Cast & creator
Omid Djalili
Best known for Midsomer Murders, The Graham Norton Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Omid Djalili is a British stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer. Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvaneh Djalili. His parents emigrated from Tehran to London in 1958. He has a brother and sister. His mother was a dressmaker who at one point assisted Iranian singer Googoosh. His father was a liaison officer at the Iranian embassy in which he would provide medical assistance. He was also a photographer whose pictures ended up in the newspaper Kayhan. He attended Holland Park School where he failed A-level exams a record six times and faked his results to gain entry to Ulster University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, studying English and theatre studies having been turned down by 16 drama schools. Djalili cited Jack Lemmon, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Julia Roberts as influences. The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" with Jewish comedian Ivor Dembina in 1996. Djalili has appeared in a number of films, most notably Gladiator, The Mummy, Mean Machine, The World Is Not Enough, Alien Autopsy, Spy Game, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Grow Your Own, Notting Hill, Mr Nice, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Sex and the City 2 and provides his voice in Over the Hedge. He has observed that he usually appears as a generic Middle Eastern background character in many of these films, often commenting that he appears in the James Bond film as the "Second Azerbaijani oil pipe attendant". He appeared as Nasim in 22 episodes of the U.S. sitcom Whoopi, starring Whoopi Goldberg, and picked up an international film award for Best Supporting Actor in Casanova, starring alongside Heath Ledger and Jeremy Irons. Djalili has won awards for his comedy. These include the EMMA Award, Time Out Award, and LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, Spirit of the Fringe Award as well as the One World Media Award for his Channel 4 documentary, Bloody Foreigners. He has also been nominated for awards, such as the Perrier Award for Best Comedian, the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Performance of 2003, the South Bank Award for Best Comedy of 2003, the Royal Television Society Award for Best Stand-up, and the European TV Award for his Bloody Foreigners.
70
film credits
56
television credits
119
1979–2025 · acting roles
6.5
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (126)
Showing 126 of 126 credits
Midsomer Murders
Othello Khan
1997
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
1993
Jason and the Argonauts
Castor
2000
The One Show
Self - Guest
2006The One Show
Self
2006
Have I Got a Bit More News for You
Self - Presenter
Have I Got News for You
Self - Host
1990Have I Got News for You
Self
1990
Top Gear
Self
2002
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Self - Team Captain
1996
Question Time
Himself - Panellist
1979
GMTV
Self
1993
Would I Lie to You?
Self
2007
Gladiator
Slave Trader
2000
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Askay / Pusasn
2007
His Dark Materials
Dr. Martin Lanselius
2019
Relic Hunter
Sayid Ahmed Habris
1999
The Bad Guys 2
Mr. Soliman (voice)
2025
The Mummy
Gad Hassan
1999
Over the Hedge
Tiger (voice)
2006
Dispatches
1987
Celebrity Mastermind
2003
Michael McIntyre's The Wheel
Self - Expert
2020
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
Mr Kaiafas
1987
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
Self
2001
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
Perfectionist (voice)
2000
Deep Cover
Sagar
2025
Room 101
Self
1994
Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
Self
2014
Kate Garraway's Life Stories
2009
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Cavalier
2018
Blankety Blank
Self - Panellist
2021
The World Is Not Enough
Foreman
1999
Black Books
Trebor
2000
Notting Hill
Coffee Shop Cashier (uncredited)
1999
Live at the Apollo
2004
Whoopi
Nasim Khatenjami
2003
In Your Dreams
Sandman (voice)
2025
Shaun the Sheep Movie
Trumper (voice)
2015
Sex and the City 2
Mr. Safir, Hotel Manager
2010The Michael Ball Show
Self
2010
One Night Stand
1989
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Greek Official
2018The Siege
Love Again
Mohsen
2023
Spy Game
Doumet
2001
Dickensian
Mr Venus
2015
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Kaji
2004
Insert Name Here
Self - Panelist
2016
Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round
1998
Beat the Chasers
Self
2020
The Change
Steve
2023
The Love Guru
Guru Satchabigknoba
2008
Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive
2006
The Great Sport Relief Bake Off
Self - Host
2012
Lock, Stock...
Ali Gadaffi
2000
Casanova
Lupo
2005Let's Dance for Sport Relief
Self - Contestant
2010
Comedy World Cup
Team Captain
2012
Mean Machine
Raj
2001
Paul O'Grady's Saturday Night Line Up
Self - Guest
2021
The Paul Reiser Show
Habib
2011
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism
Barry Rix
2015
The Omid Djalili Show
2007The Omid Djalili Show
Creator
2007
Journey to Bethlehem
Melchior
2023
We Are Most Amused
Self
2008
TV Heaven, Telly Hell
2006
Headcases
2008
Dead Man Running
Fat Bald Man
2009
The Infidel
Mahmud Nasir
2010The Infidel
Executive Producer
2010
Alien Autopsy
Melik
2006
A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman
Self - Voice of Trumper
2015
My Family and Other Animals
Spiro
2005
Modigliani
Pablo Picasso
2004
Dying Laughing
Self
2017All the Queen's Horses with Alan Titchmarsh
Self
2009
Going Forward
Dave Wilde
2016
The Calcium Kid
Herbie Bush
2004
Dinotopia 2: The Temptation
Zipeau (voice)
2002
The Comedian's Guide to Survival
Himself
2016
Tomorrow Morning
2022
Mr. Nice
Saleem Malik
2010
Anita and Me
Uncle Amman
2002
Big Fat Gypsy Gangster
Jik Jickkles
2011
Britney
Dr. Pellis
2021Small Potatoes
Hoss
1999
World's Greatest Stand Up: Volume One
self
2006
Winning Combination
Self - Presenter
2020
We Are Most Amused and Amazed
Self
2018
Dinotopia 4: New Horizons
Zipeau (voice)
2003
Grow Your Own
Ali
2007
Dinotopia 6: The Exit
Zipeau (voice)
2003The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Ball in the Hall
Self
2006
Dinotopia 3: The Election
Zipeau (voice)
2002
Dinotopia 5: The Virus
Zipeau (voice)
2003
Les Dawson Lost Tapes
Self
2021Coming Soon
1999
Mad Cows
George
1999
We Are Many
Executive Producer
2014
Cold War Steve Meets the Outside World
Self
2020Comic Aid
2005
Just Like Us
Self
2011
Retrospective
Nabil Sr
2014Chandshanbeh Ba Sina
Guest
Omid Djalili: Live in London
Omid Djalili
2009Omid Djalili: Live in London
Writer
2009Omid Djalili: Live in London
Executive Producer
2009
Christmas Comedy Club with Lost Voice Guy
Self
2021About A Bell
Sami Shehadi
Omid Djalili: Tour of Duty
Self
2012Omid Djalili: Tour of Duty
Writer
2012Omid Djalili: Tour of Duty
Executive Producer
2012
Omid Djalili: No Agenda
Omid Djalili
2007
The Egyptian Job
Himself (Narrator)
2011Coming Soon
Amir Hassan
1999
Deadlines
Abdul Sayyaf
2005Performance Live: The Way Out
Guide
New Town
Walter
2009One-Night Stand: Omid Djalili
Himself
2005
The Way Out
Guide
2020
Chopratown
Ali Ergun
2005Cinema Iran
Self - Presenter
2005
Dinotopia
Zipeau
2002