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

comedy-drama series ''

Atypical ''Atypical'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Robia Rashid for Netflix. The series takes place in Connecticut, and focuses on the life of 18-year-old Samuel "Sam" Gardner ( Keir Gilchrist), who is autistic. The first sea ...

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

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

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 presenter, news anch ...

''.

Career

Acting

Nik Dodani began his acting career in Phoenix-area community theater, his first notable role being Zero in a staged production of ''Holes'' based on the novel by

Louis Sachar Louis Sachar ( ; born March 20, 1954) is an American young-adult mystery-comedy author. He is best known for the ''Wayside School (book series), Wayside School'' series and the novel ''Holes (novel), Holes''. ''Holes'' won the 1998 U.S. Nationa ...

. Dodani made his television debut in season 2 of HBO's '' The Comeback'' starring

Lisa Kudrow Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress. She rose to international fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the American television sitcom ''Friends'', which aired from 1994 to 2004. The series earned her Primetime Emmy A ...

. On television, Dodani has also appeared in ABC's '' Big Sky'', Netflix's '' Trinkets'', TBS's ''

Angie Tribeca ''Angie Tribeca'' is an American television sitcom created by Steve and Nancy Carell, which aired on TBS. A parody of the police procedural genre, it stars Rashida Jones as the titular character, with Hayes MacArthur, Jere Burns, Deon Cole ...

'', Comedy Central's '' Idiotsitter'', Freeform's '' Kevin from Work'', and NBC's ''The Player,'' among others. In film, Dodani has appeared in Netflix's '' Alex Strangelove'', Joshua Leonard's independent film ''

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

'' opposite Marisa Tomei and Charlie Plummer, the

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

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 limit ...

,'' Hannah Marks' feature film '' Mark, Mary & Some Other People,'' and Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of Broadway musical ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, 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 rol ...

'' as Jared, who was re-conceived as "Jared Kalwani" to celebrate Dodani's casting. In July 2024, he appeared in

Lee Isaac Chung Lee Isaac Chung (born October 19, 1978) is an American filmmaker. His debut feature '' Munyurangabo'' (2007) was an official selection at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and the first narrative feature film in the Kinyarwanda language. Chung gain ...

's '' Twisters'', a follow up to the 1996 film ''

Twister Twister most commonly refers to a tornado. Twister or Twisters may also refer to: Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paragli ...

''. In March 2022, it was announced he would lead the New Line Cinema comedy ''

The Parenting ''The Parenting'' is a 2025 American comedy horror film directed by Craig Johnson (director), Craig Johnson and written by Kent Sublette. It stars Nik Dodani, Brandon Flynn, Parker Posey, Vivian Bang, Lisa Kudrow, Dean Norris, Brian Cox (actor) ...

'', opposite Brandon Flynn,

and Brian Cox. The film will be released on

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

on March 13, 2025. Dodani has voiced characters on numerous animated programs, including Nickelodeon's ''

Big Nate ''Big Nate'' (stylized as ''big NATE'' in the List of Big Nate collections, comic collections and ''BiG NATE'' in the Big Nate#Book series, books) is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Lincoln Peirce, syndicated since January ...

'', Disney's ''

The Owl House ''The Owl House'' is an American animated fantasy television series created by Dana Terrace that aired on Disney Channel from January 10, 2020, to April 8, 2023. The series features the voices of Sarah-Nicole Robles, Wendie Malick, Alex Hi ...

'' and '' Hailey's On It!'', and Disney Junior's '' Mira, Royal Detective''. Dodani also voiced a character in the 2022 Disney animated film '' Strange World''. He made his Broadway debut as Ogie in ''

Waitress Waiting staff ( BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food and drink as requested. Waiting staff ...

'' from October 19 to November 27, 2021.

Stand-up comedy

Dodani began performing stand-up comedy in 2015 and 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 talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

'' on September 28, 2018.

Writing and producing

In October 2018, it was announced that Dodani would write the screenplay for the film adaptation of Rakesh Satyal's novel ''Blue Boy''. In March 2022, Dodani launched his own production banner, Cosmic Pomegranate, with creative partner Joey Long. In 2023, Dodani served as a co-producer of '' Life of Pi'' on Broadway, a play written by

Lolita Chakrabarti Lolita Chakrabarti (born 1969) is a British actress and writer. Early life and education Lolita Chakrabarti was born in Kingston upon Hull, England, to Bengali Hindu parents from India in 1969. She grew up in Birmingham, where her father wo ...

as an adaptation of the novel by

Yann Martel Yann Martel, (born June 25, 1963) is a Canadian author who wrote the Man Booker Prize–winning novel '' Life of Pi'', an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spe ...

. 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."

Advocacy

During the 2016 presidential election, Dodani was a producer for

MoveOn MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressivism in the United States, 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 ...

, 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 Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...

's 2012 Senate campaign. 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." Dodani was active in organizing the South Asian community in support of the

Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign On April 25, 2019, former vice president Joe Biden released a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. On November 3, 2020, Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, defeated incumbent Republican p ...

and in support of

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

. He also played an active role in organizing other entertainers for the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

movement.

Personal life

Dodani is of Indian 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, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Nik Dodani
on Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodani, Nik 1993 births 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American gay actors American gay writers American LGBTQ comedians American LGBTQ screenwriters American male actors of Indian descent American male comedians American male film actors American male screenwriters American male television actors American male voice actors American male writers of Indian descent American screenwriters of Indian descent Comedians from Dallas Gay comedians Gay screenwriters Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign LGBTQ people from Texas Living people Male actors from Dallas Occidental College alumni Screenwriters from Texas Writers from Dallas