Karan Soni
Soni at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
New Delhi, India
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationUSC School of Dramatic Arts
Occupation(s)Actor and comedian
Years active2010–present

Karan Soni 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 3 (2024), and voicing Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).

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

Soni is from New Delhi, where he attended an international school. He came to the United States to study at the University of Southern California.[1]

Career

Soni 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.[17] He reprised Dopinder in 2018's Deadpool 2 and also appeared in another May blockbuster film, the following year's Pokémon Detective Pikachu.[18] In both Deadpool films and Pokémon Detective Pikachu, he starred opposite Ryan Reynolds.

In 2023, Soni was announced as the voice of Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.[19] In March 2023, he was confirmed to be returning as Dopinder for Deadpool 3, which will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).[20]

Personal life

Soni is gay.[21] He is in a relationship with writer and director Roshan Sethi, with whom he developed the film 7 Days.[22]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

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
2024 Deadpool 3 † Dopinder Post-production[24]
TBA Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse † Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India Voice; post production

Television

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 #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[25] Dev Laghari 2 episodes
Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail The Gunslinger Main role
2023 Miracle Workers: End Times TI-90, Tai Main role, 10 episodes

Podcast

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

  1. ^ Jha, Neha (February 22, 2016). "Meet Deadpool's Dopinder: Indian-American Karan Soni shares his experience". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 18, 2013). "Amazon Studios Comedy Pilot 'Betas' Assembles Cast". Deadline.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  4. ^ Kimball, Trevor (April 3, 2014). "Betas: Amazon Series Cancelled, No Season Two". TVSeriesFinale.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  5. ^ Ramachandran, Vignesh (April 21, 2015). "KARAN SONI, THAT GUY FROM THE AT&T COMMERCIALS TAKES THE SILVER SCREEN". Ozy.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Donnelly, Matt (April 15, 2015). "Why Paul Feig Chose Streaming for His New Comedy 'Other Space'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  8. ^ Brouwer, Bree (October 21, 2015). "Yahoo Lost $42 Million On 'Community' and Two Other Originals". TubeFilter. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  9. ^ "JOEY LAWRENCE, KARAN SONI, MELISSA JOAN HART". TeenInfonet.com. February 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "Mad Scientists - "100 Things to Do Before High School"". Nickalive.blogspot.com. November 21, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (April 29, 2014). "Starz Orders Two Seasons of Seth MacFarlane Comedy 'Blunt Talk'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  15. ^ Roots, Kimberly (December 20, 2016). "Blunt Talk Cancelled at Starz". TVLine. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  16. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Karan Soni Talks Deadpool, Improvising with Ryan Reynolds". ComicBook.com. October 30, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  17. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Karan Soni Talks Deadpool, Improvising with Ryan Reynolds". ComicBook.com. October 30, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  18. ^ "Watch Pokemon Detective Pikachu (Movie)". HBO. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  19. ^ "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse' Casts Karan Soni As Spider-Man India". Deadline. March 2023.
  20. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 29, 2023). "Karan Soni & Leslie Uggams Returning For Next 'Deadpool' Installment". Deadline. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  21. ^ @funnyindian (July 17, 2022). "Actor @itskaransoni Karan Soni's Coming Out Story" – via Instagram.
  22. ^ Chapman, Wilson (April 4, 2022). "The Cast and Crew of '7 Days' on Reliving Quarantine as a Romantic Comedy". Variety. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  23. ^ Vuocolo, Alex; O'Driscoll, Keara; Dangor, Graison; Ross, Dina. "What to Stream: Vanderpump Reunion, Sorority Rush, Sketch Comedy Fav & Coffee Shop Names". Cheddar News. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  24. ^ Dick, Jeremy (May 23, 2023). "Deadpool 3 Officially Starts Filming". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  25. ^ 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.

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