Utkarsh Ambudkar ( ; born December 8, 1983), also known by his stage name UTK the INC, is an American actor, rapper, and singer. He is known for his film roles including Pitch Perfect (2012), Game Over, Man! (2018), Blindspotting (2018), Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019), The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020), Free Guy (2021), Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021), and World's Best (2023). His television roles include The Mindy Project, White Famous, Never Have I Ever, Mira, Royal Detective, and the male lead role in Ghosts. He also appeared in the Hulu limited series The Dropout (2022).

He made his Broadway debut in Lin-Manuel Miranda's improvisational hip-hop show Freestyle Love Supreme in 2019.

Early life Utkarsh Ambudkar was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 8, 1983, into an Indian family to a Marathi father and a Tamil mother. He grew up in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where his parents, who had emigrated from India in the 1980s, were research scientists at the National Institutes of Health. He starred in comedy roles at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, and he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2004.

Through his mother, Ambudkar is a descendant of the lawyer and jurist Sir Vembakkam Bhashyam Aiyangar.

Career Ambudkar is a former VJ for MTV Desi. He appeared in the comedy film Pitch Perfect, as the character Donald, and in the television shows The Mindy Project and The Muppets. He was set to star in the Fox series Eat, Pray, Thug, but the show was not picked up. Ambudkar originated the role of Aaron Burr in the developmental readings of Hamilton. He formerly played Raj on the sitcom Brockmire. He played Jern in the 2019 film Brittany Runs a Marathon.

He played Skatch, a con artist, in a deleted scene of the 2020 Disney live-action remake of Mulan. That same year, he appeared in Disney's Godmothered, and then in the 2021 action comedy Free Guy. In 2020, Ambudkar debuted as the mongoose Chikku in the Disney Junior animated series Mira, Royal Detective. He is currently starring in the CBS supernatural sitcom Ghosts (2021).

He was a member of the musical group "The Beatards." Since 2005, Ambudkar has been a part of hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme under the name UTK the INC. As part of the group, he participated in the limited television series for Pivot in 2014 and made his Broadway debut in the group's self-titled show on October 2, 2019.

Ambudkar has appeared in several Youtube sketch comedy skits including the comedy groups CollegeHumor and Key & Peele. Ambudkar starred in Force Grey: Giant Hunters (2016) and Force Grey: Lost City of Omu (2017), a Dungeons & Dragons actual play web series with Matthew Mercer as the Dungeon Master, where he played the character Hitch, a rogue with a nefarious past. In 2023, he appeared as a guest player in Critical Role third campaign, also hosted by Mercer, as the sorcerer Bor'Dor. In October 2024, he appeared on Eisa Davis and Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical concept album Warriors. He sang the role of Sully.Joshua Henry, Busta Rhymes, Timothy Hughes, More Join Warriors Concept Album CastLin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis Say Warriors Had to Be an Album FirstCritics Sound Off on Lin-Manuel Miranda, Eisa Davis Musical Concept Album Warriors

Personal life Ambudkar married his wife Naomi in 2019 and has three children.

He struggled with alcoholism in the early 2010s. In a 2023 interview, he revealed that he has been sober for eight and a half years. He also stated that his lack of sobriety at the time was why he was replaced as Aaron Burr in Hamilton. He told The New York Times in 2019: "It was ego, it was being a daily marijuana user, it was partying at night, it was being preoccupied, growing up as a brown person, feeling unattractive, and seeking validation of the opposite sex to sort of fill a hole, my self-worth."

Discography The Gold Tusk EP (2006) Members Only EP (2012) Vanity (2019) Petty (2019) Self Respect EP (2020)

Filmography

Film YearTitleRole Notes2007Rocket ScienceRam2008Last CallNikash2012Pitch PerfectDonald2015Freaks of NatureParminder2016Ride Along 2AmirBarbershop: The Next CutRaja2017Basmati BluesRajit2018BlindspottingRinGame Over, Man!Bae Awadi2019Brittany Runs a MarathonJern Dahn2020MulanSkatchDeleted sceneMax VoraGodmotheredGrant2021Tom & JerryReal Estate Rat (voice)Free GuyMouserTick, Tick... Boom!Todd2022The Ice Age Adventures of Buck WildOrson (voice) A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.Marry MeCoach MannyThe DropRobbie2023World's BestSuresh PatelAlso writer and producer2024My Dead Friend ZoeAlexDoin' ItSohan2026Sender

Television YearTitleRole Notes2010—2011UTK; Harry2 episodes2011Danni LowinskiRasoulTelevision film2012Freestyle Love SupremeUTKTelevision film2013–2017Rishi Lahiri10 episodes2013China, ILAladdin (voice)Episode: "Wild Hogs"2016Jay (voice)Episode: "Much Apu About Something"Pizza3 episodes2017White FamousMalcolm10 episodesHimselfDocumentary television filmDimension 404Alex KapoorEpisode: "Chronos"2018Trolls: The Beat Goes On!Master Controll (voice)Episode: "Big Poppy"BartlettSanjay Kahn4 episodes2018–2020BrockmireRaj5 episodesHarvey Street Kids Fredo (voice)17 episodes2020Mira, Royal DetectiveChikku (voice)Main castCentral ParkSongwriter: "The Park Is Mine" (with Rafael Casal)2021–2023Never Have I EverMr. Manish KulkarniRecurring (season 2-4)BlindspottingNiles Turner 2 episodes2021Robot ChickenAang, Sora, Xenomorph Student (voice)Episode: "May Cause Numb Butthole"2021–presentGhostsJay ArondekarMain role2021SpecialRavi3 episodes2022The DropoutRakesh MadhavaRecurring role2023Moon Girl and Devil DinosaurAnand (voice)Recurring roleCelebrity Jeopardy!HimselfContestant (season 2) 2024–presentAvatar: The Last AirbenderKing Bumi4 episodes 2024Yo Gabba GabbalandHimselfEpisode: "Little"2025Running PointMalkeet DasariEpisode: "Doljanchi"SuperKittiesChampster Glamster (voice)Recurring role

Web Year Title Role Notes 2009 Hardly Working Self (Freestyle Love Supreme) Guest role; 2 episodes 2016 Force Grey: Giant Hunters Hitch Main role; 6 episodes2017–2018Force Grey: Lost City of Omu Main role; 20 episodes2023Critical Role (campaign three)Bor'Dor Dog'SonGuest role; 5 episodes2026Backyard Sports: The Animated SpecialAchmed Khan (voice)Animated special

Theatre Year Title Role Venue 2004 History of the Word Ali Crossroads Theatre 2005 The Me Nobody Knows Performer Staged Reading, Vineyard Theatre The Snow Queen Kay Urban Stages 2007 History of the Word Ali Washington Irving High School LaGuardia Performing Arts Center 2008 Rafta, Rafta... Etash Tailor Acorn Theater/The New Group, Off-Broadway Animals Out of Paper Suresh McGinn/Cazale Theatre, Off-Broadway 2009 Dov and Ali Ali Cherry Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway 2010 The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Vigneshwar Paduar Second Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway 2012 Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want to Kill Us and How We Learn to Love Them RahimSecond Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway 2013 Hamilton Aaron Burr Vassar College, Workshop 2019Freestyle Love SupremeHimself Greenwich House Theater, Off-Broadway 2019–20 Booth Theatre, Broadway

References

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