Danny Pudi is best known for playing Abed Nadir on Community, but the talented actor continues to book notable roles. Pudi starred as one of the core characters of Dan Harmon’s NBC comedy from 2009 to 2015. Before that, the Chicago native studied communication and theatre at Marquette University. He eventually got involved in improv prior to relocating to Los Angeles for acting gigs. Aside from starring in commercials and a few short films, Pudi had stints in ER, Gilmore Girls, Greek, and The Bill Engvall Show.
While portraying the lovable nerd for six seasons of Community, Pudi attained other acting gigs. In 2011, Community‘s Abed made a special crossover appearance in Cougar Town. That same year, he worked in Chuck and Robot Chicken before appeared in shows like Hot in Cleveland, Royal Pains, and TripTank. On the film side, Pudi voiced Little Boy Blue in 2011’s Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil ahead of roles in The Guilt Trip, The Pretty One, Vijay and I, and The Knights of Badassdom. Most noteworthy, however, was Pudi’s cameo in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Com Tech #1. The 2014 MCU movie, which also featured Pudi being punched by Captain America, was directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, two directors/producers of Community.
When Community came to an end in 2015, Pudi had a steady amount of work lined up. He played Sami Malek in the 2016 comedy movie, The Tiger Hunter while also guest appeaeing in Star Trek Beyond that same year. Pudi followed up those gigs with voice work in Smurfs: The Lost Village. In addition to film roles, Pudi remained focused on TV work. He reunited with Community co-star Ken Jeong on Dr. Ken along with appearances in Angie Tribeca and Better Things. The actor then received a starring role in the short-lived sitcom, Powerless.
More recently, Pudi can be heard voicing Huey in DuckTales, a role he first obtained in 2017. The actor also voices the role of Tiny in Netflix’s animated series, Harvey Girls Forever. Pudi finished off the decade with movie roles in Good Girls Get High and Babysplitters before attaining another steady gig in Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet. Pudi stars as Brad Bakshi in the video game workplace series created by It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia vets Charlie Day and Rob McElhenney. Other than that, Pudi has voiced Sanjeev Joshi in the Disney Junior series, Mira, Royal Detective, which debuted in March.
Next up, the former Community star will be seen in The Argument, a drama film directed by Robert Schwartzman set to release in September. Pudi will be portraying a character named Brett among a cast that also includes Maggie Q, Tyler James Williams, Dan Fogler, and Emma Bell. The actor will then star as Miller in the upcoming Disney+ adaptation of Flora & Ulysses, which also involves Alyson Hannigan and Ben Schwartz. For fans of Mythic Quest, Pudi is expected to appear in the show’s second season when the show returns in the near future.
