The Biography

Amir Talai (born June 24, 1977, in San Francisco, California) is an Iranian-American actor, singer, voice artist, writer, and activist, 5′ 7″ (170 cm) tall. The first child of Iranian immigrants Mohammad and Sima Talai, he grew up in a Muslim household, attended a French immersion school through 8th grade, then Lowell High School, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Mass Communications and a minor in Dramatic Arts. He speaks English, Persian, and French, and is married to Nina Manni (since 2011). He serves on the boards of The Story of Stuff and Healing Justice, and volunteers for Campaign Zero and SAG-AFTRA. He is best known for voicing Alastor in Hazbin Hotel (2024–2025, Amazon Prime), Crane in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2011–2016, Nickelodeon), and Skidmark in Turbo Fast (2013–2016, Netflix). His most notable film credits include an Associate in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003), a Clerk in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006, with Will Smith), Raza in Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008, with John Cho and Kal Penn), Patel in What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012, with Cameron Diaz), Omid in Grandma (2015, with Lily Tomlin), Matt in The Circle (2017), Izzat "Crusher" Bukhari in Killing Gunther (2017), Rami in A Patient Man (2019, with Mark Ruffalo), Amir in Marriage Story (2019, with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson), and Bill Morley in The Present (2024). On television he has appeared in How I Met Your Mother (2005), Bones (2005, 2015), American Horror Story (2016), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014), LA to Vegas (2018, 14 episodes), Bosch (2020, 3 episodes), and The Shrink Next Door (2021, 3 episodes), with voice work in Family Guy, American Dad!, The Lion Guard, Amphibia, and We Baby Bears