The first time Yameen Mir saw himself on screen, he was at a cinema with his family in New Delhi, India. “My mom is an actress,” Mir said, which is one of the many reasons he wishes to break into the family business.
Currently a first-year theater student at the University of Maine, Mir had previously lived in Los Angeles for six years with his family. While living in L.A. may have additionally influenced Mir’s interest in breaking into the Hollywood scene, his pursuits for the big screen began long before moving to the United States.
When in middle school, Mir took a mass communications course at his New Delhi school. “The teachers said I was very coachable so they sent me to the local radio station,” Mir said. “I went for auditions for a couple of TV ads, and worked with a Bollywood actress.”
But radio and television advertisements were only just the beginning for this rising performer. Mir also broke into the New Dehli modeling industry and placed second runner up in “Mr. Delhi,” an annual pageant competition held in his country’s capital city.
When Mir set his sights on coming to the University of Maine, he intended to study new media. “I didn’t know there was such thing as a theater major in America,” Mir said. “But in my first day of new media class, my professor said that if you are interesting in acting, you should not be studying new media.” Not long after that, Mir switched majors to theater, a choice he is happy to have made. “I make every person laugh in my acting classes,” Mir energetically said, “I talk with a lot of humor.”
After completing his theater degree at the University of Maine, Mir hopes to go to the New York City Film Academy to continue his pursuits of becoming an actor. “I want to get into Hollywood and Bollywood,” Mir said, “but I want to break into Hollywood first. From there Bollywood, will be no problem.”
But in the meantime, Mir is enjoying his time in Maine. “I’m not having a hard time adjusting culturally because I’ve already lived in the States,” Mir said of the transition, but confirms that culturally, Maine is still a very different way of life than living in L.A. “I love the nature,” Mir said of his new home state. “I’ve been to Bar Harbor, and was just sitting next to the ocean and it was just beautiful.”
While Mir is not pursuing his acting career, he spends his time playing soccer and working out.
“I have played soccer all of my life,” Mir said. “My grandfather, who is 70, has been playing soccer all his life. My father plays soccer and cricket, so it’s kind of a hereditary thing.”
Having played soccer for over a decade, Mir worked his way up to a national league, and was able to travel to the U.S. for a soccer tournament in Cleveland, Ohio. But despite Mir’s own successful soccer career, he humbly admits that his 13-year-old brother “is the best in the family.”
