About Kai Sharif
Kai is a basketball ace with Dennis Rodman good looks and his own flamboyant style on the court – and in life. Easy in his own skin, he’s comfortably gay and pretty camp – even if he does tone it down a bit at home. His family are perfectly kind, nice and reasonable; Kai just wishes they were more exciting. He feels so stifled at home, like he just can’t be the Kai he needs to be.

Adam Ali Q&A

Welcome to Waterloo Road! How excited were you to be joining the series?

Bring it on! I’m bursting with joy for the world to meet Waterloo Road’s class of 2023. Nothing compares to feeling seen and your hard work being recognised. It’s only taken me 10 years but I can finally say being an actor is my full-time job so that alone is a reason to be excited. There’s no other ensemble I would rather be doing it with. My cast mates are my found family now and embarking on this new chapter in our lives together will be something I remember for the rest of my life. Waterloo Road holds such a precious nostalgic place in people's hearts. I still remember being in year 7 and at lunchtime, everyone talking about the show, some even got time off school to work as extras on set. I didn’t think there would ever be room for me on such a big and beloved show. It’s not every day you see a working-class queer Arab Muslim kid on TV. All these years later, I am now a small part of this remarkable show's legacy. Just wish I was this excited to be going back to school when I was 16 and revising for my GCSEs.

Tell us a little bit about the audition process and what drew you to Kai as a character?

Absolutely has to be one word. JOY! Do you know how many tragedy-focused parts as queer performers we have to endure? It's such a relief when a fresh take such as Kai lands in your email.

Well, here’s some juicy tea, Kai wasn’t always Kai. I auditioned for a character called Brin. Who’s that you may ask? Well, we’ll never know. Very early on, I met our lovely writers and with their support, we remodelled the character into the Kai that we know and love today. Kai is short for Khaleel and Shariff is a homage to Omar Sharif. The first Arabic actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. But their receptiveness to my input didn’t start there. In the audition room, I was questioned about my opinions on the character. Honouring Kai’s empowerment may have been what they were impressed with. Also, as someone whose identity alone is unavoidably political. I was drawn to the show's exploration of activism in young people. I hope young viewers pick up on that in the show and find the agency to stand up for what they believe in. I don’t think I would have always been able to play him.

I believe everything in life is about the right timing. I’ve arrived at a point on my journey of self-acceptance where I am done. I never want to keep secrets or carry the weight of shame. The freedom to be comfortable playing who I ever want has changed my life. I read the audition piece for Kai and saw an opportunity. Kai was going to be my second chance. In the experience of making this show, I could go back to school and redo it the way I would have truly wanted to. As myself. I don’t want it to sound selfish but I'm doing it for me. It's been a healing process to make peace with the shame I carried as a kid. This time around, I'm strutting down those school corridors with my head held high and the biggest smile on my face. Kai is a force of nature. He’s changed my life and I know he’ll do the same for others.

Can you tell us if Kai is well-liked at school?

Kai wears new socks every day, how can you not like him?

The show does a really good job of inverting the cliches. We don’t have ‘the cool kids' like you’d see in most high school shows. Every character is liked for something that makes them unique. But Kai is definitely friends with A LOT of people and I'd say that’s down to his kindness and confidence. He couldn’t care less about being liked or not liked. He's so comfortable in his skin. People just love him for who he is because he's so unapologetically himself.

He can stand up and fend for himself, but he's also not fazed by bullies because he sees them for what they are. Plus, hardly anyone tries him because his witty comebacks can be brutal. When he’s not running around sticking his nose in other people's business, he’s adored by his mates. He does have a habit of trying to help others and not knowing what he’s doing. Like a little lost puppy.

Kai is also on the basketball team. That's his family, those lads have grown up together playing every week side by side. Prejudice about his sexuality isn’t tolerated. It’s inviting the real world to imagine how much better the world could be if we allowed for more acceptance. And in return, he’s not held back by anything and instead allowed to thrive equally like everyone else. Kai is a reflection of the new generation of teen boys wearing makeup to school, and fans of shows such as Drag Race. The lines between what’s conventionally masculine and feminine are blurred with Kai. He’s on a basketball court and in a full face of makeup being able to do the two things he loves simultaneously. The duality is everything to me.

Are you anything like Kai in real life?

I wish I was when I was his age. When I was his age at school, I wasn't as confident as him. But what we do have in common is comedy. That was my shield when I felt nervous or afraid of others. I made them laugh and, in most cases, they laughed at me and left me alone. Whilst his classmates aren’t laughing at him, Kai has learned how to harness the power of comedy to cheer himself and others up. And I feel like that's how he wins them over because whether or not you think he is annoying or not, he knows how to make you smile. My chosen family in real life is a huge element of my life. Similarly, Kai's bond with his best friend Danny Lewis is unbreakable. I believe family is earned.

Did you enjoy your school days?

Yeah, I love my school. In my school days, I was the head boy, I was a prefect. I was in every club in every society. I was doing every sport and I spent as much time at school as I could. I never wanted to come home. I was one of those kids that liked to finish school at half five, or six o'clock because I would stay for all the clubs.

I really enjoyed my school days and I feel like school saved me because there were a lot of things in my life as a child that sort of should have sent me the other way. but if it wasn't for my drama teacher who sort of saw something in me and believed in me as no one else did, I would probably have a completely different life. But yeah, my drama class and my GCSEs really sort of changed my life, and I am eternally grateful for that.