Nasim Pedrad
Encyclopedia
Nasim Pedrad is an Iranian-American
comic actress currently appearing as a cast member on Saturday Night Live
.
, Iran
to parents Arasteh Amani and Parviz Pedrad. Pedrad and her parents lived in Tehran until 1984, before immigrating to the United States when Nasim was two years old. She has a younger sister, Nina Pedrad, and they both are fluent in Farsi
. She was raised in Irvine, California
, and graduated from University High School, and the UCLA School of Theatre in 2003 and was a member of the UCLA Spring Sing
Company.
and had frequently performed her one-woman show Me, Myself & Iran at the Los Angeles
divisions of ImprovOlympic and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. The show was selected for the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. She has received an LA Weekly
Best Comedic Performance of the Year Award as the lead in the comedic spoof After School Special.
Pedrad has guest-starred on Gilmore Girls
and from 2007 to 2009 had a recurring role on ER
as Nurse Suri. She currently plays a recurring voice role on the Fox
animated series Allen Gregory
.
in 2009 as part of the 35th (2009–2010) season. Pedrad is the first Iranian-American cast member to join the cast, and one of a handful of cast members (joining Tony Rosato
, Pamela Stephenson
, Morwenna Banks
, and Horatio Sanz
) to be born outside of both the United States and Canada. As of the 2011–2012 season, Pedrad is now a repertory player after two years of being a feature player.
Iranian-American
Iranian-Americans are Americans of Iranian ancestry or people possessing Iranian and American dual citizenship.Iranian-Americans are amongst the most highly educated groups in the United States...
comic actress currently appearing as a cast member on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
.
Early life
Nasim Pedrad was born in TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
to parents Arasteh Amani and Parviz Pedrad. Pedrad and her parents lived in Tehran until 1984, before immigrating to the United States when Nasim was two years old. She has a younger sister, Nina Pedrad, and they both are fluent in Farsi
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
. She was raised in Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
, and graduated from University High School, and the UCLA School of Theatre in 2003 and was a member of the UCLA Spring Sing
UCLA Spring Sing
Spring Sing is UCLA's oldest and greatest musical tradition, an annual music competition held in May at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. The competition brings together UCLA students to perform as solo artists, duets, bands, and a cappella groups in front of an audience of over 7,000 UCLA students, alumni,...
Company.
Career
Pedrad was a performer with the Sunday Company at The GroundlingsThe Groundlings
The Groundlings are an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin to produce sketches and improvised scenes...
and had frequently performed her one-woman show Me, Myself & Iran at the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
divisions of ImprovOlympic and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. The show was selected for the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. She has received an LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
Best Comedic Performance of the Year Award as the lead in the comedic spoof After School Special.
Pedrad has guest-starred on Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls
Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
and from 2007 to 2009 had a recurring role on ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
as Nurse Suri. She currently plays a recurring voice role on the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
animated series Allen Gregory
Allen Gregory
Allen Gregory is an American animated television series created by Jonah Hill, Andrew Mogel, and Jarrad Paul that airs on FOX. The series premiered on October 30, 2011.-Synopsis:...
.
Saturday Night Live
Pedrad joined the cast of Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in 2009 as part of the 35th (2009–2010) season. Pedrad is the first Iranian-American cast member to join the cast, and one of a handful of cast members (joining Tony Rosato
Tony Rosato
Tony Rosato is an Italian-Canadian animated voice actor who has appeared in television and movies in both Canada and the United States....
, Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Stephenson
Pamela Helen Stephenson Connolly is a New Zealand-born Australian clinical psychologist and writer now resident in the United Kingdom. She is best known for her work as an actress and comedian during the 1980s...
, Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks is a British comedy actress, writer and producer.Banks is perhaps best known in the UK as a cast member of the British Channel 4 comedy series Absolutely, where her best-known character was a schoolgirl who sat on the edge of a desk.She appeared as the Keeper of the Rules in the...
, and Horatio Sanz
Horatio Sanz
Horatio Sanz is a Chilean-born American actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1998-2006. Sanz most recently starred alongside his former SNL castmate Chris Parnell in the Comedy Central series Big Lake.-Early life:Sanz, the youngest of three sons, was born in...
) to be born outside of both the United States and Canada. As of the 2011–2012 season, Pedrad is now a repertory player after two years of being a feature player.
Celebrity impersonations
- Paula AbdulPaula AbdulPaula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
- Christina AguileraChristina AguileraChristina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
- Gloria AllredGloria AllredGloria Rachel Allred is an American lawyer noted for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particulary those involving the protection of women's rights.-Early life:...
- Christiane AmanpourChristiane AmanpourChristiane Amanpour, CBE is anchor of ABC News's This Week and formerly chief international correspondent at CNN, where she worked for 27 years. She is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Early years:...
- Barbara BoxerBarbara BoxerBarbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives ....
- Edie FalcoEdie FalcoEdith "Edie" Falco is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her roles in Oz as Diane Wittlesey, as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, and as the titular character on the Showtime series Nurse Jackie...
(as Jackie Peyton in Nurse JackieNurse JackieNurse Jackie is an American series that premiered on June 8, 2009, on Showtime, Movie Central and The Movie Network.The series stars Edie Falco as the title character Jackie Peyton, an emergency room nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City...
) - Azam Farahi, wife of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- Kathy GriffinKathy GriffinKathleen Mary "Kathy" Griffin is an American actress, stand-up comedienne, television personality, New York Times best-selling author and an LGBT rights advocate. Griffin first gained recognition for appearances on two episodes of Seinfeld, and then for her supporting role on the NBC sitcom...
- Karolyn GrimesKarolyn GrimesKarolyn Grimes is an American actress known for her role as "Zuzu Bailey" in the Frank Capra classic It's a Wonderful Life. She also played "Debbie" in the 1947 Christmas film, The Bishop's Wife starring Cary Grant, David Niven, and Loretta Young.Grimes was born in Hollywood, California...
(as Zuzu Bailey in the film It's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
) - Vanessa Hudgens
- Arianna HuffingtonArianna HuffingtonArianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...
- Kim KardashianKim KardashianKimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian is an American socialite, television personality, model, actress and businesswoman. She is known for the E! reality series that she shares with her family—Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spin-offs including Kourtney and Kim Take New York...
- Alicia KeysAlicia KeysAlicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
- Michelle MalkinMichelle MalkinMichelle Malkin is an American conservative blogger, political commentator, and author. Her weekly syndicated column appears in a number of newspapers and websites. She is a Fox News Channel contributor and has been a guest on MSNBC, C-SPAN, and national radio programs...
- Maria MenounosMaria MenounosMaria Menounos is a Greek-American actress, journalist, and television presenter known in America for her appearances as a correspondent for Today, Access Hollywood, Extra, and abroad for co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece.-Early life and beauty pageants:Menounos, a...
- Mary-Kate OlsenMary-Kate OlsenMary-Kate Olsen is an American actress, producer, author and fashion designer. She made her career debut in 1987 alongside her twin sister Ashley Olsen in the television series Full House...
(with Ashley OlsenAshley OlsenAshley Fuller Olsen is an American actress, fashion designer, producer, and author. She co-founded luxury fashion brand The Row and the more affordable line Olsenboye with her twin sister Mary-Kate Olsen and started her own fashion company called Elizabeth and James...
played by Jenny SlateJenny SlateJenny Slate is an American actor and comedian best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2009–2010 and for her recurring role as Stella on the HBO comedy series Bored to Death.-Early life:...
) - Sharon OsbourneSharon OsbourneSharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
- Natalie PortmanNatalie PortmanNatalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
(as Nina Sayers in the film Black SwanBlack Swan (film)Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel and Mila Kunis. Its plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company. The production requires a ballerina to...
) - Kelly RipaKelly RipaKelly Ripa is an American actress and television host. Since February 2001, she has served as the co-host of talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, along with Regis Philbin and now solo host of Live! With Kelly...
- Zoe SaldanaZoe SaldanaZoe Saldana , sometimes stylized Zoë Saldaña, is an American actress. She had her breakthrough role in the 2000 film Center Stage and later gained prominence for her roles as Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Uhura in the 2009 film Star Trek, and a starring role...
(as Neytiri from Avatar) - ShakiraShakiraShakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
- Sonia SotomayorSonia SotomayorSonia Maria Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court's 111th justice, its first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice....
- Debbie TurnerDebbie TurnerDebbie Turner is an American former child star who played the role of Marta von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music.-Life and career:...
(as Marta von Trapp in the film The Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music (film)Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
) - Barbara WaltersBarbara WaltersBarbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
- Charlyne YiCharlyne YiCharlyne Amanda Yi is an American actress, comedian, musician, writer, and painter. Her performances do not include joke-telling as in standup comedy; instead, she uses different tactics such as music, magic, games, and often audience participation...
Recurring characters
- Bedelia, a teenager who spends more time with her parents than with her friends.
- Lil' Blaster, co-host of Underground Rock Minute with DJ Supersoak (Jason SudeikisJason SudeikisDaniel Jason Sudeikis is an American actor and comedian currently starring as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:Sudeikis was born Daniel Jason Sudeikis in Fairfax, Virginia, the son of Kathryn , a travel agent who was president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Dan...
) and MC George Constanza (Jay Pharoah). - Piper, one of the back-up singers on What Up With That?What Up With ThatWhat Up With That is a recurring sketch on the NBC television series Saturday Night Live which first aired in 2009. It stars Kenan Thompson as DeAndre Cole, host of a talk show on BET...
. - Hu JintaoHu JintaoHu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
's translator at the G20 Summit meetings. - Wanda Ramirez, one of the anchors at WXPD News.
- Nancy, one of the singing sisters on The Lawrence Welk ShowThe Lawrence Welk ShowThe Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...
.
Filmography
| Films | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Other Notes |
| 2005 | The 73 Virgins | Zahra | Short film |
| 2006 | Gilmore Girls Gilmore Girls Gilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW... |
Waitress | 1 episode |
| 2007 | ER ER (TV series) ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television... |
Nurse Suri | 9 episodes |
| The Winner The Winner (TV series) The Winner, stylized on the title card as the winner, is an American television series that premiered on Fox on March 4, 2007. It is a comedy about a successful man named Glen Abbott looking back to the time when he was in his thirties and living with his parents in 1994 Buffalo, New York.Other... |
Waitress | 1 episode | |
| 2008 | A Thousand Words | Photographer | Short film |
| 2009 | Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday | Kathy Griffin | 1 episode |
| It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom... |
Lucy | 1 episode | |
| 2009–present | Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture... |
Various | Cast member |
| 2011 | No Strings Attached | Writer | |
| Allen Gregory Allen Gregory Allen Gregory is an American animated television series created by Jonah Hill, Andrew Mogel, and Jarrad Paul that airs on FOX. The series premiered on October 30, 2011.-Synopsis:... |
Val | voice role | |