Omid Djalili is an actor/comedian who spends most of his time trying to keep his weight down by yoyo dieting and playing football in West London still hoping to get spotted by Brentford Football Club. In 2005 he broke Edinburgh Festival box office records with over 16,500 ticket sales. He has performed in numerous countries, including Australia, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Canada and the US, where he had his own HBO Special.
He has been the face of Sky Television Saturday night film premiers, guest-presented the BBC political quiz show Have I Got News for You and performed on We Are Most Amused to mark Prince Charles' 60th birthday, and We Are Most Amused and Amazed to mark his 70th birthday. The Omid Djalili Show started in 2007 and was a mix of sketches and stand-up material. He appeared as Nasim in 22 episodes of the US sitcom Whoopi, starring Whoopi Goldberg, and BBC Learning project Off By Heart Shakespeare, in which he played Lord Capulet from Romeo and Juliet.
He 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 appeared on stage in the new West End production of Oliver and Fiddler on the Roof at the Chichester Festival Theatre.
