Acting
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.
Filmography
Deep Cover
Film · 2025
In Your Dreams
Film · 2025
The Bad Guys 2
Film · 2025
Love Again
Film · 2023
Journey to Bethlehem
Film · 2023
The Change
Series · 2023
Tomorrow Morning
Film · 2022
Christmas Comedy Club with Lost Voice Guy
Film · 2021
Les Dawson Lost Tapes
Film · 2021
Britney
Series · 2021
Blankety Blank
Series · 2021
Paul O'Grady's Saturday Night Line Up
Series · 2021
The Way Out
Film · 2020
Cold War Steve Meets the Outside World
Film · 2020
Michael McIntyre's The Wheel
Series · 2020
Winning Combination
Series · 2020
Beat the Chasers
Series · 2020
His Dark Materials
Series · 2019
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Film · 2018
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Film · 2018
We Are Most Amused and Amazed
Film · 2018
Dying Laughing
Film · 2017
The Comedian's Guide to Survival
Film · 2016
Going Forward
Series · 2016
Insert Name Here
Series · 2016
Shaun the Sheep Movie
Film · 2015
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism
Film · 2015
A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman
Film · 2015
Dickensian
Series · 2015
Retrospective
Film · 2014
Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
Series · 2014
Omid Djalili: Tour of Duty
Film · 2012
Comedy World Cup
Series · 2012
The Great Sport Relief Bake Off
Series · 2012
Big Fat Gypsy Gangster
Film · 2011
Just Like Us
Film · 2011
The Egyptian Job
Film · 2011
The Paul Reiser Show
Series · 2011
The Infidel
Film · 2010
Mr. Nice
Film · 2010
Sex and the City 2
Film · 2010
The Michael Ball Show
Series · 2010
Let's Dance for Sport Relief
Series · 2010
Little Crackers
Series · 2010
Omid Djalili: Live in London
Film · 2009
Dead Man Running
Film · 2009
New Town
Film · 2009
Kate Garraway's Life Stories
Series · 2009
All the Queen's Horses with Alan Titchmarsh
Series · 2009
The Love Guru
Film · 2008
We Are Most Amused
Film · 2008
Headcases
Series · 2008
Omid Djalili: No Agenda
Film · 2007
Grow Your Own
Film · 2007
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Film · 2007
Would I Lie to You?
Series · 2007
The Omid Djalili Show
Series · 2007
The Graham Norton Show
Series · 2007
Over the Hedge
Film · 2006
The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Ball in the Hall
Film · 2006
Alien Autopsy
Film · 2006
World's Greatest Stand Up: Volume One
Film · 2006
TV Heaven, Telly Hell
Series · 2006
The One Show
Series · 2006
Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive
Series · 2006
The One Show
Series · 2006
Casanova
Film · 2005
One-Night Stand: Omid Djalili
Film · 2005
Comic Aid
Film · 2005
My Family and Other Animals
Film · 2005
Deadlines
Film · 2005
Chopratown
Film · 2005
Cinema Iran
Film · 2005
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Film · 2004
The Calcium Kid
Film · 2004
Modigliani
Film · 2004
Live at the Apollo
Series · 2004
Dinotopia 4: New Horizons
Film · 2003
Dinotopia 5: The Virus
Film · 2003
Dinotopia 6: The Exit
Film · 2003
Whoopi
Series · 2003
Celebrity Mastermind
Series · 2003
Dinotopia 3: The Election
Film · 2002
Dinotopia 2: The Temptation
Film · 2002
Anita and Me
Film · 2002
Top Gear
Series · 2002
Dinotopia
Series · 2002
Spy Game
Film · 2001
Mean Machine
Film · 2001
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Series · 2001
Gladiator
Film · 2000
Lock, Stock...
Series · 2000
Jason and the Argonauts
Series · 2000
Black Books
Series · 2000
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
Series · 2000
The Mummy
Film · 1999
The World Is Not Enough
Film · 1999
Notting Hill
Film · 1999
Mad Cows
Film · 1999
Coming Soon
Film · 1999
Relic Hunter
Series · 1999
Coming Soon
Series · 1999
Small Potatoes
Series · 1999
Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round
Series · 1998
Midsomer Murders
Series · 1997
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Series · 1996
Room 101
Series · 1994
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Series · 1993
GMTV
Series · 1993
Have I Got News for You
Series · 1990
Have I Got News for You
Series · 1990
One Night Stand
Series · 1989
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
Series · 1987
Dispatches
Series · 1987
Question Time
Series · 1979
Performance Live: The Way Out
Film
About A Bell
Film
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
Series
The Siege
Series
Chandshanbeh Ba Sina
Series