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Who is Kunal Nayyar?
Popular Indian actor Kunal Nayyar was born in London, England, on 30 April 1983, making his zodiac sign Taurus. He has 31 acting credits, and is probably best known for starring as Raj Koothrappali in all 279 episodes of the hit romantic comedy series “The Big Bang Theory”, which also starred Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, and was created by Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre. It follows two brilliant but not-so-sociable physicists as they’re learning about life outside of their lab; the series ran from 2007 through 2019, and won 80 of its 334 award nominations.
Kunal’s currently shooting for the upcoming movies “Spaceman” and “How to Date Billy Walsh”, as well as recording for the upcoming animated movie “Trolls Band Together”.
Early life and education
Kunal and his brother Anmol Nayyar were raised in Hammersmith, London by their father Heita Nayyar and mother Rakesh; Kunal’s parents prefer to be left out of media, and thus not many details have been disclosed about them.
The family moved to New Delhi, India when Kunal was three, and he spent his childhood there. He attended St. Columba’s School, and was passionate about badminton during his time there; Kunal was on the school’s badminton team and attended various competitions.
He matriculated in 1999 and then moved to Portland, Oregon and enrolled at the University of Portland; it was while attending college that he began taking acting lessons and appeared in a couple of plays performed at the university. Kunal graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2003 and then continued his education at Temple University, graduating in 2005 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre.
Film roles
Kunal’s first movie appearance was portraying a supporting character in the 2004 comedy “S. C. I. E. N. C. E.”.
In 2012, he lent his voice to Gupta in the hit animated comedy “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, which starred Ray Romano and Denis Leary, and was directed by Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier. It follows a new adventure of Manny, Diego and Sid as their continent has begun moving; the movie was nominated for 15 awards, winning two. Also in 2012, Kunal starred in the short drama “… or Die”, and the year 2014 saw him play Kari in the popular thriller science fiction mystery “The Scribbler”, which starred Katie Cassidy and Garret Dillahunt, and was directed by John Suits; it follows a woman who’s suffering from the multiple personality disorder.
Some of Kunal’s following roles were in the 2014 comedy “Dr. Cabbie”, the 2015 thriller “Consumed”, and the 2016 animated comedy “Trolls” (voice role). He voiced Guy Diamond in the 2016 short drama “The Toycracker: A Mini-Musical Spectacular”, and the following year heard him voice Guy Diamond in the animated comedy “Trolls Holiday”, which starred Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake, and was directed by Joel Crawford. It follows Queen of the Trolls Popp,y who’s trying to bring the holidays to the Bergens – the film was nominated for three awards.
In 2020, Kunal played Mr. Mills in the popular family comedy “Think Like a Dog”, which starred Megan Fox and Josh Duhamel, and was written and directed by Gil Junger. It follows a 12 years old boy whose science experiment has gone wrong, and he’s now forged a telepathic connection with his pet dog; the film won a 2019 Chinese American Film Festival Golden Angel Award.
Kunal’s two most recent movie roles have been in the comedy “The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry” (lead role) and the animated adventure comedy “Trolls Holiday in Harmony” (voice role).
TV series roles
Kunal’s first TV series appearance was playing a supporting character in a 2007 episode of the action “NCIS”, and the year 2010 saw him appear in the episode “Porn Tech Support” of the comedy “CollegeHumor Originals”.
In 2010 and 2011, he appeared in two episodes of the comedy musical talk-show “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”, which starred Craig, Shadoe Stevens and Josh Robert Thompson, and it’s a ‘satire out of the entire Late Night Show concept’; it aired from 2005 through 2015 and won two of its nine award nominations. Kunal was then cast to appear in an episode of the comedies “Sullivan & Son” and “The Mindy Project”, and from 2013 to 2016, he voiced the supporting character Vijay Patel in 34 episodes of the comedy “Sanjay and Craig”, which starred Chris Hardwick and Maulik Pancholy, and was created by James Dirschberger. The series follows the snake Craig and his owner Sanjay as they’re going on adventures together, and it was nominated for six awards.
In 2016, Kunal voiced the lead character Dr. Pakij in all 10 episodes of the animated comedy “Fantasy Hospital”, and the year 2020 saw him play Sandeep Singh in an episode of the crime action “Criminal: UK”, as well as voice Naveen in several episodes of the adventure “Mira, Royal Detective”.
Kunal’s only other TV series role has been playing the lead character Aadesh Chopra in all eight episodes of the 2022 crime mystery “Suspicion”, which also starred Georgina Campbell and Elizabeth Henstridge, and was created by Rob Williams. It follows five Brits who’ve been accused of kidnapping the son of an American media mogul, and it won a LifeArt Festival Jury Prize for Best Original Score.
Awards and nominations
Kunal and his colleagues won a 2020 CinEuphoria Merit – Honorary Award their performance in “The Big Bang Theory”.
He’s been nominated for nine other awards, and these include a 2014 People’s Choice Award for Favorite TV Bromance, for “The Big Bang Theory”, six Screen Actors Guild Awards from 2012 to 2017, all for “The Big Bang Theory” and a 2021 BAFTA TV Award for Supporting Actor, for “Criminal: UK”.
Love life and relationships
Kunal prefers not to speak about his love life in public, which is something he believes to be connected to Indian culture and his roots.
It’s still widely known that the popular actor’s today married to Indian model and actress Neha Kapur, who was crowned Femina Miss India in 2006; the two exchanged vows in a traditional Indian ceremony on 22 December 2011; they don’t have children together.
Most of Kunal’s fans believe that he’s currently focused on his career and thus doesn’t want to have children, but some have pointed out the possibility of either Kunal or Neha being infertile; these rumors haven’t been addressed by Kunal.
There are no other women whom he’s maybe been with, that we know about; Kunal’s married to Neha Kapur as of August 2023 and doesn’t have children.
Hobbies and interesting facts
Kunal enjoys going to Comic-Cons and has stated that the fans he meets there are all deeply affectionate.
He has his own dialect, which is half-Indian half-English.
Kunal’s claustrophobic, and also has a fear of heights (acrophobia).
He’s a fan of the film franchise “Star Wars” and the film trilogy “Lord of the Rings”, but has revealed that he hasn’t watched the series “Star Trek”.
Kunal loves to play video games in his spare time – his favorites are “Star Wars”.
He once helped launch the Milky Way Chocolate Ice Cream Bar.
Kunal’s Instagram is today followed by close to three million people, and he’s posted more than 810 pictures and videos onto the network; most of his content shows him during his everyday life.
One of his favorite Indian actors is Shah Rukh Khan, and some of his favorite films are “Dilwale”, “My Name is Khan” and “Om Shanti Om”.
Appearance and net worth
Kunal’s age is 40. His hair’s black and eyes are brown, he’s 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall and weighs about 155lbs (70kgs).
His net worth has been estimated at more than $45 million, as of August 2023.
