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Nasim Pedrad

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Nasim Pedrad
نسیم پدراد
Pedrad in 2014
Born (1981-11-18) 18 November 1981 (age 43)
Tehran, Iran
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BFA)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian
Years active2002–present

Nasim Pedrad (Persian: نسیم پدراد; born November 18, 1981)[1] is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy and variety series Saturday Night Live from 2009 to 2014. She later went on to star in the Fox sitcoms Mulaney (2014–2015) and New Girl (2015–2018), the Fox horror comedy series Scream Queens (2015), and the TBS science fiction comedy series People of Earth (2017) and 2019 movie Aladdin. Pedrad also created, produces, and stars in the TBS/The Roku Channel sitcom Chad (2021–2024).

In film, Pedrad had voice roles in animated films including The Lorax (2012), and Despicable Me 2 (2013), and starring roles in the comedy films Cooties (2014) and Desperados (2020).

Early life

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Pedrad was born in Tehran, Iran. Her family left Tehran soon after she was born; her father was able to emigrate to the United States immediately, but Pedrad and her mother were forced to stay in Germany, reuniting with her father when she was three years old.[2][3] Her younger sister, Nina, is a comedy writer.[4][3]

Nasim graduated from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2003.[5] She was a member of the UCLA Spring Sing Company.[6]

Career

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Early work

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Pedrad was a performer with the Sunday Company at The Groundlings.[5] She frequently performed her one-woman show Me, Myself & Iran at the Los Angeles divisions of ImprovOlympic and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. The show was selected for the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. She received an LA Weekly Best Comedic Performance of the Year Award as the lead in the comedic spoof After School Special.[5]

In 2006, Pedrad made her first television appearance on an episode of Gilmore Girls as a waitress with two lines. In 2007, she made a guest appearance on The Winner. She had a recurring role on ER as Nurse Suri.[5] In 2009, she had a guest appearance on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.[7]

Pedrad joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2009 as part of the 35th (2009–2010) season. Pedrad became a repertory player in the 2011–12 season after two years of being a featured player. Pedrad left SNL in 2014 to work on Mulaney.[8]

2011–present

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In 2011, she was a recurring voice on the Fox animated series Allen Gregory. She appeared in a small role in the 2011 film No Strings Attached. In 2012, she had a supporting voice role in the animated feature film The Lorax and a small appearance in The Dictator. In 2013, Pedrad had another supporting voice role, in Despicable Me 2. In the autumn of 2014, she left Saturday Night Live to star in a new Fox sitcom, Mulaney.[8] On October 18, 2014, Fox shut down production of the series by reducing the 16-episode order by three episodes. Filming for the thirteenth episode had just been completed prior to the order reduction, and the fourteenth episode was about to enter production.[9]

From 2015 to 2018, Pedrad has a recurring guest role as LAPD officer Aly Nelson on the Fox sitcom New Girl.[10] She portrayed Gigi Caldwell in Season One of the Fox horror-comedy Scream Queens.[11]

In 2016, she appeared in a commercial for Old Navy alongside comedian Kumail Nanjiani and other SNL cast members Cecily Strong and Jay Pharoah.

In 2017, she joined the cast of season 2 of the TBS comedy series People of Earth. Later that same year, she also made guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

In 2020, she starred as Wesley in the Netflix film Desperados.

In 2021, Pedrad starred in the TBS TV series Chad which she also created, wrote, and directed.[12]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 The 73 Virgins Zahra Short film
2008 A Thousand Words The Photographer Short film
2011 No Strings Attached Writer
2012 The Dictator Female GMW Host
The Lorax Isabella Once-ler (voice)
2013 Despicable Me 2 Jillian (voice)
2014 Cooties Rebekkah Halverson
2019 Corporate Animals Suzy
Aladdin Dalia
2020 Desperados Wesley Darya
2023 Wish Sania (voice)
2024 Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Ashley

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 Gilmore Girls Waitress Episode: "Bridesmaids Revisited"
2007 The Winner Waitress Episode: "What Happens in Albany, Stays in Albany"
2007–2009 ER Nurse Suri 9 episodes
2009 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Lucy Episode: "The Waitress Is Getting Married"
2009–2014,
2018 		Saturday Night Live Various characters 109 episodes
2011 Allen Gregory Val / Brinique (voice) 7 episodes
2013 The Awesomes Various voices 5 episodes
2014–2015 TripTank Various voices 9 episodes
Mulaney Jane Parvana Starring role; 13 episodes[8]
2015–2018 New Girl Aly Nelson Recurring role, 28 episodes[13]
2015 Scream Queens Gigi Caldwell 10 episodes
2016 The Mindy Project Dr. Yasmin Maloof Episode: "Nurses' Strike"
2017 People of Earth Special Agent Alex Foster 10 episodes
Big Mouth Fatima (voice) Episode: "Girls Are Horny Too"
Curb Your Enthusiasm Numa Episode: "Foisted!"
2018 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Kate Peralta Episode: "DFW"[14]
No Activity Belle Episode: "Honesty & Action"
2021–2024 Chad Chad Also creator, writer, director, and executive producer
2021 Just Beyond Miss Genevieve Episode: "Leave Them Kids Alone"
2022–2023 Pretzel And The Puppies Greta (voice) 17 episodes
2022 The Boys Presents: Diabolical Cherry (voice) Episode: "Boyd in 3D"
Big Nate Barbara (voice) Episode: "Randy's Mom Has Got It Goin' On"
2023–present Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures Zia Zanna (voice) 16 episodes
2024 Angry Birds Mystery Island Rosie (voice) 8 episodes

References

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  1. ^ "Nasim Pedrad". TV Guide. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  2. ^ "Nasim Pedrad's Immigration Experience - CONAN on TBS". YouTube. March 7, 2017. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Nasri, Grace (January 28, 2010). "Saturday Night Live Hires First Iranian-Born Cast Member". Iran Times. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  4. ^ Evans, Bradford (December 5, 2013). "'30 Rock', 'Parks and Rec', and All the Other Shows You'd Expect Get WGA Nominations". Vulture. Archived from the original on May 31, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "Los Angeles - Performers - Nasim Pedrad". UCB Theatre. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008.
  6. ^ "Nasim Pedrad". alumni.ucla.edu. May 22, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  7. ^ Seidman, Robert (November 6, 2009). "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League up over 50% without World Series". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c Stanhope, Kate (July 20, 2014). "Nasim Pedrad Talks Departing SNL for Mulaney: 'At Some Point You Have to Leave'". TV Guide. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 10, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  9. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 18, 2014). "'Mulaney' Order Trimmed To 13 Episodes". Deadline.
  10. ^ Bibel, Sara (January 8, 2015). "Tuesday Final Ratings: No Adjustments to 'Agent Carter', 'Person of Interest' or 'Forever'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  11. ^ Barton, Steve (March 11, 2015). "Nasim Pedrad Joins Scream Queens". Dread Central. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  12. ^ "'Chad' star Nasim Pedrad on the episode that was almost too cringey for her". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  13. ^ "'New Girl' Season 7 Spoilers: What Will Happen To Nasim Pedrad's Aly In Final 8 Episodes?". International Business Times. May 25, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  14. ^ "'Super Troopers 2' Star to Guest on Fox's 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' (Exclusive)". Thewrap. March 22, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
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