Aasif Mandvi
Aasif Mandvi
Aasif Hakim Mandviwala, known professionally as Aasif Mandvi, is an Indian-American actor and comedian. He began appearing as an occasional contributing correspondent on The Daily Show on August 9, 2006. On March 12, 2007, he was promoted to a regular correspondent. He is the lead actor, co-writer and producer of the web series Halal In The Family which premiered on "Funny or Die" in 2015 and an actor, writer and co-producer of the HBO comedy series The Brink. Mandvi is...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth5 March 1966
CountryIndia
When I was 11 my friend's mom made a peanut butter sandwich. I ate the sandwich and was like, 'I'm never eating anything else again.' And I still eat peanut butter every day. I would put peanut butter on a steak.
So I had this completely unrealistic idea of what America was — but I wanted to be there.
It's an organic thing that I try not to analyze too much, because I worry that it will go away.
I was born in India - but never really lived there.
In America, you have this kind of individualism and in the West, essentially, you have this individualism - this idea of my own personal fulfillment.
I'm Muslim the way many of my Jewish friends are Jewish: I avoid pork, and I take the big holidays off.
I'm not really a food connoisseur.
I've always said I'm the worst representative of Muslim-Americans that's ever existed, because I've been inside more bars than mosques.
If you choose to be a Muslim then you believe that it is on some level wrong to show the image of the Prophet Muhammad.
In Britain, you never get away from the fact that you're a foreigner. In the U.S., the view is it doesn't matter where you come from.
The experience of being on a show that is very much in the center of popular culture is exciting. You really feel like you're reaching people.
When you're brown and Indian, you get offered a lot of doctor roles.
I came from a very different sort of background and pedigree from the people who were on "The Daily Show". I was an actor. I was sort of - the irony is that I've done as much dramatic work in my career as comedic work and I don't really think of myself as a comedian.
Traditional television as we have known it will make love to the Internet and have a child. That child will be the future. It's already happening, and it's hot!