Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is a British actor. He was a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the HBO comedy series The Brink and the CBS/Paramount+ psychological drama Evil. His film roles include playing Mr. Aziz in Spider-Man 2 and Commander Zhao in The Last Airbender. His stage work includes appearing on Broadway as Ali Hakim in Oklahoma! and in productions of Disgraced (2012), which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013.
Early life Mandvi was born in Bombay, in Maharashtra, India, into a Gujarati Muslim family of the Dawoodi Bohra caste.
His family moved to England, when he was a year old, settling in the West Yorkshire city of Bradford. His father, Hakim, who had originally come to work in textiles research at Bradford University, later ran a corner shop. His mother, Fatima, was a nurse. Mandvi attended the independent Woodhouse Grove School in Apperley Lane, and he identifies as a "working-class kid from Bradford".
In the early 80s, his father grew frustrated with Margaret Thatcher's administration and moved his family to the United States, settling in Tampa, Florida; when Mandvi was 16. He attended Chamberlain High School in Hillsborough County, graduating in 1984.
Career
Early After graduating from the University of South Florida with a degree in theatre, Mandvi worked as a performer at Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, and Universal Studios Florida. He later moved to New York City, where he began appearing in off-Broadway productions. During this time, he was active in the band Cowboys and Indian. He won an Obie Award for his one-man show Sakina's Restaurant.
On Broadway, Mandvi appeared as Ali Hakim in the 2002 production of Oklahoma! directed by Trevor Nunn.
Mandvi played Melchior in On the Razzle by Tom Stoppard at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and appeared in the docudrama Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom at the Culture Project. In 2012, Mandvi starred in Disgraced at Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater. He played the lead role of Amir, a Pakistani- American lawyer struggling with his identity and Islam in the drama by Ayad Akhtar. The play won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Mandvi was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for his performance.
Television Mandvi made his television debut as a doorman at the Miami Biltmore Hotel in the episode "Line of Fire" of the series Miami Vice. He has appeared in television shows including ER, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Oz, Ed, The Bedford Diaries, Jericho, Sleeper Cell and various editions of Law & Order, including Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Trial by Jury.
In 2006, Mandvi auditioned for The Daily Show. He was hired immediately and appeared on the show the same day. Mandvi became a regular correspondent in 2007. He often appears in segments satirizing and commenting on Islamic, Middle-Eastern, and South-Asian-related issues.
In 2013, Mandvi was cast in a recurring role on the FOX romantic comedy, Us & Them.
In October 2013, during a segment on The Daily Show, Mandvi interviewed Don Yelton of the North Carolina Republican Party office. Comments Yelton made then resulted in his resigning after the interview was aired.
Beginning in June 2015, Mandvi portrayed Rafiq Massoud in the HBO comedy series The Brink. In April 2015, Mandvi appeared on Person of Interest as Sulaiman Khan, the CEO of a software security firm. He was the lead actor, co-writer and producer of the web series Halal in the Family, which premiered on Funny or Die in 2015.
In 2016, Mandvi joined the climate change documentary show Years of Living Dangerously as one of its celebrity correspondents.
Beginning in 2017, Mandvi appeared in three episodes of the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events as Montgomery "Uncle Monty" Montgomery, a herpetologist and distant relative of the Baudelaire children.
In 2019, Mandvi was cast in the Robert and Michelle King supernatural drama series Evil on CBS as Ben Shakir, a carpenter who works as a technical expert, equipment handler and debunker of supernatural phenomena.
Film Mandvi played minor roles in the films The Siege and Die Hard with a Vengeance as well as the title role in Merchant Ivory Productions' film The Mystic Masseur. He had a major supporting role in the independent film American Chai, playing the lead character's roommate, "Engineering Sam." He played the doctor who diagnosed Paul Vitti's (Robert De Niro) panic attacks in Analyze This, and had a role as Mr. Aziz of "Joe's Pizza" in Spider-Man 2. He was also in commercials by Domino's Pizza and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He played the tone deaf doorman Khan in Music and Lyrics.
Mandvi played a dentist alongside Ricky Gervais in the 2008 romantic comedy Ghost Town, as well as office employee Bob Spaulding in The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock. Today's Special, which Mandvi co-wrote with Jonathan Bines, premiered at the London Film Festival in October 2009 and New York's Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival on 11 November 2009. He appeared in It's Kind of a Funny Story, a coming-of-age film written and directed by Anna Boden with Ryan Fleck, adapted from the 2006 novel by Ned Vizzini. He also co-starred as a Guantanamo captive in the film The Response, a script based on the transcripts of Combatant Status Review Tribunals convened in Guantanamo in 2004. In M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender (released in 2010) he played a major role as Commander Zhao. Mandvi played the role of Mr. Chetty in the 2013 comedy The Internship and portrayed Ash Vasudevan in the 2014 film Million Dollar Arm.
Personal life On 27 August 2017, Mandvi married his girlfriend of three years, Shaifali Puri, an author and humanitarian, at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA. They have one son, born in 2020.
Mandvi has been diagnosed with chronic tinnitus.
In June 2019, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree by the Macaulay Honors College after delivering the commencement speech that year.
Charity work and advocacy Mandvi is involved with disaster-relief organizations such as the charity initiative Relief 4 Pakistan, which assists in flood relief in Pakistan. In 2010, he hosted the "Stand Up for Religious Freedom" comedy event to raise money for the organization. He is also a supporter of the Endometriosis Foundation of America.
Filmography Actor
Film Year Film Role Notes 1990 No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers Terrorist 1995 Die Hard with a Vengeance Arab Cabbie 1996 Eddie Mohammed 1998 The Siege Khalil Saleh 1999 Hook'd Up Indian Guy Analyze This Dr. Shulman Gofer Gorby Random Hearts Electronics Store Salesman ABCD Ashok 2001 3 A.M. Singh American Chai Engineering Sam Peroxide PassionBeaumond 2002 The Mystic Masseur Ganesh RamsumairBook of KingsDr. Mitra Short film 2003 UndermindShark/Roger 2004 Spider-Man 2Mr. Aziz 2005 Sorry, HatersHassan The War WithinAbdul 2006 FreedomlandDr. Anil Chatterjee 2007 Music and LyricsKhan 2008 EavesdropDon Pretty BirdTed the Banker The UnderstudySarfras Ghost TownDr. Prashar 2009 The ProposalBob Spaulding Today's SpecialSamirAlso screenwriter 2010 It's Kind of a Funny StoryDr. Mahmoud The Last AirbenderCommander Zhao 2011 Margin Call Ramesh Shah Dark HorseMahmoud 2012 Premium RushRaj The DictatorDoctor Ruby SparksCyrus Modi 2013 Movie 43 Robert Segment "iBabe" The Internship Mr. Roger Chetty Gods Behaving Badly Maxwell2014 Million Dollar Arm Ash VasudevanLennon or McCartney Himself Short documentary film; interview clip2016 Mother's Day Russell Undecided: The Movie Roger Ayeels2019 Drunk Parents Nigel Human Capital Godeep2022 Crush Coach Murray Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank Ichiro (voice) 2023 The Magician's Elephant The King (voice)2026Voice role
Television Year Show Role Notes 1988Miami Vice Doorman Episode: "Line of Fire"1995New York Undercover Omar Episode: "The Smoking Section"The Cosby Mysteries Cabbie Episode: "Big Brother Is Watching" 1995–1998Law & Order Peanut Vendor / Gulab Singh / Technician / Khan 4 episodes1996Jake's Women Driver Television film Nash Bridges Aziz Kadim Episode: "Trackdown" 1998 Dellaventura Aasif Episode: "The Human Factor"2000Welcome to New York Doorman Episode: "Jim Gets an Apartment" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Professor Husseini Episode: "Honor"CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationDr. LeeverEpisode: "Anonymous" 2001Sex and the City Dmitri Episode: "My Motherboard, My Self" 2002 OzDr. Faraj 2 episodes 2003 Ed Buyer Episode: "Goodbye Stuckeyville"2004Law & Order: Criminal Intent Sateesh Episode: "Inert Dwarf"Tanner on Tanner Salim Barik 4 episodes2006Law & Order: Trial by JuryJudge Samir Patel Episode: "Bang & Blame, Baby Boom" The SopranosDr. Abu Bilal Episode: "Kaisha" Sleeper CellKhalidEpisode: "Al-Baqara" 2006–2007 ERManish3 episodes 2006–2008 JerichoDr. Kenchy Dhuwalia8 episodes 2006–2015 The Daily ShowHimself188 episodes 2010 King of the HillMike Patel (voice)Episode: "When Joseph Met Lori, and Made Out with Her in the Janitor's Closet" 2011 Curb Your EnthusiasmMan in ElevatorEpisode: "Larry vs. Michael J. Fox" 2014 Us & Them Dave Coaches Episode: "Crunch & Brunch"2015 Madam Secretary Prince Yousif Obaid Episode: "Chains of Command" Person of Interest Suleiman Khan Episode: "Search and Destroy" The Brink Rafiq Massoud 10 episodes; also producer and writer Halal in the Family Aasif Qu'osby Web series Jake and the Never Land Pirates Pirate Pharaoh (voice) 3 episodes 2016–2019 Elena of Avalor King Raja (voice) 2 episodes 2016 Another Period Parshwall Episode: "The Prince and the Pauper"2017 Younger Jay Malick 4 episodes Shut Eye Pazhani "Paz" Kapoor 6 episodesNational Geographic Explorer Host Season 10 Episode 2The Problem with Apu Himself Documentary film 2017–2018 A Series of Unfortunate Events Dr. Montgomery Montgomery (Uncle Monty) 3 episodes 2018 Explained Narrator (voice) Episode: "Cricket, explained" 2018–2020 Blue Bloods Samar "Sam" Chatwal Recurring, season 9 2019–2024 Evil Ben Shakir Main cast2019 This Way Up Vish Main cast GhostwriterBagheera (voice)2 episodes Room 104 Eugene Hill Episode: "The Specimen Collector" 2020 The Boss Baby: Back in Business OCB Corporate Consultant (voice) Season 4: Episodes 6 & 10–12 2020–2022 Mira, Royal Detective Sahil (voice) 18 episodes 2021 Archer Cornelius Varma (voice) Episode: "London Time" 2022 Would I Lie to You? (USA) Host 2026 The Miniature Wife Martin Mucklow The Terror: Devil in Silver Dr. Anand Main cast
Writer Year Film Notes 2009 Today's Special
Stage
Actor Year Title Role Notes 1993 Suburbia Norman Chaudry 1995 Death Defying Acts Delivery Boy In one-act "Hotline" 1997 Crosscurrents Paul 1998 Sakina's RestaurantOne man play 2002 Oklahoma! Ali Hakim Revival 2012 Disgraced Amir Kapoor Lincoln Center/LCT3
Writer Year Title Notes 1998 Sakina's Restaurant
Radio drama/podcast
Actor Year Title Role Notes 2021 Marvel's Wastelanders: Star-Lord Rattlesnake Pete
Published works The book has been adapted for the American-Indian-Bangladeshi film No Land's Man directed by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki.
References
External links
Aasif Mandvi Dot Com, official website
"A Man Called Mandvi", Nirali Magazine, February 2007 "This is you, America. Are you ok with it?" – Interview One on One – Aasif Mandvi – Interview with Al Jazeera English (video, 24:53 min.)