Nik Dodani (born December 19, 1993) is an American actor, writer, and comedian known for his roles as Zahid in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

comedy-drama series ''

Atypical ''Atypical'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Robia Rashid for Netflix. It focuses on the life of 18-year-old Sam Gardner ( Keir Gilchrist), who is on the autism spectrum. The first season was released on August 11, 201 ...

'', and Pat Patel in the revival of the popular

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

sitcom ''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for ''FYI'', a ...

''. He also starred in the 2019 thriller ''

Escape Room An escape room, also known as an escape game, puzzle room, exit game, or riddle room is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limite ...

'' and the 2021 film adaptation of ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a t ...

''. He made his Broadway debut as Ogie in

Waitress Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...

from October 19 to November 27, 2021.

Career

Acting

In addition to Netflix's ''Atypical'' and CBS's ''Murphy Brown,'' Dodani has appeared in Netflix's ''

Trinkets A trinket may refer to: * A small showy piece of jewellery, such as a jewel or a ring. * Trinket Island, an island of the Nicobar Islands ** Trinket (village), a village on the island * Trinket snake, common name for '' Elaphe helena'', a species ...

'', TBS's ''

Angie Tribeca ''Angie Tribeca'' is an American comedy television series created by Steve and Nancy Carell, which aired on TBS. The series, a parody of the police procedural genre, stars Rashida Jones as police detective Angie Tribeca. It also stars Hayes MacAr ...

'', Comedy Central's ''

Idiotsitter ''Idiotsitter'' is an American sitcom that premiered in the form of a web series on Comedy Central's CC: Studios on February 26, 2014, before being picked up for a run on television that premiered on Comedy Central on January 14, 2016. The series ...

'', Freeform's ''

Kevin from Work ''Kevin from Work'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC Family from August 12 to October 7, 2015. The pilot was ordered on January 6, 2015 and picked up to series on March 24, 2015. On March 4, 2016, ''Kevin from Work'' was officially cancelle ...

'', and NBC's ''The Player''. He also appeared in the

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as ...

-produced Netflix film ''

Alex Strangelove ''Alex Strangelove'' is a 2018 American romantic comedy film, written and directed by Craig Johnson (director), Craig Johnson and starring Daniel Doheny, Antonio Marziale and Madeline Weinstein. The film had its world premiere at the San Francisc ...

'',

Joshua Leonard Joshua Granville Leonard (born June 17, 1975) is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his role in ''The Blair Witch Project'' (1999). He has since starred in films such as '' Madhouse'' (2004), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006), '' Higher G ...

's independent film ''

Dark Was the Night Dark Was the Night may refer to: * ''Dark Was the Night'' (album), a 2009 compilation album * ''Dark Was the Night'' (2014 film), an American thriller film * ''Dark Was the Night'' (2018 film), an American drama film * "Dark Was the Night" (''Grey' ...

'' opposite Marisa Tomei and Charlie Plummer, and the

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

thriller ''

''. In February 2020, he joined the cast of

Hannah Marks Hannah Marks (born April 13, 1993) is an American actress, writer, and director. She played Amanda Brotzman on the television series '' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency''. Early life Hannah Marks was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of R ...

' feature film ''

Mark, Mary & Some Other People ''Mark, Mary & Some Other People'' is a 2021 American comedy film, written, directed, and produced by Hannah Marks. It stars Hayley Law, Ben Rosenfield, Odessa A'zion, Nik Dodani, Matt Shively, Sofia Bryant, Gillian Jacobs, Joe Lo Truglio, Steve ...

.'' In August 2020, he joined the cast of

Stephen Chbosky Stephen Chbosky (; born January 25, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film producer, film director, novelist, television writer, and television producer. He is best-known for writing the bestselling coming-of-age novel ''The Perks of Being a Wal ...

's film adaptation of Broadway musical ''

'' as Jared, who was re-conceived as "Jared Kalwani" to celebrate Dodani's casting. In March 2022, it was announced he would lead the New Line Cinema comedy The Parenting, opposite

Brandon Flynn Brandon Paul Flynn (born October 11, 1993) is an American actor, known for his role as Justin Foley in the Netflix series '' 13 Reasons Why'' (2017–2020), as well as appearing as himself in the short film ''Home Movies'', and Mike the Intern i ...

Lisa Kudrow Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...

and Brian Cox.

Stand-up comedy

Dodani made his late-night stand-up comedy debut on ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second it ...

'' on September 28, 2018.

Writing and producing

In October 2018, it was announced that Dodani will write the screenplay for the film adaptation of

Rakesh Satyal Rakesh Satyal is an American novelist, best known for his Lambda Literary Award-winning debut novel ''Blue Boy''.Cosmic Pomegranate
with creative partner Joey Long. 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."

Political activities

Dodani was active in organizing the South Asian community in support of the

Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign Former vice president Joe Biden began his presidential campaign on April 25, 2019 by releasing a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. The campaign concluded with him and his running mate Kamala H ...

and in support of

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...

. He also played an active role in organizing other entertainers for the Biden campaign as well as the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement. During the 2016 presidential election, Dodani was a producer for

MoveOn MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroot ...

, where he organized a political comedy tour called ''Laughter Trumps Hate''. 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 Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

's 2012 Senate campaign.

Personal life

Dodani is of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

descent and openly gay. He graduated from Basis Scottsdale in 2011 and studied politics at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Nik Dodani
Official site *
Nik Dodani
on Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodani, Nik American male actors of Indian descent American gay actors Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Occidental College alumni LGBT screenwriters American gay writers American screenwriters 1993 births