Sendhil Amithab Ramamurthy (born May 17, 1974) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as
geneticist
A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...
Mohinder Suresh in the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
sci-fi drama ''
Heroes'' (2006–2010), Jai Wilcox in ''
Covert Affairs
''Covert Affairs'' is an American action drama television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham that premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. On January 6, 2015, USA Network canceled ''Covert Affairs'' afte ...
'' (2010–2012), Gabriel "Gabe" Lowan in ''
Beauty and the Beast
"Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales'').
Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'' (2013–2014), and Mohan in ''
Never Have I Ever
"Never have I ever", also known as "I've never.." or "ten fingers", is a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they have not done. Other players who have done this thing respond by taking a drink. A versi ...
'' (2020).
Early life and education
Ramamurthy was born in Chicago to a family who emigrated from India; his father is a
Kannadiga
The Kannadigas or Kannadigaru (), often referred to as Kannada people, are a Dravidian ethno-linguistic group who natively speak Kannada, primarily in the south Indian state of Karnataka and its surrounding regions. The Kannada language belongs ...
and his mother is
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
.
He grew up speaking English and some
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
.
His parents are physicians. He has one sister who is also a physician. He and his sister were raised in
San Antonio
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
. There, he went to
Keystone School and graduated in 1991.
Ramamurthy attended
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...
initially as a
pre-med major to follow in his parents' footsteps.
He was also a member of the Kappa Charge of
Theta Delta Chi. He became interested in acting when he took an "Intro to Acting" class during his junior year as part of his graduation requirement. After participating in several plays, including ''
Our Country's Good'', he chose to change career goals. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in history and then attended the
Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehen ...
in London in 1996, graduating in 1998.
Career
Ramamurthy has appeared in theatrical productions of ''
A Servant of Two Masters'' in London's
West End, ''
Indian Ink
India ink (British English: Indian ink; also Chinese ink) is a simple black or coloured ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing and outlining, especially when inking comic books and comic strips. In ...
'' at the
Soho Repertory Theatre, and ''
East Is East'' at the
Manhattan Theatre Club. His film credits include ''
Love & Debate'' (originally titled ''Thanks to Gravity''), ''Orient Express'', ''
Blind Dating'', ''Little India'', ''
Shor in the City'' and
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Kaur Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing ...
's comedy film ''
It's a Wonderful Afterlife''. In addition, he has appeared on several TV shows, including ''
Ellen'', ''
Casualty'', ''
Guiding Light
''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...
'', ''
Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
'', ''
Ultimate Force
''Ultimate Force'' is a British television Action movie, action drama television series, series that was shown on ITV (TV network), ITV, which deals with the activities of Red Troop of the SAS (Special Air Service). The first episode was broad ...
'', ''
CSI: Miami'', ''
Heroes'', ''
Covert Affairs
''Covert Affairs'' is an American action drama television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham that premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. On January 6, 2015, USA Network canceled ''Covert Affairs'' afte ...
'' and ''
Numb3rs
''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American crime drama television series that originally aired on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, with a total of six seasons consisting of 118 episodes. The series was created by Nico ...
''.
He made a conscious decision to not audition for stereotypical Indian roles, although he has been offered such parts.
Ramamurthy's role on ''Heroes'' was his biggest to date. Although the character of Mohinder Suresh was originally written for a 55-year-old, his audition tape and screen test were convincing enough for writers to rewrite the part for Ramamurthy. Ramamurthy starred in all four seasons of ''Heroes'', although his appearance in the final season was limited; had the series been recommissioned for a fifth season, he would not have returned for it.
In 2000, he appeared in
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
's television biblical miniseries ''
In the Beginning'' in the role of Adam.
Ramamurthy guest starred in a season four episode of ''
Psych
''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...
'' titled "Bollywood Homicide", directed by his cousin
Jay Chandrasekhar.
Ramamurthy joined the cast of the USA Network show ''
Covert Affairs
''Covert Affairs'' is an American action drama television series filmed in Toronto, Canada, starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham that premiered on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. On January 6, 2015, USA Network canceled ''Covert Affairs'' afte ...
'' as Jai Wilcox from the second episode onward, replacing character Conrad Sheehan III, played by
Eric Lively in the pilot.
The show premiered in July 2010.
In the season 3 premiere, his character was killed off.
Ramamurthy appeared in the eighth and ninth season of ''
The Office
''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...
'' as
Kelly Kapoor's new boyfriend, Ravi.
On December 19, 2012, it was announced that he would appear in the CW show ''
Beauty & the Beast'' as Gabriel Lowen, an assistant district attorney.
In 2015, he reprised his role as Dr Mohinder Suresh in the ''Heroes'' series's continuation entitled ''
Heroes: Reborn''.
He appeared as the main villain in the
sixth season of the television series ''
The Flash
The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...
'' as
Dr. Ramsey Rosso/Bloodwork. He reprised his role in the
season nine episode "
It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To"
As of 2020, he is part of the cast of the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series ''
Never Have I Ever
"Never have I ever", also known as "I've never.." or "ten fingers", is a drinking game in which players take turns asking other players about things they have not done. Other players who have done this thing respond by taking a drink. A versi ...
'', playing Mohan Vishwakumar, the main character's father. The series is produced by
Mindy Kaling, who had first worked with Ramamurthy when she was a writer and actor on ''The Office''.
In 2022, Ramamurthy appeared in season four of ''
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appear ...
'' as
Mister 104.
Personal life
In 1999, Ramamurthy married actress
Olga Sosnovska. They have two children, a daughter and a son, born in 2005 and 2008 respectively. He and his family previously lived in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and have since moved to
New York.
Comedian and film director
Jay Chandrasekhar is his cousin.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Sendhil Ramamurthy's Official Website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramamurthy, Sendhil
1974 births
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
American people of Kannada descent
American people of Indian Tamil descent
Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
American Hindus
Male actors from San Antonio
Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Male actors from New Rochelle, New York
American male actors of Indian descent
American male television actors
American male film actors
21st-century American male actors
American emigrants to the United Kingdom
American male voice actors