Kayvan Novak

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Kayvan Novak
کیوان نواک
Born (1978-11-23) 23 November 1978
Cricklewood, London, England
Medium Television, film
Years active 2002–present
Genres Character comedy, satire, sketch comedy
Subject(s) Practical joke

Kayvan Novak (Persian: کیوان نوک‎; born 23 November 1978) is an English[1] actor, voice artist,[2] and comedian of Iranian descent.[1] He is best known for creating and starring in the TV show Fonejacker from 2006 to 2007 and a one-off in 2012 (for which he won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Comedy Performance in 2007), creating and starring in the spin-off series Facejacker from 2010 to present, and his role as Waj in the 2010 British comedy Four Lions.

Early life

Novak was born in Cricklewood, North London. He was privately educated at Highgate School.[3]

Career

Novak initially appeared as an extra 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 was available 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 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.[6] He also appeared in the 2010 British comedy Four Lions, in which he played the dim-witted Waj, a role for which he was 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.[7] 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.[8]

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. Novak also lent his vocals to British band Beady Eye's 2013 single Flick of the Finger.[9]

He performed in "Skins Fire" (Skins season 7) as Effy's boss. He voiced Handles the Cyberman in the Doctor Who 2013 Christmas special, "The Time of the Doctor", Matt Smith's last appearance as the Eleventh Doctor.[10]

He will voice the character of Brains in the upcoming CGI/Animated ITV show Thunderbirds Are Go!, due to air in 2015.[11]

Personal life

Novak is a fan of Liverpool Football Club due to his uncle being a fan.[3] His favourite musician is Nadine Shah.[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 October 2008 interview for The Guardian, last accessed 5 June 2011
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kadivar, Darius Syriana breaks Iranian stereotypes, Persian Mirror, last accessed 3 August 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "kayvan-novak.co.tv". kayvan-novak.co.tv. Retrieved 2014-01-28. 
  4. ↑ Comedy Lab, Channel 4, last accessed 3 August 2007.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 International Business Times, last accessed 2 July 2011.
  6. ↑ , last accessed 1 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "British Comedy Awards 2010". The BCA. Retrieved 28 January 2011. 
  8. ↑ metrowebukmetro (2012-11-08). "'Exciting' Facejacker movie in the pipeline, reveals star Kayvan Novak". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-28. 
  9. ↑ "Beady Eye Interview". Shortlist.com. Retrieved 2014-01-28. 
  10. ↑ "BBC One - Doctor Who, The Time of the Doctor". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-28. 
  11. ↑ John Plunkett (2013-09-30). "Thunderbirds are Go! blends old and new for return of classic series". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-01-28. 
  12. ↑ "Who the hell is...Nadine Shah?". Time Out London. Retrieved 2012-12-01. 

External links

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