Nik Dodani (born December 19, 1993) is an American actor and a stand up comedian. Nik is known for his roles on several movies as the Indian character. He is 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. He also starred in the 2019 thriller Escape Room and the 2021 film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen. He made his Broadway debut as Ogie in Waitress from October 19 to November 27, 2021.
Career[]
In addition to Netflix's Atypical, Dodani is known for his appearances in Comedy Central’s Idiotsitter, Freeform’s Kevin From Work, and NBC’s The Player. He will soon appear in the Ben Stiller-produced Netflix film, Alex Strangelove; in the Sony Pictures thriller, The Maze; as well as in Joshua Leonard’s upcoming independent film, Behold My Heart, opposite Marisa Tomei, Charlie Plummer, and Sakina Jaffrey. He performs stand-up comedy across the United States and has had his sets featured in media outlets including BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, and Colorlines, among others.
Dodani is also currently a design and production activist with Art Not War, a cultural impact and PR firm.[14] During the 2016 presidential election, Dodani was a producer for MoveOn.org, where he organized a political comedy project called Laughter Trumps Hate. He previously worked as a 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. He studied politics at Occidental College.
In 2015, BuzzFeed described Dodani as one of "14 People Revolutionising India’s Fight For LGBT Rights”. In 2016, The Advocate Magazine listed Dodani as one of "21 Out Actors of Color Hollywood Should Cast as Leading Men”.