Ned Hardy
The Intriguing World Of Entertainment
Brooke D’Orsay is a Canadian actress who has enjoyed numerous roles in television and film. Her most notable roles include portraying Paige Lawson on Royal Pains and two different roles, as Robin and as Kate, on the television series Two and a Half Men.
[Read more…] about She Played ‘Kate’ On Two and a Half Men. See Brooke D’Orsay Now At 40.
Lyndsy Fonseca is an American actress whose most notable roles include playing the daughter on How I Met Your Mother and Alex Udinov on the series Nikita.
[Read more…] about She Played ‘Penny’ In How I Met Your Mother. See Lyndsy Fonseca Now At 35.
If you’ve watched any television lately, chances are you’ve encountered actress Grace Park in something you’ve seen on television.
Grace Park is a prolific actress known for her roles in shows like Battlestar Galactica, the reboot of the 70’s classic Hawaii Five-0 and most recently in the show A Million Little Things.
Melanie Lynskey is a prolific actress, who is known for her television and movie work, including a stint as ‘Rose’ on the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men.
[Read more…] about She Played ‘Rose’ On Two and a Half Men. See Melanie Lynskey Now At 45.
Kunal Nayyar is a British actor best known for his role as ‘Raj’ on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. What has the actor been up to since the show ended in 2019?
Nayyar was born on April 30, 1981 in London. His family were immigrants from India. When he was three years old, Nayyar and his family moved back to New Delhi, India.
He attended St. Columba School and played on the badminton team. In 1999, he attended the University of Portland in Oregon where he studied finance. While working toward his degree, he acted in several school plays.
Nayyar later decided to become an actor and went on to attend Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he received a Master of Fine Arts in Acting.
In 2006, he starred in the play Huck & Holden where he portrayed a student from India who was anxious to experience American culture.
Also in 2006, he co-wrote a play called Cotton Candy that premiered in New Delhi. His prime-time television debut was when he made a guest appearance on the CBS drama NCIS.
Nayyar played Youssef Zidan, an Iraqi terrorist, in one episode in Season 4 of the show.
In 2007, he landed his most notable role as Dr. Rajesh “Raj” Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Raj works in the physics department of Caltech, where his area of expertise is particle astrophysics. He often tried to portray himself as someone who came from humble beginnings in India but, in actuality, his father was affluent.
For the first six seasons of the show, Raj suffers from selective mutism and social anxiety. This prevented him from conversing with women he wasn’t related to.
This was only alleviated when he drank alcohol or took experimental anxiety medications. Raj would also become more overbearing and obnoxious while on his medication.
What made Nayyar achieving the role on the popular show so striking was that it was his first ever audition. Nayyar auditioned for the show in the hopes that the job would help him pay his bills.
On The Things, Nayyar discussed how he came to realize that his role on The Big Bang Theory was much bigger than simply a paycheck–
"I was so young at the time, I was just happy to have a job. I was not self-aware enough to realize the gravitas of the situation. It really began to hit me in Season 3 and Season 4. Season 4 was huge for us because we went into syndication and were playing on three or four channels five times a day! That’s when I truly got my first taste of fame."
Nayyar’s role on the show was put in jeopardy early on when CBS attempted to have him removed from the show behind creator Chuck Lorre’, back.
In the book entitled “The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series” Lorre recalled, “Apparently, while I was flying across the country, a CBS executive determined — unilaterally — that Kunal wasn’t right for the role, and we would recast that part…”
Fortunately for Nayyar, showrunner Chuck Lorre went to bat for him with the CBS executives and he remained on the show for its entire duration.
In 2014, Nayyar and his co-star Simon Helberg negotiated for a bigger payday along with other cast members. Nayyar and Helberg saw their pay per episode increase from $100,000 to the mid six-figure range.
Fortunately, contracts were finalized just in time, as Lorre was so frustrated by the drawn out process, which held up production, that he was in the midst of writing a script that did not include Nayyar or Helberg’s characters.
In the first season, Nayyar earned $40,000 per episode. By the end of the show, it is estimated that he was earning between $600,000 and $800,000 per episode.
In 2015 and 2018, Forbes listed Nayyar as the third highest paid television actor. In 2018, he was tied with his co-star Simon Helberg, who both allegedly earned $23.5 million from the show.
In 2016, Nayyar lent his voice to the animated film Trolls. The movie, which starred the voice acting of Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Russell Brand, and Gwen Stefani amongst others, is about two trolls who set out to save their village from destruction.
Nayyar played Guy Diamond, a glitter troll with an auto-tuned singing voice.
Nayyar played convicted serial killer Sandeep on the Netflix production Criminal: UK in 2020. Nayyar acted in the final episode of Season 2.
Also in 2020, Nayyar played Mr. Mills in the family comedy Think Like a Dog. The film also starred Josh Duhamel and Megan Fox.
Nayyar used his voice acting skills once again to voice the character Naveen on the Disney animated series Mira, Royal Detective. The show’s protagonist, Mira, is the first South Asian lead in a Disney Junior show.
Kunal is still very active as an actor and can still be seen in a variety of movies and television.
Mosty recently in February 2022, Nayyar starred alongside Uma Thurman in the Apple TV+ crime drama Suspicion. Thurman plays a woman whose son gets abducted by British travelers.
Nayyar plays one of the travelers who proclaims he is innocent of the crime.
Also in 2022, Nayyar played A.J. Firky in The Storied Life of A.J. Firky, both serving as lead actor and executive producer for the film.
The film, which was released on October 7, 2022, follows A.J. Firky, who is trying to deal with the grief following his wife’s death and keeping his bookstore afloat when a mysterious package arrives.
Nayyar is set to join Carey Mulligan and Paul Dano in the upcoming Adam Sandler film adaptation of Spaceman set to air on Netflix.
The film is about an astronaut who realizes life on Earth is falling to pieces and must seek the help of an ancient creature lurking inside his spaceship.
Nayyar is also set to produce and lend his voice to the Reel FX Originals animated film Diya.
The movie follows Manolo, a bullfighter who goes on a marvelous adventure on the Day of the Dead. The film also takes inspiration from Indian folklore.
Autobiography
In 2015, Nayyar wrote his biography entitled “Yes, My Accent is Real and Some Other Things I Haven’t Told You.” Entertainment Weekly called the autobiography “hilarious and inspiring.”
In 2019, Nayyar bought a home that formerly belonged to actor Nicholas Cage. Nayyar paid $7.5 million for the Hancock Park home. The Tudor style property has two stories and five bedrooms.
In 2012, Nayyar married Neha Kapur in New Delhi in front of 1,000 guests.
Kapur is the former Miss India. In 2021, Nayyar and Kapur celebrated their ten-year anniversary.
Kate Micucci is an American comedian, actress, and musician. She is known for being a part of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates and for her role as Lucy on the television series The Big Bang Theory.
[Read more…] about She Played ‘Lucy’ On The Big Bang Theory. See Kate Micucci Now At 42.
Christina Renee Hendricks is an American actress best known for playing Joan Holloway on the immensely popular and critically-acclaimed series Mad Men. She is also known for playing Saffron on the cult-classic show Firefly and Beth Boland in the NBC series Good Girls.
[Read more…] about She Played ‘Saffron’ On Firefly. See Christina Hendricks Now At 47.
From her humble beginnings as a ballet dancer in San Antonio, Texas, to her rise as a sci-fi icon, Summer Glau’s journey through Hollywood has been as unique as it is inspiring. Known for her roles in cult classics such as “Firefly” and “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” Glau has carved a niche for herself in the entertainment industry.
Jewel Staite is a Canadian actress best known for her role as Kaylee Frye on the short-lived cult classic Fox series Firefly and subsequent film Serenity based on the show. Staite also acted in TV shows such as Space Cases and Flash Forward as a child actor, as well as roles on Stargate: Atlantis, The L.A. Complex, and The Killing more recently.
[Read more…] about She Played ‘Kaylee Frye’ On Firefly. See Jewel Staite Now At 40.
Russell Wong is an American actor who has starred in several films and television series. He was one of the very first Asian actors to be cast as a leading man in a prime time American television series. His filmography spans from 1985 to 2021. Russell has been trained in martial arts and performs his own stunts for film and television.
Tricia Janine Helfer is a Canadian actress and model. Her most notable roles include Number Six in Ronald D. Moore’s reimagining of Battlestar Galactica, which aired on the Syfy network between 2004 and 2009, and Charlotte Richards on Lucifer between 2016 and 2021.
[Read more…] about Whatever Happened To Tricia Helfer, ‘Number Six’ On Battlestar Galactica?
Charlene Amoia is an American actress and model best known for her recurring role as Wendy the Waitress on CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She has also appeared in a number of films including American Reunion, Author Anonymous, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.