Avatar:Danny Pudi

<infobox> <image source="image" /> <title source="name"><default>Danny Pudi</default></title> <group> <header>Biographical information</header> <label>Full name</label> <label>Born</label> <label>Died</label> <label>First credit</label> </group> <group> <header>Further information</header> <label>Link(s)</label> </group> </infobox>Daniel Mark "Danny" Pudi is an American actor and comedian, best known for his role as Abed Nadir in the NBC sitcom Community. He plays Sai, the mechanist, in Netflix's live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix) credits

Sai

Appearances: 3

Selected other credits

Television

• Angie Tribeca
• Chuck
• Clone High
• Community
• Cougar Town
• DuckTales
• ER
• Gilmore Girls
• Greek
• Harvey Girls Forever!
• Hot in Cleveland
• Mira, Royal Detective
• Mythic Quest
• Powerless
• Robot Chicken
• Royal Pains
• The Book Club
• The Guest Book
• The West Wing
• Transformers: EarthSpark

Filmography

• Somebody I Used to Know (2023)
• American Dreamer (2022)
• Corner Office (2022)
• Flora and Ulysses (2021)
• The Argument (2020)
• Good Girls Get High (2018)
• Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017)
• Star Trek Beyond (2016)
• The Tiger Hunter (2016)
• Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant (2015)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
• Knights of Badassdom (2013)
• Vijay and I (2013)
• The Pretty One (2013)
• Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (2011)
• Road Trip: Beer Pong (2009)

Other credits

• Hearthstone (video game)

Biographical information

Personal life

Pudi is of Polish and Indian descent, his parents having immigrated to the US and become naturalized citizens. He has a brother, Adam, and a sister, Katherine, and grew up in the South Side of Chicago. He attended Notre Dame College Prep, a northern suburb, and later returned to give the commencement address in 2013.

Pudi attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated in 2001 with a degree in communication and theatre. During his time at Marquette, Pudi was the inaugural winner of the Chris Farley Scholarship, which paid for a year of school and led to him performing at an improv comedy event. The event, which also featured comedians Jim Breuer and Dave Chapelle, increased his interest in studying improv, and after graduating he joined Stir Friday Night!, a sketch comedy group comprised of Asian-American performers.

Pudi married Bridget Showalter in 2004, the two of them having met while attending Marquette University freshman year. Pudi and Showalter have two children, a twin son and daughter, who were born in January 2012.

Career

After moving to Los Angeles in 2005 seeking television and film roles, Pudi worked remotely as a recruiter for an executive search firm, allowing to him to attend auditions at the same time. He performed in several television pilots before landing the role of Abed Nadir in the NBC sitcom Community, starring in the show for six seasons from 2009 to 2015.

In 2009, Pudi portrayed Arash in the comedy film Road Trip: Beer Pong, and in 2013 starred in the comedy horror film Knights of Badassdom. In 2014, he had a cameo appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and a subsequent cameo appearance in Star Trek Beyond in 2016. That same year, he played the lead role in the independent film The Tiger Hunter, which was funded through a Kickstarter campaign, and in 2017 began voicing Huey Duck in the reboot of DuckTales.

In 2020, Pudi began appearing as Brad Bakshi in the Apple TV series Mythic Quest, as well as directing an episode in the show's third season, and in 2023 he appeared in the film Somebody I Used to Know, written by his former Community co-star Alison Brie.

Awards

• 2018: Won a BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting Award for DuckTales (Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series)
• 2012: Won a TV Guide Award for Community (Favorite Ensemble)
• 2012: Won a Gold Derby TV Award for Community (Ensemble of the Year)