Nik Dodani
Nik Dodani | |
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Born | Dallas, Texas, U.S.[1] | December 19, 1993
Occupations |
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Years active | 2008–present |
Known for |
Nik Dodani (born December 19, 1993) is an American actor, writer, and comedian known for his roles as Zahid in the Netflix comedy-drama series Atypical, and Pat Patel in the revival of the popular CBS sitcom Murphy Brown.[2][3]
Career
[edit]Acting
[edit]On television, Dodani has also appeared in HBO's The Comeback, ABC's Big Sky,[4] Netflix's Trinkets, TBS's Angie Tribeca, Comedy Central's Idiotsitter,[5] Freeform's Kevin from Work, and NBC's The Player.[6] He also appeared in the Netflix film Alex Strangelove,[7] Joshua Leonard's independent film Dark Was the Night opposite Marisa Tomei and Charlie Plummer,[8] the Sony Pictures thriller Escape Room,[9] Hannah Marks' feature film Mark, Mary & Some Other People,[10] and Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen as Jared, who was re-conceived as "Jared Kalwani" to celebrate Dodani's casting.[11][12]
In March 2022, it was announced he would lead the New Line Cinema comedy The Parenting, opposite Brandon Flynn, Lisa Kudrow and Brian Cox.[13] In July 2024, he appeared in Lee Isaac Chung's Twisters, a follow up to the 1996 film Twister.[14]
Dodani has voiced characters on numerous animated programs, including Nickelodeon's Big Nate, Disney's The Owl House and Hailey's On It!, and Disney Junior's Mira, Royal Detective.[15][16][17][18] Dodani also voiced a character in the 2022 Disney animated film Strange World.[19]
He made his Broadway debut as Ogie in Waitress from October 19 to November 27, 2021.[20]
Stand-up comedy
[edit]Dodani made his late-night stand-up comedy debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on September 28, 2018.[21]
Writing and producing
[edit]In October 2018, it was announced that Dodani would write the screenplay for the film adaptation of Rakesh Satyal's novel Blue Boy.[22] In March 2022, Dodani launched his own production banner, Cosmic Pomegranate, with creative partner Joey Long.[13][23]
In 2023, Dodani served as a co-producer of Life of Pi on Broadway, a play written by Lolita Chakrabarti as an adaptation of the novel by Yann Martel. Dodani served as an architect of The Power of Pi Project, "a first-of-its-kind effort from a Broadway production to connect with the AAPI community in New York and beyond."[24]
Advocacy
[edit]During the 2016 presidential election, Dodani was a producer for MoveOn, where he organized a political comedy tour called Laughter Trumps Hate.[25] He previously worked as a communications consultant at RALLY, an issue advocacy firm based in Hollywood, and as a graphic designer and student organizer on Elizabeth Warren's 2012 Senate campaign.[26]
In 2019, Dodani co-founded The Salon along with Bash Naran and Vinny Chhibber. The Salon is a forum for South Asian creatives in western creative arts. Dodani told The Hindu in 2021, "Our vision is to help the next generation of South Asian talent."[27]
Dodani was active in organizing the South Asian community in support of the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign and in support of Kamala Harris.[28][29] He also played an active role in organizing other entertainers for the Black Lives Matter movement.[30][31]
Personal life
[edit]Dodani is of Indian descent and openly gay.[32][33] He graduated from BASIS Scottsdale in 2011 and studied politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles.[34][35]
Filmography
[edit]† | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
Film
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Other People | Ron | |
The Good Neighbor | Sanjay | ||
2018 | Alex Strangelove | Blake | |
Dark Was the Night | Seamus | ||
2019 | Escape Room | Danny Khan | |
2021 | Mark, Mary & Some Other People | Kyle | |
Dear Evan Hansen | Jared Kalwani | ||
2022 | Strange World | Kardez | Voice role |
2024 | The A-Frame[36] | Rishi | |
Twisters | Praveen | ||
TBA | The Parenting † | Rohan | Post-production |
Television
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Living with Abandon | Paku | TV movie |
2014 | The Comeback | Harry | 2 episodes |
Selfie | Bookstore Employee | 1 episode | |
2015 | Kevin from Work | Paul Garfunkle | 2 episodes |
The Player | Solomon Desai | 1 episode | |
2017 | Idiotsitter | 1 episode | |
2017–2021 | Atypical | Zahid Raja | 37 episodes |
2018 | Murphy Brown | Pat Patel | 13 episodes |
Angie Tribeca | CRISPIN_GLOVES0FF295 | 1 episode | |
2019–2020 | Trinkets | Chase | 6 episodes |
2021 | The Owl House | Gavin (voice) | Episode: "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" |
2022 | Big Nate | Randy Betancourt (voice) | Recurring cast |
Mira, Royal Detective | Anish (voice) | Episode: "Mikku and Chikku's Hometown Mystery" | |
2023 | Hailey's On It! | Thad (voice) | Recurring cast |
References
[edit]- ^ "Nik Dodani – Murphy Brown Cast Member". CBS.
- ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena. "Atypical Creator Robia Rashid on Autism: 'I Had to Do a Lot of Real Learning'". Vulture. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 16, 2018). "'Murphy Brown': Jake McDorman To Play Son Avery in CBS Revival; Nik Dodani Cast". Deadline. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ "Nik Dodani, Fresh Off Broadway, Is Ready to Be the Main Character". Teen Vogue. March 14, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Nik Dodani Boards 'Alex Strangelove'" Deadline Hollywood, and Netflix's Atypical. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ "Scoop: The Player on NBC – Tonight, October 22, 2015" Broadway World. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ "Netflix original 'Alex Stangelove' to feature Indian-American actor Nik Dodani" The Times of India. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ "Marisa Tomei, Timothy Olyphant Starring in 'Behold My Heart'" Variety. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ N'Duka, Amanda (September 22, 2017). "Tyler Labine, 'Insecure's Jay Ellis & Nik Dodani Join Sony's 'The Maze'". Deadline. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
- ^ N'Duka, Amanda (February 20, 2020). "'Riverdale's Hayley Law, Ben Rosenfield To Star in Open Relationship Comedy 'Mark, Mary & Some Other People' From Hannah Marks". Deadline. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (August 19, 2020). "Nik Dodani and Colton Ryan Join Universal's 'Dear Evan Hansen' Adaptation". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
- ^ Lakritz, Talia. "How old the stars of the 'Dear Evan Hansen' movie are compared to their characters". Insider. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
- ^ a b Kit, Borys (March 21, 2022). "Nik Dodani, Brandon Flynn Join New Line Comedy 'The Parenting' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- ^ Grobar, Matt (May 17, 2023). "'Twisters': Maura Tierney, Sasha Lane, Kiernan Shipka & David Corenswet Among Final Additions To Lee Isaac Chung's Disaster Pic For Uni, Amblin And Warner Bros". Deadline. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Dar, Taimur (June 26, 2023). "New characters make their debut in Big Nate Season 2". The Beat. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Petski, Denise (May 17, 2021). "'The Owl House' Renewed For Season 3 By Disney Channel Ahead Of Season 2 Premiere". Deadline. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "'Hailey's On It' starring Auli'i Cravalho, Manny Jacinto premieres on Disney Channel". Yahoo News. June 8, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Yount, Stacey (April 6, 2022). "Mira, Royal Detective to feature four extended-length specials that celebrate Bollywood music and dance". BollySpice.com - The latest movies, interviews in Bollywood. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Strange World (2022) (B+)". The A.V. Club. November 23, 2022. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Nik Dodani". Playbill. October 19, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ "Murphy Brown Star Jokes About Being Gay and Indian on Stephen Colbert". September 29, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ "Film News Roundup: 'Murphy Brown' Star Nik Dodani Writing 'Blue Boy' Script". Variety, October 12, 2018.
- ^ "Nik Dodani, Fresh Off Broadway, Is Ready to Be the Main Character". Teen Vogue. March 14, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
- ^ Kumar, Arun (May 1, 2023). "Life of Pi initiative for South Asian and AAPI community - The American Bazaar". Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "Comedy Competition Will Focus on Taking Down Trump" The Interroband. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
- ^ "Newsmakers" Archived May 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Occidental College. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
- ^ Bhavani, Divya-Kala (September 24, 2021). "Nik Dodani, Sujata Day, Kiran Deol on the evolving space for Indian-origin creatives in western cinema". The Hindu.
- ^ Janes, Chelsea. "Americans react to Kamala Harris's historic victory: 'Look baby, she looks like us.'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ "Kamala Harris as Auntie: How Art Helped Fashion an Iconic Role". KQED. November 23, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 26, 2020). "Padma Lakshmi, Aasif Mandvi, Nik Dodani And More Celebrate Kamala Harris As First South Asian VP Candidate, Discuss Power Of Voting". Deadline. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 12, 2020). "'Atypical' Cast, Biden Campaign And White People 4 Black Lives Team For Election Events". Deadline. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- ^ "'Murphy Brown' Star Nik Dodani Explains How Being Gay is a Lot Like Being Indian". Hornet. September 29, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
- ^ IANS (February 6, 2019). "LGBTQ lives being reflected on screen: Nik Dodani". Business Standard India. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ Homegrown (June 8, 2021). "Gay, Indian And Disappointed: Check Out Nik Dodani's Brand Of Stand-Up Comedy". homegrown.co.in. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
- ^ "Alumni Spotlight on Actor/comedian/activist Nik Dodani '11 – News – BASIS Alumni Association". basisalumni.org. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
- ^ The A-Frame Midnight World Premiere
External links
[edit]- Nik Dodani at IMDb
- Nik Dodani on Instagram