| Karan Soni | |
| Birth Date: | 8 January 1989 |
| Birth Place: | New Delhi, India |
| Citizenship: | United States |
| Education: | USC School of Dramatic Arts |
| Years Active: | 2010–present |
| Partner: | Roshan Sethi |
Karan Soni (born January 8, 1989) is an Indian-American actor and comedian. 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 (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). 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).
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.[1]
Soni made his film debut in Yusuf Sumer's 2010 comedy film Kaka Nirvana, alongside Rachel Quinn.[2] In 2013, Soni was cast in the Amazon Studios original series Betas.[3] The series was canceled after one season.[4] In 2014, Soni appeared in commercials for AT&T along with Jim Conroy.[5] [6]
In 2015, Soni appeared in Other Space, a series created by Paul Feig for Yahoo! Screen, as Captain Stewart Lipinski.[7] Yahoo! Screen would be shut down later in the year, preventing the series from being renewed for a second season,[8] while the first season would later be picked up by DUST in 2020. Later in 2015, he appeared in episodes of Melissa & Joey,[9] The Goldbergs[10] and 100 Things to Do Before High School[11] [12] and began starring in Blunt Talk, opposite Patrick Stewart, as Martin.[13] The series was renewed for a second season, which premiered in 2016,[14] but on December 20, was canceled after two seasons.[15]
In 2016, Soni appeared in Deadpool as a taxi driver named Dopinder[16] and in Ghostbusters as the delivery man Benny.[16] He reprised the role of Dopinder in 2018's Deadpool 2 and also appeared in another May blockbuster film, the following year's Pokémon Detective Pikachu.[17] In both Deadpool films and Pokémon Detective Pikachu, he starred opposite Ryan Reynolds.
In February 2023, Soni was announced as the voice of Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India in .[18] In March 2023, he was confirmed to be returning as Dopinder for Deadpool & Wolverine.[19] In August 2024, Soni confirmed that he would reprise his role as Spider-Man India in .[20]
Soni is gay.[21] He is in a relationship with writer and director Roshan Sethi, with whom he developed the film 7 Days.[22]
| Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| 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[23] | |
| 2021 | 7 Days | Ravi | Also writer |
| 2022 | Not Okay | Kelvin | |
| The People We Hate at the Wedding | Dominic | ||
| Strange World | Caspian | Voice | |
| 2023 | Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India | ||
| World's Best | Calming Voice | ||
| 2024 | A Nice Indian Boy | Naveen Gavaskar | |
| Paper Flowers | Milan Mehta | ||
| Deadpool & Wolverine | Dopinder | ||
| TBA | Pavitr Prabhakar / Spider-Man India | Voice; In production | |
| 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" | ||
| 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 | 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[24] | Dev Laghari | 2 episodes | |
| Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail | The Gunslinger | Main role | ||
| 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 | Pip | Voice, 25 episodes | ||
| 2023 | Miracle Workers: End Times | TI-90, Tai | Main role, 10 episodes | |
| Strange Planet | Being #1 / Bestie | Voice, episode: "Adolescent Limbshake" | ||
| 2024 | Abbott Elementary | Avi | Director, episode: "Librarian", Actor, episode: "Panel" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Coldest Case | Edgar | 3 episodes |
| Bridgewater | Vipin Kharana | 8 episodes | |
| Dark Air with Terry Carnation | Jeet Batra | 18 episodes |