Kunal Nayyar (, kuu-NAHL NY-ər; born 30 April 1981) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Raj Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019). He also voiced Vijay Patel on the Nickelodeon animated sitcom Sanjay and Craig (2013–2016). Nayyar was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards for his role as Sandeep Singh in Netflix anthology series Criminal: UK (2020).
Forbes listed Nayyar as the world's third-highest-paid television actor in 2015 and 2018, with earnings of US$20 million and US$23.5 million, respectively. As of 2024, his net worth is estimated to be $45 million. The asteroid 8627 Kunalnayyar is named after him.
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Early life
Kunal Nayyar was born on 30 April 1981. When he was three years old, his family returned to India, and he grew up in New Delhi, where his parents now live. He attended St. Columba's School in Gole Market, where he played badminton for the school team.
In 1999, Nayyar moved to the United States to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance at the University of Portland in Oregon. He started taking acting classes and appeared in several school plays while working on his degree.
After participating in the American College Theater Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Nayyar decided to become an actor. He then attended Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he received his Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting.
Career
After graduating, Nayyar found work doing American television ads and plays on the London stage. He first gained attention in the US for his role in the West Coast production of Rajiv Joseph's 2006 play Huck & Holden, where he portrayed an Indian exchange student anxious to experience American culture before returning home. In 2006, Nayyar teamed up with Arun Das to write the play Cotton Candy, which premiered in New Delhi to positive reviews.
Nayyar made a guest appearance on the CBS drama NCIS in the season four episode "Suspicion", in which he played Youssef Zidan, an Iraqi terrorist.
In 2007, Nayyar's agent heard about a role as a scientist in an upcoming CBS pilot and encouraged him to audition for the part. This led to his casting in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, where he played the role of astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali from its premiere in September 2007 to the show's conclusion in May 2019.
In 2011, he co-hosted the Tribute to Nerds show with co-star Simon Helberg at the comedy festival Just for Laughs.
Nayyar voiced Gupta in Ice Age: Continental Drift in 2012. During the same year, he completed the shooting of the film, Dr. Cabbie, produced by Bollywood actor Salman Khan.
In 2013, he produced a documentary called Beyond All Boundaries, which focuses on three individuals and their love for cricket in India: Sudhir bikes across the country to support his team; Prithvi is a young cricket prodigy; and Akshaya is a female cricketer from the Mumbai slums.
From 5 May to 29 June 2015, Nayyar performed in an off-Broadway production, The Spoils, written by and starring actor Jesse Eisenberg. Nayyar played Kalyan, a Nepalese student and roommate of the protagonist Ben, played by Eisenberg. The production transferred to London's West End in 2016.
Nayyar published a book about his career journey, titled Yes, My Accent is Real: and Some Other Things I Haven’t Told You, in September 2015.
Personal life
In December 2011, Nayyar married Neha Kapur, a model and Femina Miss India 2006. Nayyar lives in Los Angeles with his wife but also maintains residences in London and New Delhi. According to the University of Portland, Nayyar and his wife have given scholarships for University of Portland students in Performing & Fine Arts and paid for guest artists at the university.
