Nik Dodani (born December 19, 1993) is an American actor, writer, and comedian 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.
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. Dodani made his television debut in season 2 of HBO's The Comeback starring Lisa Kudrow.
On television, Dodani has also appeared in ABC's Big Sky, Netflix's Trinkets, TBS's Angie Tribeca, Comedy Central's Idiotsitter,"Nik Dodani Boards 'Alex Strangelove'" Deadline Hollywood, and Netflix's Atypical. Retrieved July 6, 2017. Freeform's Kevin from Work, and NBC's The Player, among others."Scoop: The Player on NBC – Tonight, October 22, 2015" Broadway World. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
In film, Dodani has appeared in Netflix's Alex Strangelove,"Netflix original 'Alex Stangelove' to feature Indian-American actor Nik Dodani" The Times of India. Retrieved July 6, 2017. Joshua Leonard's independent film Dark Was the Night opposite Marisa Tomei and Charlie Plummer,"Marisa Tomei, Timothy Olyphant Starring in 'Behold My Heart'" Variety. Retrieved April 28, 2016. the Sony Pictures thriller Escape Room, Hannah Marks' feature film Mark, Mary & Some Other People, and Stephen Chbosky's film adaptation of Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen as Jared, who was re-conceived as "Jared Kalwani" to celebrate Dodani's casting. In July 2024, he appeared in Lee Isaac Chung's Twisters, a follow up to the 1996 film Twister.
In March 2022, it was announced he would lead the New Line Cinema comedy The Parenting, opposite Brandon Flynn, Lisa Kudrow and Brian Cox. The film released on Max on March 13, 2025.
Dodani has voiced characters on numerous animated programs, including Nickelodeon's Big Nate, Disney's The Owl House 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 from October 19 to November 27, 2021.
In February 2026, it was announced that Dodani was cast in the CBS series Cupertino.
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 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."Film News Roundup: 'Murphy Brown' Star Nik Dodani Writing 'Blue Boy' Script". Variety, October 12, 2018. 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 as an adaptation of the novel by Yann Martel. 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, where he organized a political comedy tour called Laughter Trumps Hate."Comedy Competition Will Focus on Taking Down Trump" The Interroband. Retrieved October 1, 2016. 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's 2012 Senate campaign."Newsmakers" Occidental College. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
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 and in support of Kamala Harris. He also played an active role in organizing other entertainers for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Personal life Dodani is of Indian Sindhi descent and openly gay. He graduated from BASIS Scottsdale in 2011 and studied politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film Year Title Role Notes2016 Other People Ron The Good Neighbor Sanjay2018 Alex Strangelove Blake Dark Was the Night Seamus 2019Escape Room Danny Khan2021 Mark, Mary & Some Other People Kyle Dear Evan Hansen Jared Kalwani 2022 Strange World Kardez Voice role2024 The A-FrameThe A-Frame Midnight World Premiere Rishi Twisters Praveen 2025 The Parenting Rohan 2026 She Keeps Me Young
Television Year Title Role Notes 2008 Living with Abandon Paku TV movie2014 The Comeback Harry 2 episodes Selfie Bookstore Employee Episode: "I Woke Up Like This"2015 Kevin from Work Paul Garfunkle 2 episodes The Player Solomon Desai Episode: "House Rules" 2017 Idiotsitter 1 episode 2017–2021 Atypical Zahid Raja 37 episodes2018 Murphy Brown Pat Patel 13 episodes Angie Tribeca CRISPIN_GLOVES0FF295 1 episode 2019–2020 Trinkets Chase 6 episodes 2021 The Owl House Gavin (voice) Episode: "Through the Looking Glass Ruins"2022 Big Nate Randy Betancourt (voice) Recurring cast Mira, Royal Detective Anish (voice) Episode: "Mikku and Chikku's Hometown Mystery" 2023 Hailey's On It! Thad (voice) Recurring cast 2026 Ted Nimeet Farooq Episode: "Roe v. Weed"
References
External links
Nik Dodani on Instagram