first.

"People see him as dorky, but I don't see him that way," Cheena said. "He's just the type of person who truly wants to be good friends with all his co-workers, and that can get him into trouble."

The series has generated a lot of buzz, and NBC clearly has high hopes for its success. But there's also been some negative chatter about its topic and its portrayal of South Asians.

The show, loosely based on a 2006 movie of the same name, raises the thorny issue of outsourcing during a time when many Americans have lost their jobs, or worry about losing them, because of it. The show's main character, call center manager Todd Dempsy, works for an American novelty company that decides to ship all of its call-center jobs overseas.

"Outsourcing was a real issue before this show, and it will be after," Cheena said. "But we're not making light of it, any more than 'M*A*S*H' made light of war. It's a part of the world right now, and the show is reflecting that. It's a backdrop for the real subject of the show, which is the people inside this workplace."

As for the show's portrayal of Indians, Cheena said viewers shouldn't assume that the specific characters on the show are meant to be stand-ins for an entire racial or ethnic group. He added that he's glad the show has provided a showcase for young South Asian actors.

"I think it's an opportunity to show the similarities we all share, rather than the differences," he said. "It's funny because I can relate to both sides. My family comes from India, but I'm also a Naperville kid, a suburban kid."

Though fully entrenched in Los Angeles, Cheena said he tries to get home as often as he can, trips that usually involve helping his mother out at the GNC store she runs in Plainfield.

"I always love going back," he said. "That area's a part of me, you know?"

"Outsourced"Airs 8:30 p.m. Thursdays on NBCFalse13332000Actor and Naperville native Parvesh Cheena, who does live improv work when not working on his show "Outsourced," said he loves being able to make people laugh. False