Screen Brief was fortunate to speak with Saksham Sharma, who stars as Vijay in the new film “Ice Road: Vengeance“, releasing on Prime Video. The movie also stars Liam Neeson, Bingbing Fan, and Grace O’Sullivan. A sequel to the first “Ice Road”, this action thriller sees Neeson’s character take on ruthless mercenaries to protect a busload of tourists while on his way to Mt. Everest.
Sharma is an actor, writer and online personality. He’s starred in Australian and international productions and has amassed over 6M followers on YouTube and social media for his magic illusions content. Our conversation ranged from his experience building an audience online, to blending his entrepreneurial skills with acting, while starring in a global film production.
Screen Brief: It’s great to speak with you Saksham. How has it been seeing Ice Road; Vengeance release theatrically in the US, and what are you excited for audiences in Australia to see when it releases locally?
Saksham: It’s a blast. Seeing a theatrical release in the United States is super cool. And I’ve got a lot of audience reactions, some of my family who are in the States who watched it, they sent me photos. It’s been pretty amazing seeing that. And now that it’s finally releasing on Prime Video.
I can’t wait for the rest of the world to see it. I’ve got family in India, so I’m very excited for them to see it. It’s a big deal for me and I’m looking forward to sharing it with everyone.
You’ve done a lot of different things in your career so far. What are some of the key inflection points when you realised you were achieving large traction and success?
There’s been multiple times where things have really helped me in my career.
I think one of the first points would be Australia’s Got Talent. I was 17 at the time, and even now in 2025 on the Ice Road set people still remembered me from that. Saying things like, “I remember watching you on Australia’s Got Talent when you did that illusion trick”.
I was surprised and had no clue that people still remember that act. That’s how powerful magic can be. So, I think that’s the first thing that really got me going.
The next key moment after that was the pandemic. I made a lot of digital content. That’s how I got into YouTube and built an audience of around 5.7 million on there. That was an important moment. Through YouTube, I formed a lot of collaborations and got to meet creative people from Gary Vee to Mark Wahlberg and others in the industry.
After that, Screen Australia was really helpful because I pitched a project which I wrote, acted, and produced myself and they financed the whole thing with Google. At the time I was getting like smaller parts, like Home and Away, I had smaller gigs and acting, but I wasn’t getting considered for any major parts. So, I was like ‘Okay, well how about I just write it myself and produce it and act in it? Like what’s possible?’
I think that Australia is very supportive with those things. If you have a good story that is truly connected to an audience, then you can show that there is an audience for it. And for me that was the digital platforms, which I clearly had evidence of millions of views. So, I just combined those and that’s how we started.
That must have opened up doors for your acting career?
Exactly, eventually I got out to Los Angeles, that led to me to meeting a manager. After that I started getting auditions. Hundreds of auditions later, I got Ice Road.
At the same time that I was offered Ice Road, I was also offered a series part for Paramount Plus that was going to be shooting at the same time. It was a big part, and a hard decision to make. Which was crazy because I hadn’t done much. And so, I had to pick one and it was an interesting process. We went with Ice Road and I’m pretty happy with it. I think it’s a great movie.
What helped you make the decision to choose Ice Road?
I am a big Liam Neeson fan. I love action. And I love the director of this film. Everything about it is so premium.
I wanted to take both projects, but they were shooting at the same time. The Paramount Plus Series was an amazing project and a very significant part, that probably would have had a longer duration because it’s a series with multiple episodes.
For me it was about choosing the project with the strongest script for my character. My character Vijay plays a prominent role through the whole runtime of Ice Road, so that was a big deal. And getting to work with Liam Neeson, Bingbing Fan, and director Jonathan Hensleigh was amazing.
What was one of the biggest learning curves when taking on a lead role in such a large production?
The biggest thing is that a lot of people are involved, which means there is a lot of responsibility to get it right. It’s a big budget film, and hundreds of people are working it.
Often, we only get one take when we’re shooting. Like when we’re exploding or breaking things on set. Those things are very scary because if you mess up one thing, it can mess up an expensive shot that you only had one chance at doing. So those situations were really tense. You don’t to waste $200,000 exploding a set piece only for the shot to not work.
I also learned a lot from Liam Neeson, and the director Jonathan Hensleigh. Both of them knew I was a younger actor and really just welcomed me into the process.
Do you have any stories about working with Liam Neeson, like the first time you met him?
Yes. The first time I met Liam, we were going to do a scene together. I saw so the Liam’s car come in and I was nervous. The producer took me to him and Liam already knew who I was, he said hello, hugged me and said, ‘Don’t mess it up’.
After that we developed a great relationship. I showed him some magic tricks, and he loved it. I even tough him some magic tricks. And in return he taught me some acting tips. One that I remember was when he asked me to close my eyes, look in the direction of the sun, hold it for a minute and then look at the camera again. After trying it, it helped me stop squinting when shooting a scene in the sunlight.
What was it like working with director Jonathan Hensleigh?
So much fun. He’s so full of energy. He was great at encouraging us to keep our energy up during the stunt scenes and explaining how to them safely and effectively. He’d demonstrate and show us how to do it and has a very tactical approach to his direction.
For the action scenes, there’s really no physical simulation of gunshots or explosions. All we have to react to is the director, and he’s great at providing those directions.
Any funny stories from the set?
The funniest day on set would probably be an interaction I had with Liam [Neeson] on the second day. He came up to me and said, “I want you to do the F9-90 degree minus 4 with your head. It’s about to happen. Let’s go”. I had no idea what he meant. When I asked he said it was in the actor’s manual.
I called my acting teacher and told them, and we couldn’t figure it out. The next day I asked Grace, and she said, “He’s just messing with you”. So, I went up to Liam the next day and said, “I learned the actors manual. I read the whole thing. I’m good now.” He’s like, “It took me like decades to learn it. You did it in a day?”
Liam was really fun and made the whole experience enjoyable. My character had a lot of intense emotional scenes in the movie and Liam was great at supporting me and helping take me out of it after. He was very humble and could lighten the mood easily.
What was the most surprising part about working on a big production like Ice Road: Vengeance?
Honestly, seeing my own trailer on set was pretty exciting. I couldn’t believe it. I really couldn’t. I had a FaceTime with my Mon where I was like, “I actually have this thing that you usually see behind the scenes”. And it has Vijay, my character on it. It was really cool.
The other thing that was surprising was how much of the action was shot practically. We were on location a lot, and most of the stuff shot in Walhalla, Victoria was all practical.
Having built such a strong audience as an online creator, do you see that as a complimentary set of skills that has helped your acting career?
Absolutely. I mean, I’ve trained as an actor at Lee Strasberg [Theatre & Film Institute] in LA. I’ve also trained at RADA in London, and I’ve trained in India. After doing all of those courses, what I’ve recognised is that what makes a good actor is not always just technique. It’s the experiences and human connections built. And that’s what you use to actually perform on screen.
For me as a magician, the experiences I’ve had performing magic is complete gold for me to use in my performances. One example was that in auditions, I was spinning a coin on my finger. I was doing my take, and I was just spinning this coin while I continued the take. When the casting directors are looking at my tapes, they’re like, ‘What the hell?’ It’s a different approach, and I always try to integrate some element of myself into the character.
Even with the Vijay character in Ice Road, even though I’m not doing magic in the film at it affects the way I perform. Like the way I hold the gun, my movement, it changes my performance. For me, that’s really cool. Whenever some artist has a different talent, I think that’s what makes a very distinct actor.
Do you have any dream projects or something that you want to work on next?
Yes, I’m very excited to do an Australia theatrical tour. That’s in the works actually, we’re planning that. It’s a combination of storytelling and magic and fusing them into this theatrical show experience for an audience. That’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I watched magicians like Dynamo, and I remember going to a show that he sold out, with I think 10,000 tickets at Qudos Bank Arena. That was incredible. And I feel that no one is really doing that now. So, I’d love to combine my skills and create a show in that space specifically.
So that would be a live performance?
Yes, for live audience. But also for a magic film, like “Now You See Me”, but everything for real. That’s something I’m actually working on as well with a studio. Som these are the two projects that I’m working on.
You have a very entrepreneurial approach, writing and producing your own ideas. How has been a creative behind the camera helped inform the way you’ve navigated your career?
I’ve always been in the driving seat, creating projects. My natural approach to creativity has never been waiting for anyone. I just do it. And that’s kind of how I’ve found success.
Working on Ice Road was great because I got to meet the producers and learn about their journey. I shared some of my ideas with them and that I’m working on my own projects and they said that that is hands down the best thing to do to actually take your career forward because you have a lot more control as a creative.
At the end of the day It know, it is the connection between the artist to the audience that really matters. If you are really genuine, then you can make that connection.
Finally, what should longtime fans be most excited to see from you in Ice Road: Vengeance?
I don’t think anyone expects it to be honest. It’s very different to the stuff I’ve done in the past. People who know me from magic and or comedy stuff I’ve done online will be surprised by how different it is. I’m very excited to share that with them and continue this journey where some people have seen me grow from a performer into now having a lead role in a big movie.
I’ve already had messages on Instagram from people who watched the film in the US, who remembered me from YouTube and projects I’ve done in the past. Someone even remembered me from street magic I performed for them 12 years ago. It’s a great moment to reconnect with people and continue my journey.
Ice Road: Vengeance is streaming on Prime Video starting September 3rd in Australia and other regions around the world.
Thank you to Saksham Sharma for taking the time to speak with us.
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