Nasim Pedrad
Introduction '''Nasim Pedrad''' (; born November 18, 1981) is an American actress and comedian. Pedrad was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy and variety series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2009 to 2014.She later went on to star in the Fox sitcoms ''Mulaney'' (2014–2015) and ''New Girl'' (2015–2018), the Fox horror comedy series ''Scream Queens'' (2015), and the TBS science fiction comedy series ''People of Earth'' (2017) and 2019 movie ''Aladdin''. Pedrad also created, produces, and stars in the TBS/The Roku Channel sitcom ''Chad'' (2021–present).In film, Pedrad had minor voice roles in the animated films ''The Lorax'' (2012), ''Despicable Me 2'' (2013) and ''Aladdin'' (2019), and starring roles in the comedy films ''Cooties'' (2014) and ''Desperados'' (2020).
Early life Pedrad was born in Tehran, Iran. Although her father was able to emigrate to the United States, Pedrad and her mother had to stay in Germany, reuniting with her father when she was three years old. Her younger sister, Nina, is a comedy writer.Nasim graduated from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2003.She was a member of the UCLA Spring Sing Company.
Career ===Early work===Pedrad was a performer with the Sunday Company at The Groundlings. She frequently performed her one-woman show ''Me, Myself & Iran'' at the Los Angeles divisions of ImprovOlympic and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. The show was selected for the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. She received an ''LA Weekly'' Best Comedic Performance of the Year Award as the lead in the comedic spoof ''After School Special''.In 2006, Pedrad made her first television appearance on an episode of ''Gilmore Girls'' as a waitress with two lines.In 2007, she made a guest appearance on ''The Winner''. She had a recurring role on ''ER'' as Nurse Suri. In 2009, she had a guest appearance on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''.Pedrad joined the cast of ''Saturday Night Live'' in 2009 as part of the 35th (2009–2010) season. Pedrad became a repertory player in the 2011–12 season after two years of being a featured player. Pedrad left ''SNL'' in 2014 to work on ''Mulaney''.===2011–present===In 2011, she was a recurring voice on the Fox animated series ''Allen Gregory''. She appeared in a small role in the 2011 film ''No Strings Attached''. In 2012, she had a supporting voice role in the animated feature film ''The Lorax'' and a small appearance in ''The Dictator''. In 2013, Pedrad had another supporting voice role, in ''Despicable Me 2''. In the autumn of 2014, she left ''Saturday Night Live'' to star in a new Fox sitcom, ''Mulaney''. On October 18, 2014, Fox shut down production of the series by reducing the 16-episode order by three episodes. Filming for the thirteenth episode had just been completed prior to the order reduction, and the fourteenth episode was about to enter production.From 2015 to 2018, Pedrad has a recurring guest role as LAPD officer Aly Nelson on the Fox sitcom ''New Girl''. She portrayed Gigi Caldwell in Season One of the Fox horror-comedy ''Scream Queens''.In 2016, she appeared in a commercial for Old Navy alongside comedian Kumail Nanjiani and other ''SNL'' cast members Cecily Strong and Jay Pharoah.In 2017, she joined the cast of season 2 of the TBS comedy series ''People of Earth''. Later that same year, she also made guest appearances on ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' and ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''.In 2020, she starred as Wesley in the Netflix film ''Desperados''.In 2021, Pedrad starred in the TBS TV series ''Chad'' which she also created, wrote, and directed.
Filmography ===Film=== Year  Title  Role Notes 2005 ''The 73 Virgins'' Zahra Short film 2008 ''A Thousand Words'' The Photographer Short film 2011 ''No Strings Attached''  Writer 2012 ''The Dictator'' Female GMW Host ''The Lorax''  Isabella Once-ler (voice) 2013 ''Despicable Me 2'' Jillian (voice) 2014 ''Cooties''  Rebekkah Halverson2019 ''Corporate Animals'' Suzy  ''Aladdin'' Dalia  2020 ''Desperados'' Wesley Darya  2023 ''Wish'' Sania (voice) ===Television=== Year  Title  Role Notes 2006 ''Gilmore Girls'' Waitress Episode: "Bridesmaids Revisited" 2007 ''The Winner'' Waitress Episode: "What Happens in Albany, Stays in Albany" 2007–2009 ''ER'' Nurse Suri 9 episodes 2009 ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' Lucy Episode: "The Waitress Is Getting Married" 2009–2014,2018 ''Saturday Night Live'' Various characters 109 episodes 2011 ''Allen Gregory'' Val / Brinique (voice) 7 episodes 2013 ''The Awesomes'' Various voices 5 episodes 2014–2015 ''TripTank'' Various voices 9 episodes ''Mulaney'' Jane Parvana Starring role; 13 episodes 2015–2018 ''New Girl'' Aly Nelson Recurring role, 28 episodes 2015 ''Scream Queens'' Gigi Caldwell 10 episodes 2016 ''The Mindy Project'' Dr. Yasmin Maloof Episode: "Nurses' Strike" 2017 ''People of Earth'' Special Agent Alex Foster 10 episodes ''Big Mouth'' Fatima (voice) Episode: "Girls Are Horny Too" ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' Numa Episode: "Foisted!" 2018 ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' Kate Peralta Episode: "DFW" ''No Activity'' Belle Episode: "Honesty & Action" 2021 ''Chad'' ChadAlso creator, writer, director, and executive producer ''Just Beyond'' Miss GenevieveEpisode: "Leave Them Kids Alone" 2022–present ''Pretzel And The Puppies'' Greta (voice) 18 episodes  2022 ''The Boys Presents: Diabolical'' Cherry (voice)Episode: "Boyd in 3D" ''Big Nate'' Barbara (voice)Episode: "Randy's Mom Has Got It Goin' On" 2023 ''Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures'' Zia Zanna (voice) 6 episodes
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