Kayvan Novak

Kayvan Novak
Novak at a premiere in 2012
Born (1978-11-23) 23 November 1978
London, England
Medium Television, film
Years active 2002–present
Genres Character comedy, satire, sketch comedy
Subject(s) Practical jokes

Kayvan Novak (Persian: کیوان نواک‎; born 23 November 1978) is an Iranian-English actor, voice actor, and comedian.[1][2] He is best known for co-creating and starring in the comedy series Fonejacker from 2006 to 2008 with a one-off in 2012 (for which he won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Comedy (Programme or Series) in 2008).

He is also known for co-creating and starring in the spin-off series Facejacker from 2010 to 2012 and for his role as Waj in the 2010 comedy film Four Lions.

Early life

Novak was born in London to Iranian parents. He was privately educated at Highgate School and the Fine Arts College in Hampstead, before attending the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.[3] In one of his early Facejacker episodes, he had revisited his former school of Fine Arts College, acting as Brian Bandonde.

Career

Novak initially appeared on various British shows such as Family Affairs, Holby City, and Spooks. In 2005, he and Ed Tracy created Fonejacker, a prank call show as part of Channel 4's Comedy Lab strand.[4] After the pilot, he was given a Christmas special and a six-part series, which began airing on 5 July 2007 on E4 and 7 September 2007 on Channel 4. In November 2009, he appeared on the Channel 4 show The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, playing a bomb disposal officer. In April 2010, Novak began appearing in a spin-off of Fonejacker called Facejacker, in which he adopted various disguises, including several characters heard in Fonejacker. Novak announced on BBC Radio 1 in May 2012 that the character Terry Tibbs, a mainstay of both shows, would be getting a spin-off chat show which aired in August 2012.[5] Novak played Simon in the Channel 4 sitcom pilot Bad Sugar.[2]

Novak filmed a scene for This Is England '86 which was cut from the final broadcast, but appears in the DVD extras. He was also one of the main characters in the television show Sirens, which began on 27 June 2011 on Channel 4 in the UK. Novak also featured in two episodes of Phone Shop, the first in Series 1, entitled "The First Temptation of Chris", and the second in Series 2, entitled "Revenge of the Razz". He played area manager Razz Prince. In the last series of BBC 2's Rev., he played the local Imam Yussef Hasan, a local religious rival against the title character.[6] In addition to acting, Novak has made appearances as himself on shows Soccer AM, 8 out of 10 Cats, Celebrity Big Brother's Little Brother, and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Novak appeared as an intelligence officer in the Academy Award-winning film Syriana. In 2008, he appeared in micro-budget B-movie The Blue Tower.[7] He also appeared in the 2010 British comedy Four Lions, in which he played the dim-witted Waj, a role for which he won the award for Best Comedy Performance in a British Film at the 2010 British Comedy Awards, beating fellow actor Nigel Lindsay for the same award in the same film.[8] Novak plans to create a film based on the Fonejacker and Facejacker characters, and in 2011 was reported to be in talks with Film4 and Hat Trick Productions.[5] In November 2012, Novak told the Metro newspaper that he hoped that such a film would be released in 2014.[9]

Novak appeared as Alok in the first series of BBC Radio 4 comedy Fags, Mags and Bags. He has provided voice work for three video games: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Perfect Dark Zero, and Kameo. He also voiced various characters in the ITV spoof sketch show Headcases, and in the 2012 Channel 4 animated series Full English. He lent his vocals to British band Beady Eye's 2013 song "Flick of the Finger".[10]

In 2013, he appeared as Effy Stonem's boss in the Skins episode "Skins Fire". He voiced a Cyberman head called Handles in the Doctor Who 2013 Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor".[11] He had a starring role in the last episode of the first series of Uncle as Mo, the boss of a fictional record label.[12] In 2014, he played Paul in the second episode ("A Quiet Night In") of Inside No. 9.[13] Also in 2014, he appeared in Episode 1, Series 3 of Rev. as the Imam, Yussef Hasan.

Since 2015, he has voiced the character of Brains in the revived ITV series Thunderbirds Are Go.[14] In 2015 he featured in the sitcom Asylum as "Rafael".[15] In May 2015 he appeared in a new comedy series called SunTrap on BBC1. In May 2017, Novak appeared in Channel 4's Britain Today, Tonight.[16][17]

Filmography

Films

List of film performances
Year Title Role Notes
2004A Line in the SandVahidTV movie
She's GoneArto FazoukTV movie
2005SyrianaArashFilm
The Government InspectorQasim HamdaniTV movie
2007Be More EthnicRanjit PradeshTV movie
2010A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's AdventuresFluffy (voice)
Four LionsWaj
2012HacksRavTV movie
Verry TerryTerry Tibbs (Host)TV movie
Bad SugarSimonTV movie
2013HomeboysSergioTV movie
2014Cuban FuryBejan
WalterDS Mike MinorskyTV movie
CaptchaClarenceShort film
The Last Sparks of SundownSeven
PaddingtonGrant the Animal Supplier
2016PrevengeTom
2018Early ManDino / Jurgend (voice)

Television

List of television performances
Year Title Role Notes
2002The American EmbassyAhmed RallahEpisode: "China Cup"
Judge John DeedAli Abdul MoncheriEpisode: "Political Expediency"
Family AffairsAmir Sadati1 episode
2003Trial & RetributionCraig Board2 episodes
2004Holby CityReza Abbassi5 episodes
SpooksSevilin Ozal1 episode (uncredited)
2005Murphy's LawMasudEpisode: Boy's Night Out
2006Comedy LabFonejacker1 episode (voice)
2007-2008FonejackerThe FonejackerMain cast; 13 episodes
2008HeadcasesVarious roles1 episode (voice)
2008The Big Fat Quiz of the YearThe Fonejacker
2009Comedy ShowcaseBomb Disposal Officer1 episode
2010The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret Bomb Disposal OfficerEpisode: "In Which Claims Are Made and a Journey Ensues"
Channel 4's Comedy GalaTerry Tibbs
2010-2011PhoneShopRazz Prince2 episodes
2010-2012FacejackerTerry Tibbs/ various charactersMain cast; 7 episodes
2011SirensRachid MansaurMain cast; 6 episodes
2012Full EnglishDusty Johnson/Jason JohnsonMain cast; 2 episodes
201310 O'Clock LivePat Putterson3 episodes
SkinsJake AbbasiSeries 7, episodes 1-2, "Fire"
Doctor WhoHandlesEpisode: "The Time of the Doctor"
2014Inside No. 9PaulEpisode: "A Quiet Night In"
UncleMoEpisode: "Nephew"
Rev.Yussef Hasan1 episode
Puppy LovePhil Evans1 episode
2015— Thunderbirds Are GoBrains
Ned Tedford		Main cast; 21 episodes
Danger MouseDr. Loo-cifer
Isambard King Kong Brunel		Recurring cast
2015AsylumRafael & Creator3 episodes
SunTrapWoody6 episodes
Top CoppersGerard Cliché1 episode
2016 Counterfeit CatBetty, Throckmorton, various characters
2017 QuacksKapoorEpisode: "The Mesmerist"
2017— Britain Today, Tonightvarious characters

References

  1. ↑ Pool, Hannah (23 October 2008). "Question time". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2015. I'm Iranian, which means I feel that I have more right to take off other races and religions, being an "ethnic" myself ... Does being first-generation British give you a particular insight? Yes. It gives you a heightened sensitivity. I was born in London. In a lot of ways I'm English, but I have this Iranianness
  2. 1 2 Kadivar, Darius Syriana breaks Iranian stereotypes Archived 26 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine., Persian Mirror, last accessed 3 August 2007.
  3. ↑ "kayvan-novak.co.tv". kayvan-novak.co.tv. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  4. ↑ Comedy Lab, Channel 4, last accessed 3 August 2007.
  5. 1 2 International Business Times, last accessed 2 July 2011.
  6. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588221/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
  7. ↑ last accessed 1 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "British Comedy Awards 2010". The BCA. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  9. ↑ metrowebukmetro (2012-11-08). "'Exciting' Facejacker movie in the pipeline, reveals star Kayvan Novak". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  10. ↑ "Beady Eye Interview". Shortlist.com. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  11. ↑ "BBC One - Doctor Who, The Time of the Doctor". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  12. ↑ "Episode 1.6 – Nephew". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Episode 1.2 - A Quiet Night In". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  14. ↑ John Plunkett (2013-09-30). "Thunderbirds are Go! blends old and new for return of classic series". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  15. ↑ Newal, Sally (9 February 2015). "Asylum, BBC4 - TV review". Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "Kayvan Novak to star in new entertainment series". 4 November 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  17. ↑ "Britain Today, Tonight". 2 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
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