Karan Soni (born January 8, 1989) is an Indian-American actor and comedian. Often appearing in comedic roles, he came to prominence for playing Dopinder in the films Deadpool (2016) and its sequels Deadpool 2 (2018) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and voicing Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).
Karan Soni | |
|---|---|
 Soni at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | January 8, 1989 |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Education | USC School of Dramatic Arts |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Partner | Roshan Sethi |
Born in New Delhi, Soni moved to the United States to study business at the University of Southern California before pursuing an acting career. He made his feature film debut in Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), which was followed by lead appearances on the series Betas (2013) and Other Space (2015). Soni has also appeared in the films Ghostbusters (2016), Office Christmas Party (2016), and Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019). On television, he has appeared as a series regular on Blunt Talk (2015–2016) and Miracle Workers (2019–2023).
Early life
editSoni was born in New Delhi, India, and he attended an international school there. He came to the United States to study at the University of Southern California.[1]
Career
editSoni made his film debut in Yusuf Sumer's 2010 comedy film Kaka Nirvana, alongside Rachel Quinn.[2] In 2013, Soni was cast in the Amazon Studios original series Betas.[3] The series was canceled after one season.[4] In 2014, Soni appeared in commercials for AT&T along with Jim Conroy.[5][6]
In 2015, Soni appeared in Other Space, a series created by Paul Feig for Yahoo! Screen, as Captain Stewart Lipinski.[7] Yahoo! Screen would be shut down later in the year, preventing the series from being renewed for a second season,[8] while the first season would later be picked up by DUST in 2020. Later in 2015, he appeared in episodes of Melissa & Joey,[9] The Goldbergs[10] and 100 Things to Do Before High School[11][12] and began starring in Blunt Talk, opposite Patrick Stewart, as Martin.[13] The series was renewed for a second season, which premiered in 2016,[14] but on December 20, was canceled after two seasons.[15]
In 2016, Soni appeared in Deadpool as a taxi driver named Dopinder[16] and in Ghostbusters as the delivery man Benny.[16] He reprised the role of Dopinder in 2018's Deadpool 2 and also appeared in another May blockbuster film, the following year's Pokémon Detective Pikachu.[17] In both Deadpool films and Pokémon Detective Pikachu, he starred opposite Ryan Reynolds.
In February 2023, Soni was announced as the voice of Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.[18] In March 2023, he was confirmed to be returning as Dopinder for Deadpool & Wolverine.[19] In August 2024, Soni confirmed that he would reprise his role as Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.[20]
Personal life
editSoni is gay.[21] He is in a relationship with writer and director Roshan Sethi, with whom he developed the film 7 Days.[22]
Filmography
edit| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
Film
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Kaka Nirvana | Kemal | Short film |
| 2012 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Arnau | |
| Bit by Bit | Chander | Short film | |
| 2014 | Supremacy | Store Clerk | |
| Obedient Artists | Jaxton | ||
| 2015 | Goosebumps | Mr. Rooney | |
| 2016 | Deadpool | Dopinder | |
| Chee and T | Roger Raval | ||
| The Sweet Life | Convenience Store Clerk | ||
| Mono | Amit Chowdury | ||
| Ghostbusters | Benny | ||
| Office Christmas Party | Nate Winetoss | ||
| 2017 | Rough Night | Raviv | |
| And Then There Was Eve | Zain | ||
| Unicorn Store | Kevin | ||
| Creep 2 | Dave | ||
| 2018 | Little Bitches | Hall Monitor Andy | |
| Deadpool 2 | Dopinder | ||
| Better Start Running | Nelson | ||
| Office Uprising | Mourad | ||
| 2019 | Corporate Animals | Freddie | |
| Pokémon Detective Pikachu | Jack | ||
| Always Be My Maybe | Tony | ||
| 2020 | Like a Boss | Josh Tinker | |
| Trolls World Tour | Riff | Voice | |
| Superintelligence | Ahmed | ||
| Coffee Shop Names | Sathya/Scott | Short film[23] | |
| 2021 | 7 Days | Ravi | Also writer |
| 2022 | Not Okay | Kelvin | |
| The People We Hate at the Wedding | Dominic | ||
| Strange World | Caspian | Voice | |
| 2023 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India | |
| World's Best | Calming Voice | ||
| 2024 | A Nice Indian Boy | Naveen Gavaskar | |
| Paper Flowers | Milan Mehta | ||
| Deadpool & Wolverine | Dopinder | ||
| Stealing Pulp Fiction | Steve | ||
| TBA | Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse † | Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India | Voice; In production |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Protector | Kenny | Episode: "Safe" |
| Worst. Prom. Ever. | Glenn | Television film | |
| 2012 | Touch | Ravi | Episode: "1+1=3" |
| Linked Out | Keith | Episode: "Facebook Intervention" | |
| 1600 Penn | Misfit | Episode: "Putting Out Fires" | |
| Bite Me | Teacher's Assistant | Episode: "Continue!" | |
| Are You There, Chelsea? | Stan | Episode: "Sloane's Ex" | |
| 2012–2013 | The Neighbors | Indian Allen | 2 episodes |
| Geo's Pizza | Asheed | 8 episodes | |
| 2013 | Little Horribles | Unknown | Episode: "Road Rage" |
| Trophy Wife | Graduate No. 2 | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| Aim High | Mingesha Dutta | Episode 2.2 | |
| The Middle | Vijal | Episode: "Life Skills" | |
| 2013–2014 | Mighty Med | Benny | 3 episodes |
| Betas | Avinash "Nash" Dagavi | Main role | |
| 2014 | Growing Up Fisher | Owen | Episode: "Secret Lives of Fishers" |
| 2015 | Melissa & Joey | Flash | Episode: "Failure to Communicate" |
| Other Space | Stewart Lipinski | Main role | |
| 100 Things to Do Before High School | Caltech Dude | Episode: "Be a Mad Scientist Thing!" | |
| Any Tom, Dick, or Harry | Ernie Dassani | Television film | |
| 2015–2016 | Blunt Talk | Martin Bassi | Recurring (season 1) Main role (season 2) |
| 2015–2017 | The Goldbergs | Randy Mescunda, Srinivas Bollimpalli | 6 episodes |
| 2016 | The Grinder | Cooper | Episode: "From the Ashes"; uncredited |
| 2017 | I Live with Models | Marshall | 5 episodes |
| What Would Diplo Do? | Bellboy | 1 episode | |
| Silicon Valley | Tenley | Episode: "Hooli-Con" | |
| Room 104 | Anish | Episode: "The Internet" | |
| 2018 | Bobcat Goldthwait's Misfits & Monsters | Ravi | Episode: "Mermaid" |
| Wrecked | Keith | 2 episodes | |
| 2019 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Gordon Lundt | Episode: "The Honeypot" |
| Miracle Workers | Sanjay Prince | Main role | |
| Will & Grace | Mike | Episode: "With Enemies Like These" | |
| 2020 | Miracle Workers: Dark Ages | Lord Chris Vexler | Main role |
| Cake | Himself | Episode: "Auditions: No Reader" | |
| Dream Corp LLC | Patient 27 | Episode: "Fear of Heights" | |
| Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun | Jerry Seinfeld | Episode: "Housemates" | |
| Big Mouth | Voice, episode: "Four Stories About Hand Stuff" | ||
| 2020–2021 | Mira, Royal Detective | Manjeet | Voice, 10 episodes |
| 2021 | Special[24] | Dev Laghari | 2 episodes |
| Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail | The Gunslinger | Main role | |
| Trolls: Holiday in Harmony | Riff | Voice, television film | |
| 2021–2022 | Karma's World | Mr. Rishi Singal | Voice, 11 episodes |
| 2022 | The Great North | Gavin | Voice, episode: "Woodfellas Adventure" |
| Home Economics | Tod | Episode: "Novel Signed by Author, $22.19" | |
| 2022–2023 | The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib | Pip | Voice, 25 episodes |
| 2023 | Miracle Workers: End Times | TI-90, Tai | Main role, 10 episodes |
| Strange Planet | Being #1 / Bestie | Voice, episode: "Adolescent Limbshake" | |
| 2024 | Abbott Elementary | Avi | Director, episode: "Librarian"; Actor, 3 episodes |
Podcast
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Coldest Case | Edgar | 3 episodes |
| Bridgewater | Vipin Kharana | 8 episodes | |
| Dark Air with Terry Carnation | Jeet Batra | 18 episodes |
References
edit- ^ Jha, Neha (February 22, 2016). "Meet Deadpool's Dopinder: Indian-American Karan Soni shares his experience". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
- ^ "Deadpool actor Karan Soni: A white guy voicing an Indian character in 2018 is not okay". Hindustan Times. May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 18, 2013). "Amazon Studios Comedy Pilot 'Betas' Assembles Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Kimball, Trevor (April 3, 2014). "Betas: Amazon Series Cancelled, No Season Two". TVSeriesFinale.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Ramachandran, Vignesh (April 21, 2015). "Karan Soni, That Guy From The AT&T Commercials Takes The Silver Screen". Ozy.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Rohwedder, Kristie (February 13, 2015). "Who Are The Actors Who Play The Network Experts In the AT&T Commercials? These Guys Are Good". Bustle.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Donnelly, Matt (April 15, 2015). "Why Paul Feig Chose Streaming for His New Comedy 'Other Space'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Brouwer, Bree (October 21, 2015). "Yahoo Lost $42 Million On 'Community' and Two Other Originals". TubeFilter. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Joey Lawrence, Karan Soni, Melissa Joan Hart". TeenInfonet.com. February 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Scoop: The Goldbergs on ABC - Tonight, October 21, 2015". BroadwayWorld.com. October 21, 2015. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Mad Scientists - "100 Things to Do Before High School"". Nickalive.blogspot.com. November 21, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Wariach, Sonia (November 9, 2015). "Catch Karan Soni's Blink-and-Miss Role as Mr. Rooney in 'Goosebumps'". Indiawest.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Baron, Steve (February 24, 2015). "Starz Announces Recurring and Guest Cast for 'Blunt Talk' Starring Patrick Stewart". TVByTheNumbers.zap2it.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (April 29, 2014). "Starz Orders Two Seasons of Seth MacFarlane Comedy 'Blunt Talk'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Roots, Kimberly (December 20, 2016). "Blunt Talk Cancelled at Starz". TVLine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
- ^ a b "Exclusive: Karan Soni Talks Deadpool, Improvising with Ryan Reynolds". ComicBook.com. October 30, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Watch Pokemon Detective Pikachu (Movie)". HBO. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ^ "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse' Casts Karan Soni As Spider-Man India". Deadline. February 23, 2023.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (March 29, 2023). "Karan Soni & Leslie Uggams Returning For Next 'Deadpool' Installment". Deadline. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ Pereira, Karen (August 9, 2024). "Karan Soni: Deadpool and Spider-Man have a special relationship in the comics; it will be used at some point – Exclusive". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ @funnyindian (July 17, 2022). "Actor @itskaransoni Karan Soni's Coming Out Story" – via Instagram.
- ^ Chapman, Wilson (April 4, 2022). "The Cast and Crew of '7 Days' on Reliving Quarantine as a Romantic Comedy". Variety. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Vuocolo, Alex; O'Driscoll, Keara; Dangor, Graison; Ross, Dina (May 25, 2023). "What to Stream: Vanderpump Reunion, Sorority Rush, Sketch Comedy Fav & Coffee Shop Names". Cheddar News. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ Petski, Denise (March 29, 2021). "'Special': Charlie Barnett, Max Jenkins, Ana Ortiz Among Nine Set To Recur In Season 2 Of Netflix Series". Deadline. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
External links
edit- Karan Soni at Rotten Tomatoes
- Karan Soni at IMDb
- Karan Soni on Twitter
- Karan Soni on Instagram