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Utkarsh Ambudkar

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Utkarsh Ambudkar
Ambudkar at the 2022 New York Comic Con
Born (1983-12-08) December 8, 1983 (age 41)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Other names
  • UTK the INC
  • UTK
Alma materTisch School of Arts
Occupations
  • Actor
  • rapper
  • singer
Years active2004–present
Spouse
Naomi Ambudkar
​
(m. 2019)​
[1]
Children3[2]

Utkarsh Ambudkar (/ˈʊtkɑːrʃ æmˈbʊdkɑːr/ UUT-karsh am-BUUD-kar;[3] born December 8, 1983),[4][5] also known by his stage name UTK the INC, is an American actor, rapper, and singer. He is known for his film roles including Pitch Perfect (2012), Game Over, Man! (2018), Blindspotting (2018), Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019), The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020), Free Guy (2021), Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021), and World's Best (2023). His television roles include The Mindy Project, White Famous, Never Have I Ever, and Ghosts. He recently appeared in the Hulu limited series The Dropout (2022).

He made his Broadway debut in Lin-Manuel Miranda's improvisational hip-hop show Freestyle Love Supreme in 2019.

Early life

Utkarsh Ambudkar was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 8, 1983, to an Indian American family with a Marathi father and a Tamil mother. He grew up in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where his parents, who had emigrated from India in the 1980s, were research scientists at the National Institutes of Health. He starred in comedy roles at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, and he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2004.[6][7][8][9]

Through his mother, Ambudkar is a descendant of the lawyer and jurist Sir Vembakkam Bhashyam Aiyangar.[10]

Career

Ambudkar is a former VJ for MTV Desi. He appeared in the comedy film Pitch Perfect, as the character Donald, and in the television shows The Mindy Project and The Muppets.[11] He was set to star in the Fox series Eat, Pray, Thug,[12] but the show was not picked up.[13] Ambudkar originated the role of Aaron Burr in the developmental readings of Hamilton.[6][14] He formerly played Raj on the sitcom Brockmire.[6] He played Jern in the 2019 film Brittany Runs a Marathon.[15]

He played Skatch, a con artist, in a deleted scene of the 2020 Disney live-action remake of Mulan.[16] That same year, he appeared in Disney's Godmothered, and then in the 2021 action comedy Free Guy.[17][18] In 2020, Ambudkar debuted as the mongoose Chikku in the Disney Junior animated series Mira, Royal Detective. He is currently starring in the CBS supernatural sitcom Ghosts (2021).[19]

He was a member of the musical group "The Beatards."[6] Since 2005, Ambudkar has been a part of hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme under the name UTK the INC.[6] As part of the group, he participated in the limited television series for Pivot in 2014[20] and made his Broadway debut in the group's self-titled show on October 2, 2019.[21]

Ambudkar has appeared in several Youtube sketch comedy skits including the comedy groups CollegeHumor and Key & Peele. Ambudkar starred in Force Grey: Giant Hunters (2016) and Force Grey: Lost City of Omu (2017), a Dungeons & Dragons actual play web series with Matthew Mercer as the Dungeon Master, where he played the character Hitch, a rogue with a nefarious past.[22][23] In 2023, he appeared as a guest player in Critical Role's third campaign, also hosted by Mercer, as the sorcerer Bor'Dor.[24][25]

Personal life

Ambudkar married in 2019, and has three children.[1]

He struggled with alcoholism in the early 2010s.[6] In a 2023 interview, he revealed that he has been sober for eight and a half years. He also stated that his lack of sobriety at the time was why he was replaced as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.[26][27] He told The New York Times in 2019: "It was ego, it was being a daily marijuana user, it was partying at night, it was being preoccupied, growing up as a brown person, feeling unattractive, and seeking validation of the opposite sex to sort of fill a hole, my self-worth."[6]

Discography

  • The Gold Tusk EP (2006)
  • Members Only EP (2012)[28]
  • Vanity (2019)
  • Petty (2019)

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Rocket Science Ram
2008 Last Call Nikash
2012 Pitch Perfect Donald
2015 Freaks of Nature Parminder
2016 Ride Along 2 Amir
Barbershop: The Next Cut Raja
2017 Basmati Blues Rajit
2018 Blindspotting Rin
Game Over, Man! Bae Awadi
2019 Brittany Runs a Marathon Jern Dahn
2020 Mulan Skatch Deleted scene
The Broken Hearts Gallery Max Vora
Godmothered Grant
2021 Tom & Jerry Real Estate Rat Voice
Free Guy Mouser
Tick, Tick... Boom! Todd
2022 The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild Orson Voice
Marry Me Coach Manny
The Drop Robbie
2023 World's Best Suresh Patel Also writer
2024 My Dead Friend Zoe Alex Completed

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006; 2010 The Electric Company UTK; Harry 2 episodes
2011 Danni Lowinski Rasoul Television film
2012 Freestyle Love Supreme UTK Television film
2013–2017 The Mindy Project Rishi Lahiri 10 episodes
2013 China, IL Aladdin Voice, episode: "Wild Hogs"
2016 The Simpsons Jay Voice, episode: "Much Apu About Something"
The Muppets Pizza 3 episodes
2017 White Famous Malcolm 10 episodes
The Problem with Apu Himself Documentary television film
2018 Trolls: The Beat Goes On! Master Controll Episode: "Big Poppy"
Bartlett Sanjay Kahn 4 episodes
2018–2020 Brockmire Raj 5 episodes
Harvey Street Kids Fredo, Teen Boy, Tiny Duck Voice, 17 episodes
2020 Mira, Royal Detective Chikku, Male Judge, Train Engineer, Engineer, Passenger, Uncle Voice, main role
Central Park — Songwriter: "The Park Is Mine" (with Rafael Casal)[29]
2021-2023 Never Have I Ever Mr. Manish Kulkarni Recurring (season 2-4)
Blindspotting Niles Turner 2 episodes
2021 Robot Chicken Aang, Sora, Xenomorph Student #1 Voice, episode: "May Cause Numb Butthole"
2021–present Ghosts Jay Arondekar Main role[30]
2021 Special Ravi 3 episodes
2022 The Dropout Rakesh Madhava Recurring
2023 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Anand Voice, recurring role
Celebrity Jeopardy! Himself Contestant
2024 Avatar: The Last Airbender King Bumi Recurring[31]

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Force Grey: Giant Hunters Hitch Main role; 6 episodes[32][22]
2017–2018 Force Grey: Lost City of Omu Main role; 20 episodes[33][23]
2023 Critical Role (campaign three) Bor'Dor Dog'Son Guest role; 5 episodes[24][25]

Theatre

Year Title Role Venue Ref.
2004 History of the Word Ali Crossroads Theatre [34][35]
2005 The Me Nobody Knows Performer Staged Reading, Vineyard Theatre [36]
The Snow Queen Kay Urban Stages [37][38]
2007 History of the Word Ali Washington Irving High School
LaGuardia Performing Arts Center 		[39][40][41]
2008 Rafta, Rafta... Etash Tailor Acorn Theater/The New Group, Off-Broadway [42][43]
Animals Out of Paper Suresh McGinn/Cazale Theatre, Off-Broadway [44][45]
2009 Dov and Ali Ali Cherry Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway [46][47]
2010 The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Vigneshwar Paduar Second Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway [48]
2012 Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want to Kill
Us and How We Learn to Love Them 		Rahim Second Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway [49][50][51]
2013 Hamilton Aaron Burr Vassar College, Workshop [52]
2019 Freestyle Love Supreme Himself Greenwich House Theater, Off-Broadway [53][54][55]
2019–20 Booth Theatre, Broadway [56][57]

References

  1. ^ a b Degrushe, Allison (7 October 2021). "Meet 'Ghosts' Star Utkarsh Ambudkar and His Cute Little Family". Distractify. Archived from the original on 2023-04-25. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  2. ^ "Instagram". Archived from the original on 2023-04-25. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  3. ^ "Let's Talk About Me, Baby with Utkarsh Ambudkar". Webgum. Archived from the original on December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  4. ^ Cartwright, Jamie (2024-02-24). "Utkarsh Ambudkar shines in diverse roles across Hollywood and music". Malang Post News. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  5. ^ "Utkarsh Ambudkar". Stella Adler Studio of Acting. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Caramanica, Jon (2019-09-26). "Utkarsh Ambudkar Finally Gets His Broadway Shot in 'Freestyle Love Supreme'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  7. ^ Marks, Peter (September 26, 2019). "How chill can Broadway get? Lin-Manuel Miranda and company throw down some 'Freestyle Love' to find out". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  8. ^ Williams, Elizabeth (November 16, 2000). "A Comedy That'll Slay You". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  9. ^ Wilcher, Joel (March 29, 2001). "An 'Anything' With Everything". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  10. ^ Mathai, Kamini (February 14, 2020). "Utkarsh Ambudkar, rapper who stole the show at Oscars, has a Chennai connection". The Times of India. Mumbai. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  11. ^ Peitzman, Louis (8 January 2013). ""Pitch Perfect" Breakout Utkarsh Ambudkar Takes On "The Mindy Project"". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  12. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (28 September 2015). "Utkarsh Ambudkar To Star In Fox Comedy 'Eat Pray Thug' Inspired By Rapper Heems". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Heems' TV Show Is Not Happening". Pitchfork. 20 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  14. ^ "Utkarsh Ambudkar and Nisha Ganatra Reveal What Has (and Hasn't) Changed in Hollywood", Spotify, 2 February 2019, archived from the original on 2023-05-27, retrieved 2023-09-27
  15. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (November 22, 2017). "Jillian Bell To Star In 'Brittany Runs A Marathon'; Michaela Watkins, Utkarsh Ambudkar & Lil Rel Howery Also Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 22, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  16. ^ Ford, Rebecca (6 June 2018). "Disney Casts 'Mulan' Love Interest (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  17. ^ Brown, Lillian (May 15, 2019). "Ryan Reynolds strikes a pose with 'Free Guy' cast as filming ramps up in Boston". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2023-04-28. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  18. ^ "Production Has Begun on New Disney+ Movie "Godmothered" (Press release). Disney. January 30, 2019. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  19. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 1, 2020). "Utkarsh Ambudkar To Star Opposite Rose McIver In CBS Comedy Pilot 'Ghosts'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  20. ^ Zuckerman, Esther (October 17, 2014). "Lin-Manuel Miranda on bringing Freestyle Love Supreme to TV". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  21. ^ Peikert, Mark (2019-06-18). "Lin-Manuel Miranda's Freestyle Love Supreme Coming to Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  22. ^ a b "Meet D&D's Force Grey: Giant Hunters in this exclusive trailer". The A.V. Club. 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  23. ^ a b "10 Most Underrated D&D Actual-Play Streams". CBR. 2022-09-01. Archived from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
  24. ^ a b "Somewhere Out There". Critical Role. Series 3. Episode 59. May 18, 2023. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  25. ^ a b McCauley, Tara (May 19, 2023). "Critical Role Shocks Fans With a Major Bait-And-Switch". CBR. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  26. ^ "'Ghosts' Star Utkarsh Ambudkar on His Path from Rapper to a TV Series Lead & and the Big Opportunity That Got Away". 4 June 2023. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  27. ^ "'World's Best' Star Utkarsh Ambudkar on His Tanking Wizards & Resurgent Orioles | Rich Eisen Show". ESPN. June 30, 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  28. ^ "Members Only EP by UTK the INC". Bandcamp.
  29. ^ Harnick, Chris (May 29, 2020). "Central Park Is Here to Give You New Music by Sara Bareilles, Darren Criss and Many More". E! News. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  30. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 31, 2021). "'Ghosts' Comedy Starring Rose McIver & Utkarsh Ambudkar Picked Up To Series By CBS". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  31. ^ "Netflix's 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Taps Utkarsh Ambudkar As King Bumi (EXCLUSIVE)" (Press release). Knight Edge Media. July 25, 2022. Archived from the original on July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  32. ^ Tito, Greg (July 11, 2016). "Force Grey: Giant Hunters". Dungeons & Dragons Wizards. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  33. ^ "Force Grey: Lost City of Omu". Dungeons & Dragons. July 25, 2017. Archived from the original on November 19, 2017. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  34. ^ Jones, Kenneth (October 16, 2004). "Hip-Hop History of the Word Speaks Its Mind Oct. 16–24 at Crossroads Theatre Co. in NJ". Playbill. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  35. ^ Daniels, Robert L. (October 21, 2004). "Review: 'History of the Word'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  36. ^ Simonson, Robert (January 20, 2005). "Scott Schwartz to Direct New Reading of Musical The Me Nobody Knows". Playbill. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  37. ^ Graeber, Laurel (December 30, 2005). "Ice, Ice Baby: Urban Twists on an Old-Fashioned Tale". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  38. ^ "The Snow Queen". urbanStages. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  39. ^ Pincus-Roth, Zachary (February 27, 2007). "Vineyard and Queens Theatre's History of the Word Begins Feb. 27". Playbill. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  40. ^ Allen, Kerri (March 6, 2007). "History of the Word". Backstage. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  41. ^ Cooper, Amanda. "A CurtainUp Review: History of the Word". CurtainUp. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015. Especially charming is Utkarsh Ambudkar as the ROTC-bound Ali, whose stage presence and timing are undeniably spot-on.
  42. ^ "The New Group Presents 'Rafta, Rafta' Opening Tonight!". BroadwayWorld. May 8, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  43. ^ Brantley, Ben (May 9, 2008). "No Sex, Please, We're British Indians". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  44. ^ "Animals Out of Paper Production Information". BroadwayWorld. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  45. ^ Gates, Anita (August 5, 2008). "Works Well With Paper, Has Trouble With Life". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  46. ^ "Playwrights Realm's DOV AND ALI Runs Thru 6/27". BroadwayWorld. June 16, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  47. ^ Jaworowski, Ken (June 12, 2009). "A Jew and a Muslim, Firing Words After School". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 27, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  48. ^ "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Off-Broadway Cast". BroadwayWorld. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  49. ^ Hetrick, Adam (September 21, 2012). "Jon Kern's Modern Terrorism, With Utkarsh Ambudkar and Steven Boyer, Premieres at Second Stage Sept. 21". Playbill. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  50. ^ Stasio, Marilyn (October 18, 2012). "Review: 'Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want to Kill Us and How We Learn to Love Them'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  51. ^ Isherwood, Charles (October 18, 2012). "Funny, but Plotting Havoc Isn't Easy, 'Modern Terrorism,' by Jon Kern, at the Second Stage Theater". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  52. ^ Baysinger, Tim (February 9, 2020). "Who Is Utkarsh Ambudkar, the Guy Who Just Freestyle Rap Recapped the Oscars?". TheWrap. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  53. ^ Paulson, Michael (October 29, 2018). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Puts Freestyle Love Supreme Back Onstage". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  54. ^ "Freestyle Love Supreme". Playbill. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  55. ^ Green, Jesse (February 12, 2019). "Review: At 'Freestyle Love Supreme,' Attention Must Be Paid. Really". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  56. ^ "Freestyle Love Supreme". Playbill. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  57. ^ Clement, Olivia (November 5, 2019). "Freestyle Love Supreme Extends on Broadway". Playbill. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
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