Omid Djalili
Omid Djalili is a British stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer. Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvaneh Djalili. His parents emigrated from Tehran to London in 1958. He has a brother and sister. His mother was a dressmaker who at one point assisted Iranian singer Googoosh. His father was a liaison officer at the Iranian embassy in which he would provide medical assistance. He was also a photographer whose pictures ended up in the newspaper Kayhan. He attended Holland Park School where he failed A-level exams a record six times and faked his results to gain entry to Ulster University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, studying English and theatre studies having been turned down by 16 drama schools. Djalili cited Jack Lemmon, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Julia Roberts as influences. The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" with Jewish comedian Ivor Dembina in 1996. Djalili has appeared in a number of films, most notably Gladiator, The Mummy, Mean Machine, The World Is Not Enough, Alien Autopsy, Spy Game, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Grow Your Own, Notting Hill, Mr Nice, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Sex and the City 2 and provides his voice in Over the Hedge. He has observed that he usually appears as a generic Middle Eastern background character in many of these films, often commenting that he appears in the James Bond film as the "Second Azerbaijani oil pipe attendant". He appeared as Nasim in 22 episodes of the U.S. sitcom Whoopi, starring Whoopi Goldberg, and picked up an international film award for Best Supporting Actor in Casanova, starring alongside Heath Ledger and Jeremy Irons. Djalili has won awards for his comedy. These include the EMMA Award, Time Out Award, and LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, Spirit of the Fringe Award as well as the One World Media Award for his Channel 4 documentary, Bloody Foreigners. He has also been nominated for awards, such as the Perrier Award for Best Comedian, the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Performance of 2003, the South Bank Award for Best Comedy of 2003, the Royal Television Society Award for Best Stand-up, and the European TV Award for his Bloody Foreigners.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · The Bad Guys 2 as Mr. Soliman (voice)
- 2025 · Deep Cover as Sagar
- 2023 · The Change as Steve
- 2023 · Love Again as Mohsen
- 2021 · Britney as Dr. Pellis
- 2021 · Blankety Blank as Self - Panellist
- 2020 · Michael McIntyre's The Wheel as Self - Expert
- 2020 · Winning Combination as Self - Presenter
- 2020 · Beat the Chasers as Self
- 2019 · His Dark Materials as Dr. Martin Lanselius
- 2018 · The Nutcracker and the Four Realms as Cavalier
- 2018 · Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again as Greek Official
- 2016 · Going Forward as Dave Wilde
- 2016 · Insert Name Here as Self - Panelist
- 2015 · Dickensian as Mr Venus
- 2015 · Shaun the Sheep Movie as Trumper (voice)
- 2014 · Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled as Self
- 2012 · The Great Sport Relief Bake Off as Self - Host
- 2010 · The Michael Ball Show as Self
- 2010 · Sex and the City 2 as Mr. Safir, Hotel Manager
- 2010 · Let's Dance for Sport Relief as Himself - Contestant
- 2009 · Kate Garraway's Life Stories as
- 2008 · The Love Guru as Guru Satchabigknoba
- 2007 · The Omid Djalili Show as
- 2007 · Would I Lie to You? as Self
- 2007 · Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End as Askay / Pusasn
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · The One Show as Self - Guest
- 2006 · The One Show as Self
- 2006 · Over the Hedge as Tiger (voice)
- 2006 · TV Heaven, Telly Hell as
- 2004 · Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow as Kaji
- 2004 · Live at the Apollo as
- 2003 · Celebrity Mastermind as
- 2003 · Whoopi as Nasim Khatenjami
- 2002 · Top Gear as Self
- 2001 · Spy Game as Doumet
- 2001 · Friday Night with Jonathan Ross as Self
- 2000 · Black Books as Trebor
- 2000 · Jason and the Argonauts as Castor
- 2000 · Gladiator as Slave Trader
- 1999 · The World Is Not Enough as Foreman
- 1999 · Relic Hunter as Sayid Ahmed Habris
- 1999 · Notting Hill as Coffee Shop Cashier (uncredited)
- 1999 · The Mummy as Gad Hassan
- 1997 · Midsomer Murders as Othello Khan
- 1996 · Never Mind the Buzzcocks as Self - Team Captain
- 1994 · Room 101 as Self
- 1993 · Late Night with Conan O'Brien as Self - Guest
- 1993 · GMTV as Self
- 1990 · Have I Got News for You as Self - Host
- 1987 · The Ruth Rendell Mysteries as Mr Kaiafas
- 1979 · Question Time as Himself - Panellist
- Future · Have I Got a Bit More News for You as Self - Presenter
- 2025 · In Your Dreams as Sandman (voice)
- 2023 · Journey to Bethlehem as Melchior
- 2022 · Tomorrow Morning as
- 2021 · Christmas Comedy Club with Lost Voice Guy as
- 2021 · Les Dawson Lost Tapes as Self
- 2020 · Cold War Steve Meets the Outside World as Self
- 2020 · The Way Out as Guide
- 2018 · We Are Most Amused and Amazed as Self
- 2017 · Dying Laughing as Self
- 2016 · The Comedian's Guide to Survival as Himself
- 2015 · A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman as Self - Voice of Trumper
- 2015 · Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism as Barry Rix
- 2014 · Retrospective as Nabil Sr
- 2012 · Omid Djalili: Tour of Duty as Omid Djalili
- 2012 · Comedy World Cup as Team Captain
- 2011 · Big Fat Gypsy Gangster as Jik Jickkles
- 2011 · The Egyptian Job as Himself (Narrator)
- 2011 · Just Like Us as Self
- 2011 · The Paul Reiser Show as Habib
- 2010 · Mr. Nice as Saleem Malik
- 2010 · The Infidel as Mahmud Nasir
- 2009 · Omid Djalili: Live in London as Omid Djalili
- 2009 · All the Queen's Horses with Alan Titchmarsh as Self
- 2009 · New Town as Walter
- 2009 · Dead Man Running as Fat Bald Man
- 2008 · We Are Most Amused as Self
- 2008 · Headcases as
- 2007 · Omid Djalili: No Agenda as Omid Djalili
- 2007 · Grow Your Own as Ali
- 2006 · The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Ball in the Hall as Self
- 2006 · Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive as
- 2006 · World's Greatest Stand Up: Volume One as self
- 2006 · Alien Autopsy as Melik
- 2005 · My Family and Other Animals as Spiro
- 2005 · Casanova as Lupo
- 2005 · Chopratown as Ali Ergun
- 2005 · One-Night Stand: Omid Djalili as Himself
- 2005 · Deadlines as Abdul Sayyaf
- 2005 · Cinema Iran as Self - Presenter
- 2005 · Comic Aid as
- 2004 · Modigliani as Pablo Picasso
- 2004 · The Calcium Kid as Herbie Bush
- 2003 · Dinotopia 6: The Exit as Zipeau (voice)
- 2003 · Dinotopia 5: The Virus as Zipeau (voice)
- 2003 · Dinotopia 4: New Horizons as Zipeau (voice)
- 2002 · Dinotopia 3: The Election as Zipeau (voice)
- 2002 · Dinotopia 2: The Temptation as Zipeau (voice)
- 2002 · Dinotopia as Zipeau
- 2002 · Anita and Me as Uncle Amman
- 2001 · Mean Machine as Raj
- 2000 · Lock, Stock... as Ali Gadaffi
- 1999 · Mad Cows as George
- 1999 · Coming Soon as
- 1998 · Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round as
- 1989 · One Night Stand as
- Future · Performance Live: The Way Out as Guide