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 Baháʼà 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.
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Set in Paris in 1919, biopic centers on the life of late Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, focusing ...
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When milkman Jimmy Connelly accidentally puts Britain's contender for the World title out of action,...
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When gigantic robots attack New York City, "Sky Captain" uses his private air force to fight them of...
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Escaping the dreary wet weather of 1930s England, an eccentric family uproot and ship themselves to ...
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Humouristic reconstruction of the 1995 scandal when two British lads were accused of having faked a ...
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A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of fo...
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Born in America and raised in an Indian ashram, Pitka returns to his native land to seek his fortune...
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A loan shark gives ex-con Nick a period of 24 hours in order to pay back the money he owes. Up again...
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After sixteen years at Her Majesty's Pleasure, Britain's hardest man is released from prison, and in...
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Julie Walters tells the story of how Morph, Shaun the Sheep and that cheese-loving man Wallace and h...
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An orphan who practices hypnosis faces off against a bank robber who wants her book on the art form....
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The craft, creative process and complicated lives of Stand-up Comedians....
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Five years after meeting her three fathers, Sophie Sheridan prepares to open her mother’s hotel. In ...
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The musical follows the relationships of what at first seems like two different couples separated by...
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A young woman carrying an unimaginable responsibility. A young man torn between love and honor. A je...
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Recent movies
| # | Name | Character | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deep Cover (2025) | Sagar | 6.8 | |
| 2 | The Bad Guys 2 (2025) | Mr. Soliman (voice) | 8 | |
| 3 | Journey to Bethlehem (2023) | Melchior | - | - |
| 4 | Love Again (2023) | Mohsen | 6.3 | |
| 5 | Tomorrow Morning (2022) | - | - | - |
| 6 | Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) | Greek Official | 6.9 | |
| 7 | The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) | Cavalier | 6.1 | |
| 8 | Dying Laughing (2017) | Self | - | - |
| 9 | A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman (2015) | Self - Voice of Trumper | 8 | |
| 10 | Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism (2015) | Barry Rix | 4 | |
| 11 | Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) Oscars 2016 | Trumper (voice) | 7.5 | |
| 12 | Big Fat Gypsy Gangster (2011) | Jik Jickkles | 4 | |
| 13 | Mr. Nice (2010) | Saleem Malik | - | - |
| 14 | The Infidel (2010) | Mahmud Nasir | 6 | |
| 15 | Sex and the City 2 (2010) | Mr. Safir, Hotel Manager | 5.8 | |
| 16 | Dead Man Running (2009) | Fat Bald Man | 6 | |
| 17 | The Love Guru (2008) | Guru Satchabigknoba | 4.7 | |
| 18 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) Oscars 2008 | Askay / Pusasn | 7.2 | |
| 19 | Alien Autopsy (2006) | Melik | 6.2 | |
| 20 | Over the Hedge (2006) | Tiger (voice) | 6.8 | |
| 21 | The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Ball in the Hall (2006) | Self | - | - |
| 22 | My Family and Other Animals (2005) | Spiro | 6 | |
| 23 | Casanova (2005) | Lupo | 6.5 | |
| 24 | Modigliani (2004) | Pablo Picasso | - | - |
| 25 | The Calcium Kid (2004) | Herbie Bush | 7 | |
| 26 | Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) | Kaji | 5.8 | |
| 27 | Anita and Me (2002) | Uncle Amman | 5 | |
| 28 | Dinotopia 1: The Outsiders (2002) | Zipeau (voice) | 8.5 | |
| 29 | Mean Machine (2001) | Raj | 6.4 | |
| 30 | Spy Game (2001) | Doumet | 7.2 | |
| 31 | Gladiator (2000) Top 30 in 2000s | Slave Trader | 8.3 | |
| 32 | The Mummy (1999) Oscars 2000 | Gad Hassan | 7.1 | |
| 33 | The World Is Not Enough (1999) | Foreman | 6.5 | |
| 34 | Notting Hill (1999) | Coffee Shop Cashier (uncredited) | 7.1 |

