| Birth date | January 8, 1989 (age 37) |
|---|---|
| Birth place | New Delhi, India |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Education | USC School of Dramatic Arts |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Spouse | Roshan Sethi |
Karan Soni (born January 8, 1989) is an Indian and American actor.[1][2] Often appearing in comedic roles, he came to prominence for playing Dopinder in the films Deadpool (2016) and its sequels Deadpool 2 (2018) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), and voicing Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023).
Born in New Delhi, Soni moved to the United States to study business at the University of Southern California before pursuing an acting career. He made his feature film debut in Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), which was followed by lead appearances on the series Betas (2013) and Other Space (2015), and the film A Nice Indian Boy (2024). Soni has also appeared in the films Ghostbusters (2016), Office Christmas Party (2016), and Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019). On television, he has appeared as a series regular on Blunt Talk (2015–2016) and Miracle Workers (2019–2023).
Early life
Soni was born in New Delhi, India, and he attended an international school there. He came to the United States to study at the University of Southern California.[3]
Career
Soni made his film debut in Yusuf Sumer's 2010 comedy film Kaka Nirvana, alongside Rachel Quinn.[4] In 2013, Soni was cast in the Amazon Studios original series Betas.[5] The series was canceled after one season.[6] In 2014, Soni appeared in commercials for AT&T along with Jim Conroy.[7][8]
In 2015, Soni appeared in Other Space, a series created by Paul Feig for Yahoo! Screen, as Captain Stewart Lipinski.[9] Yahoo! Screen would be shut down later in the year, preventing the series from being renewed for a second season,[10] while the first season would later be picked up by DUST in 2020. Later in 2015, he appeared in episodes of Melissa & Joey,[11] The Goldbergs[12] and 100 Things to Do Before High School[13][14] and began starring in Blunt Talk, opposite Patrick Stewart, as Martin.[15] The series was renewed for a second season, which premiered in 2016.[16]
Soni appeared in the 2016 Marvel film Deadpool as a taxi driver named Dopinder[17] and reprised the role in its sequels Deadpool 2 (2018) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).[18] In 2016, Soni also appeared in Ghostbusters as the delivery man Benny[17] and in 2019, he appeared in Pokémon Detective Pikachu.[19] From 2019 to 2023, Soni was a main cast member of the anthology comedy television series Miracle Workers.[20]
In February 2023, Soni was announced as the voice of Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.[21] In August 2024, Soni confirmed that he would reprise his role as Spider-Man India in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.[22]
Soni played the lead role in the romantic comedy A Nice Indian Boy which premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2024.[23] He also starred in Stealing Pulp Fiction.[24] In September 2024, it was announced that Soni had been cast as the lead role in the thriller film Fade to Black.[25] In 2025, he was part of the ensemble cast for the Audible Original audio drama Murder at the Patel Motel.[26] Soni appeared in the opening episode of Pluribus.[27]
Personal life
Soni is gay.[28] He is married to writer and director Roshan Sethi, with whom he developed the film 7 Days.[29]
Filmography
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Kaka Nirvana | Kemal | Short film |
| 2012 | Safety Not Guaranteed | Arnau | |
| Bit by Bit | Chander | Short film | |
| 2014 | Supremacy | Store Clerk | |
| Obedient Artists | Jaxton | ||
| 2015 | Goosebumps | Mr. Rooney | |
| 2016 | Deadpool | Dopinder | |
| Chee and T | Roger Raval | ||
| The Sweet Life | Convenience Store Clerk | ||
| Mono | Amit Chowdury | ||
| Ghostbusters | Benny | ||
| Office Christmas Party | Nate Winetoss | ||
| 2017 | Rough Night | Raviv | |
| And Then There Was Eve | Zain | ||
| Unicorn Store | Kevin | ||
| Creep 2 | Dave | ||
| 2018 | Little Bitches | Hall Monitor Andy | |
| Deadpool 2 | Dopinder | ||
| Better Start Running | Nelson | ||
| Office Uprising | Mourad | ||
| 2019 | Corporate Animals | Freddie | |
| Pokémon Detective Pikachu | Jack | ||
| Always Be My Maybe | Tony | ||
| 2020 | Like a Boss | Josh Tinker | |
| Trolls World Tour | Riff | Voice | |
| Superintelligence | Ahmed | ||
| Coffee Shop Names | Sathya/Scott | Short film[30] | |
| 2021 | 7 Days | Ravi | Also writer |
| Coming Out with the Help of a Time Machine | Sid | Short film[31] | |
| 2022 | Not Okay | Kelvin | |
| The People We Hate at the Wedding | Dominic | ||
| Four Samosas | Sanjay | ||
| Strange World | Caspian | Voice | |
| 2023 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India | |
| World's Best | Calming Voice | ||
| 2024 | A Nice Indian Boy | Naveen Gavaskar | |
| Paper Flowers | Milan Mehta | ||
| Deadpool & Wolverine | Dopinder | ||
| Stealing Pulp Fiction | Steve | ||
| 2027 | Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse † | Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India | Voice; In production |
| TBA | Fade to Black † | Amit | Post-production[25] |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Protector | Kenny | Episode: "Safe" |
| Worst. Prom. Ever. | Glenn | Television film | |
| 2012 | Touch | Ravi | Episode: "1+1=3" |
| Linked Out | Keith | Episode: "Facebook Intervention" | |
| 1600 Penn | Misfit | Episode: "Putting Out Fires" | |
| Bite Me | Teacher's Assistant | Episode: "Continue!" | |
| Are You There, Chelsea? | Stan | Episode: "Sloane's Ex" | |
| 2012–2013 | The Neighbors | Indian Allen | 2 episodes |
| Geo's Pizza | Asheed | 8 episodes | |
| 2013 | Little Horribles | Unknown | Episode: "Road Rage" |
| Trophy Wife | Graduate No. 2 | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| Aim High | Mingesha Dutta | Episode 2.2 | |
| The Middle | Vijal | Episode: "Life Skills" | |
| 2013–2014 | Mighty Med | Benny | 3 episodes |
| Betas | Avinash "Nash" Dagavi | Main role | |
| 2014 | Growing Up Fisher | Owen | Episode: "Secret Lives of Fishers" |
| 2015 | Melissa & Joey | Flash | Episode: "Failure to Communicate" |
| Other Space | Stewart Lipinski | Main role | |
| 100 Things to Do Before High School | Caltech Dude | Episode: "Be a Mad Scientist Thing!" | |
| Any Tom, Dick, or Harry | Ernie Dassani | Television film | |
| 2015–2016 | Blunt Talk | Martin Bassi | Recurring (season 1) Main role (season 2) |
| 2015–2017 | The Goldbergs | Randy Mescunda, Srinivas Bollimpalli | 6 episodes |
| 2016 | The Grinder | Cooper | Episode: "From the Ashes"; uncredited |
| 2017 | I Live with Models | Marshall | 5 episodes |
| What Would Diplo Do? | Bellboy | 1 episode | |
| Silicon Valley | Tenley | Episode: "Hooli-Con" | |
| Room 104 | Anish | Episode: "The Internet"; also director | |
| 2018 | Bobcat Goldthwait's Misfits & Monsters | Ravi | Episode: "Mermaid" |
| Wrecked | Keith | 2 episodes | |
| 2019 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Gordon Lundt | Episode: "The Honeypot" |
| Miracle Workers | Sanjay Prince | Main role | |
| Will & Grace | Mike | Episode: "With Enemies Like These" | |
| 2020 | Miracle Workers: Dark Ages | Lord Chris Vexler | Main role |
| Cake | Himself | Episode: "Auditions: No Reader" | |
| Dream Corp LLC | Patient 27 | Episode: "Fear of Heights" | |
| Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun | Jerry Seinfeld | Episode: "Housemates" | |
| Big Mouth | Voice, episode: "Four Stories About Hand Stuff" | ||
| 2020–2021 | Mira, Royal Detective | Manjeet | Voice, 10 episodes |
| 2021 | Special[32] | Dev Laghari | 2 episodes |
| Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail | The Gunslinger | Main role | |
| Trolls: Holiday in Harmony | Riff | Voice, television film | |
| 2021–2022 | Karma's World | Mr. Rishi Singal | Voice, 11 episodes |
| 2022 | The Great North | Gavin | Voice, episode: "Woodfellas Adventure" |
| Home Economics | Tod | Episode: "Novel Signed by Author, $22.19" | |
| 2022–2023 | The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib | Pip | Voice, 25 episodes |
| 2023 | Miracle Workers: End Times | TI-90, Tai | Main role, 10 episodes |
| Strange Planet | Being No. 1 / Bestie | Voice, episode: "Adolescent Limbshake" | |
| 2024 | Abbott Elementary | Avi | 3 episodes; also directed episode: "Librarian" |
| Nobody Wants This | Vali | Episode: "Obliterated" | |
| 2025 | American Dad! | Indian Anchor | Voice, episode: "Guardian" |
| Mickey Mouse Funhouse | Naatu Bandar | Voice, episode: "The Golden Mango" | |
| Pluribus | Deshpande | Episode: "We Is Us" | |
| 2026 | The Boroughs † | Toby |
Podcasts
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Coldest Case | Edgar | 3 episodes | |
| Bridgewater | 4 episodes | [33] | ||
| Dark Air with Terry Carnation | Jeet Batra | 18 episodes | [34] | |
| 2025 | Murder at the Patel Motel | [26] |
References
- ^ jha, neha (2016-02-22). "Meet Deadpool's Dopinder: Indian-American Karan Soni shares his experience | Meet Deadpool's Dopinder: Indian-American Karan Soni shares his experience". www.deccanchronicle.com. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
- ^ Donnelly, Matt (2015-04-15). "Why Paul Feig Chose Streaming for His New Comedy 'Other Space' (Exclusive Video)". TheWrap. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
- ^ Jha, Neha (February 22, 2016). "Meet Deadpool's Dopinder: Indian-American Karan Soni shares his experience". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
- ^ "Deadpool actor Karan Soni: A white guy voicing an Indian character in 2018 is not okay". Hindustan Times. May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 18, 2013). "Amazon Studios Comedy Pilot 'Betas' Assembles Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Kimball, Trevor (April 3, 2014). "Betas: Amazon Series Cancelled, No Season Two". TVSeriesFinale.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Ramachandran, Vignesh (April 21, 2015). "Karan Soni, That Guy From The AT&T Commercials Takes The Silver Screen". Ozy.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Rohwedder, Kristie (February 13, 2015). "Who Are The Actors Who Play The Network Experts In the AT&T Commercials? These Guys Are Good". Bustle.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Donnelly, Matt (April 15, 2015). "Why Paul Feig Chose Streaming for His New Comedy 'Other Space'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Brouwer, Bree (October 21, 2015). "Yahoo Lost $42 Million On 'Community' and Two Other Originals". TubeFilter. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Joey Lawrence, Karan Soni, Melissa Joan Hart". TeenInfonet.com. February 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Scoop: The Goldbergs on ABC - Tonight, October 21, 2015". BroadwayWorld.com. October 21, 2015. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Mad Scientists - "100 Things to Do Before High School"". Nickalive.blogspot.com. November 21, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Wariach, Sonia (November 9, 2015). "Catch Karan Soni's Blink-and-Miss Role as Mr. Rooney in 'Goosebumps'". Indiawest.com. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Baron, Steve (February 24, 2015). "Starz Announces Recurring and Guest Cast for 'Blunt Talk' Starring Patrick Stewart". Zap2it. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (April 29, 2014). "Starz Orders Two Seasons of Seth MacFarlane Comedy 'Blunt Talk'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ "Exclusive: Karan Soni Talks Deadpool, Improvising with Ryan Reynolds". ComicBook.com. October 30, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ^ Coman, Monica & Drake, Grae (April 1, 2025). "'Completed My Violent Arc': Karan Soni Shares His Only Deadpool Franchise Request". CBR. Retrieved June 21, 2025.
- ^ "Watch Pokemon Detective Pikachu (Movie)". HBO. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ^ Chavez, Danette (June 11, 2025). "Karan Soni still feels bad about giving Daniel Radcliffe the cold shoulder". AV Club. Retrieved June 21, 2025.
- ^ "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse' Casts Karan Soni As Spider-Man India". Deadline. February 23, 2023.
- ^ Pereira, Karen (August 9, 2024). "Karan Soni: Deadpool and Spider-Man have a special relationship in the comics; it will be used at some point – Exclusive". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived August 10, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ Spilde, Coleman (March 12, 2024). "'A Nice Indian Boy' Isn't Afraid to Admit the Truth About Love: It's a Mess". The Daily Beast. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (November 4, 2024). "Jason Alexander Heist Comedy 'Stealing Pulp Fiction' Picked Up by Odin's Eye Entertainment Ahead of AFM (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved June 21, 2025.
- ^ Dunn, Jack (September 24, 2024). "'Deadpool' Actor Karan Soni Lands Lead Role in Andrew Sandler's Thriller 'Fade to Black' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
- ^ Hullender, Tatiana (June 4, 2025). "An Ozempic Pen Sparks Suspicion In New Excerpt From Audible's Murder at the Patel Motel". ScreenRant. Retrieved June 21, 2025.
- ^ "Pluribus release date, how to watch". Newsweek. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
- ^ "Actor @itskaransoni Karan Soni's Coming Out Story". July 17, 2022.
- ^ Chapman, Wilson (April 4, 2022). "The Cast and Crew of '7 Days' on Reliving Quarantine as a Romantic Comedy". Variety. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
- ^ Vuocolo, Alex; O'Driscoll, Keara; Dangor, Graison; Ross, Dina (May 25, 2023). "What to Stream: Vanderpump Reunion, Sorority Rush, Sketch Comedy Fav & Coffee Shop Names". Cheddar News. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ Bijolia, Disha (November 3, 2022). "'Coming Out With The Help Of A Time Machine' Gives LGBTQIA+ Narratives A Sci-Fi Twist". Homegrown. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
- ^ Petski, Denise (March 29, 2021). "'Special': Charlie Barnett, Max Jenkins, Ana Ortiz Among Nine Set To Recur In Season 2 Of Netflix Series". Deadline. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
- ^ "Misha Collins, Nathan Fillion, Hilarie Burton Morgan and More Join New Podcast Drama 'Bridgewater'". Nerds and Beyond. July 24, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
- ^ "Audioboom Original Podcast 'Dark Air with Terry Carnation' Starring Rainn Wilson Officially Launched". Nerds and Beyond. April 2, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
External links
- Karan Soni at IMDb