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Aziz Ismail Ansari ( ; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He played Tom Haverford on the NBC series Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) and created and starred in the Netflix series Master of None (2015–2021) for which he won several acting and writing awards, including two Emmys and a Golden Globe, which was the first award received by an Asian Americans actor for acting on television.
Ansari began performing comedy in New York City, while a student at NYU Stern in 2000. He later co-created and starred in the MTV sketch comedy show Human Giant, after which he had acting roles in a number of feature films. From 2009 to 2015, Ansari played Tom Haverford in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. In 2015, Ansari co-created, and starred in the first two seasons of Netflix's critically acclaimed series Master of None, for which he also served as a writer and director.
As a stand-up comedian, Ansari released his first comedy special, Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening, in January 2010 on Comedy Central Records. He continues to perform stand-up on tour and on Netflix. His first book, , was released in June 2015. He was included in the Time 100 list of most influential people in 2016. In July 2019, Ansari released his fifth comedy special , which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 2021, Netflix released , which Ansari wrote and directed. The following year he released his comedy special Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian on Netflix.
Ansari's performance in the show earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy. The series earned four Emmy Award nominations in 2016: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Ansari and Yang, and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Ansari; Yang and Ansari won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for the episode "Parents". Yang and Ansari were also honored with a Peabody Award in May 2016 for the series.
In 2018 Ansari won a Golden Globe for best actor in a TV comedy for the show; this made him the first Asian-American actor to win a Golden Globe for acting in television.
In August 2011, Ansari made a cameo appearance in the music video for "Otis" by Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative album Watch the Throne.
Ansari hosted the January 21, 2017 episode of Saturday Night Live, becoming the first person of Indian origin to do so.
Ansari's comedy style tends to focus on aspects of his personal life. "I like talking about things that are going on in my life, because that's always going to be different and original", he says. "No one else is gonna be talking about my personal experiences".
In July 2010, Ansari began a new tour, Dangerously Delicious, which was in theaters across the United States; stops included the Bonnaroo Music Festival and Carnegie Hall in New York City. The tour wrapped with a filming for a special, Dangerously Delicious at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., in June 2011. This special was released on his website in March 2012 for download or stream.
In March 2012, Ansari announced a new tour entitled "Buried Alive", with dates scheduled for Q2/Q3 2012. A third stand-up special, , was filmed during the tour at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and premiered on Netflix on November 1, 2013. His 2015 special, , also premiered on Netflix.
In February 2019, Ansari began a new stand-up tour entitled The Road to Nowhere, which was his official public return after the sexual-misconduct allegations and media backlash that put his career on a year-long hiatus in 2018. The performance was a response to the events of that past year, and touched on topics ranging from cultural appropriation, racism to sexual misconduct. His next comedy special was released on July 9, 2019, followed by Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian, released on January 25, 2022.
In May 2019, Ansari teamed up with Dave Chappelle for three shows in Austin, Texas at the Paramount Theatre.
In 2014, he identified as a feminist, saying his girlfriend has helped influence him. Ansari also incorporated an episode about feminism titled "Ladies and Gentlemen" in Master of None. In 2015, he spoke about the episode's meaningfulness to him saying "I thought it was interesting that this is happening, yet so many people are unaware of it. And the problem is people aren't talking about it. What I've learned, as a guy, is to just ask women questions and listen to what they have to say. Go to your group of female friends and ask them about times they've experienced sexism at their job, and you'll get blown away by the things they tell you."
Ansari, Eric Wareheim, and Jason Woliner had formed what they called "The Food Club", which involves them dressing up in suits and captain hats and rewarding restaurants with "Food Club" plaques. The plaques have their faces engraved along with the words: "The Food Club has dined here and deemed it plaque-worthy". He explained to Vanity Fair, "It's a really serious-looking plaque and all of the restaurants we've given it to have put it front and center. It's funny because people will walk into a restaurant and be like, 'What the fuck is the Food Club? Who are these guys etched in gold?'" They also produced a tongue-in-cheek video about the club for Jash, filming them debating whether or not restaurants were plaque-worthy.
Ansari was a close friend of the comedian Harris Wittels; they frequently worked together and were working on a new script together at the time of his passing. Wittels was also set to star in Master of None prior to his death; his role was ultimately taken by Wareheim.
Ansari purchased an apartment in Tribeca, Downtown Manhattan in 2018 that had been owned by New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh for US$5.7 million. In 2021, it was reported Ansari had become engaged to Danish forensic data scientist Serena Skov Campbell. In June 2022, Ansari and Campbell got married in Tuscany, Italy.
In January 2018, a woman using the pseudonym "Grace" accused Ansari of sexual misconduct in an article on Babe.net, a site aimed at Millennials and Generation Z women. According to the article, the woman later texted Ansari expressing her discomfort, and he replied with an apology. Media critic Allison Davis, who later interviewed the article's author, Katie Way, called the Babe.net article "some combination of as-told-to and reported piece and morning-after group-chat gossip", saying it became a "flashpoint of discussion about MeToo movement". There was disagreement in media commentary as to whether the incident described constituted sexual misconduct. Ansari stated that the encounter "by all indications was completely consensual", but some commentators alleged his actions were Misogyny, lacked Sexual consent, and spoke to a larger culture of harmful male expectations. Others said Ansari's actions did not constitute sexual misconduct and that his accuser's narrative trivializes the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse. Way was criticized for her handling of the story and not following journalistic standards. James Hamblin wrote that these "stories of gray areas are exactly what ... need to be told and discussed...Even Ansari, the semi-ironic expert who authored a book on interpersonal communication...was seeing something totally different from his date, Grace", who felt coerced. Ansari briefly receded from public and resumed stand-up in May 2018.
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| Voice A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. |
| Voice |
| Short |
| Documentary |
| Voice |
| Post-production; Also director, writer, and producer |
| Episode: "Didja Listen to My Demo?" |
| Episode "Drive By" |
| 16 episodes; also co-creator, writer, executive producer |
| Episode: "Pilot" |
| 3 episodes |
| 4 episodes |
| Main cast (all 7 seasons) |
| Stand-up special |
| Episode: "Nagging Blonde/Tim & the Elephant" |
| TV special |
| Stand-up special |
| Episode: "Prairie Dog Companion" |
| Voice, 13 episodes |
| Voice, episode: "What Color Is Your Cleansuit?" |
| Episode: "Aziz Ansari Wears A Charcoal Blazer" |
| TV special |
| Episode: "Aziz Ansari in Hong Kong" |
| Stand-up special |
| Voice, episode: "The Little Guy" |
| TV special |
| Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Voice, 3 episodes |
| Episode: "It's Like Pushing a Building Off a Cliff" |
| Episode: "Body Bouncers" |
| Voice, episode: "I'm Gonna Git You Suckoid" |
| Stand-up special |
| Main cast (season 1–2); Recurring (season 3) also Co-creator, Executive Producer, Writer, and Director |
| Voice, episode: "Dogs." |
| Episode: "Aziz Ansari/Big Sean" |
| Episode: "Pizza." |
| Stand-up special |
| Stand-up special |
| Himself |
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