A classically trained actor, Anil Kumar was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in Kent Ohio. He holds a BA in Psychology from Kent State University and earned an MFA from the Professional Actor Training Program at Rutgers University under the tutelage of William Esper, Maggie Flanningan, Leonard Petit, Pierre Lefevre, and Lloyd Williamson. Kumar has numerous television credits including leading, recurring and guest starring roles on The Cape as Ruvi the Mesmerist, Life, Nip/Tuck, K-Ville, E-ring, Inconceivable, Six Feet Under, 24 as the sinister Khalil Hasan, JAG, ER, Miss Match, The Agency, Traffic, Law & Order: SVU and Oz. Film credits include The 5 written and directed by Ravi Kapoor, The Ode written by Ghalib Dhalla and produced by Bharat Shah, Pride and Glory written and directed by Gavin O’Connor, The Two Faces of Janus, Westbank Brooklyn, Marmalade, Story of a Bad Boy, The Karaoke King and the cult hit American Desi. Anil is currently guest starring this season of Revenge for ABC. Kumar has performed on stage in almost every major city in the United States. His NYC stage debut was alongside Alec Baldwin, Angela Basset and Liev Schreiber in the Public Theater’s production of Macbeth directed by George C. Wolfe. While in New York he collaborated with the likes of Terrance McNally, Joseph Chaikin, Joe Mantello and Lynne Meadow. Anil originated the role of Mohamed and enjoyed an over two-and-a-half year run in Manhattan Theater Club’s production of Charles Busch’s smash Broadway hit The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, alongside Valerie Harper, Linda Lavin, Michele Lee and Tony Roberts. Anil also originated the role of Vincent in the world premiere of Harry Kondolean’s Saved or Destroyed at the Cleveland Public. He co-starred in the US premiere of Tom Stoppard’s Indian Ink at ACT in San Francisco directed by Carey Perloff. Anil originated leading roles and produced several critically acclaimed world premier plays in NYC and LA as a founding member of East 4th Street Productions: Backseats and Bathroom Stalls (Love Sucks), What’s Wrong with Getting Laid?, as well as co-creating and writing The Dairy Farm: Land of Milk and Hunnies. In 2011 Love Sucks enjoyed an over 16 week run playing to sold out houses at The Coast Playhouse in West Hollywood. Anil is currently working on his first solo play: Rise and Shine: a semi-autobiographical cautionary tale. It will soon premiere in Los Angeles directed by Reena Dutt with musical direction by Samrat Chakrabarti. Anil also serves on the Board of Directors for the elementary school dance program Ballroom Madness. An organization that implements a dynamic dance program that develops creative potential, sets a foundation of respect, teamwork, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment for every student one step at a time, Ballroom Madness teaches thousands of students every year throughout Los Angeles. He has written three children’s books (My Dog Fred, I Had a Dog Named Mac and The Grateful DOODS) with his sister-in-law, illustrator and collaborator Heather Valenzuela. Anil is also an avid snowboarder, a Pisces and plays the guitar very poorly.
Anil Kumar
Movies
Dum Laga Ke Haisha
It is the 1990s, the tape-cassette is dying, CDs will soon be the rage and a regular arranged marriage will turn out to be a perfect mismatch. Prem (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a shy music buff who runs a tape recording shop in Haridwar. Sandhya (Bhumi Pednekar) likes to dance to…
Gabbar Is Back
Gabbar Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar) creates his own vigilante military network called the Anti-Corruption Force (ACF) that eliminates the most corrupt individuals, from all walks of life, in a systematic manner. As pressure builds on Police and Government to track down the man who masterminds these killings, CBI Officer Kuldeep…
Half Ticket
It is the story of a kind-hearted playful young man (Vijay). Unable to withstand his pranks his father drives him out of his home. He goes about his life doing odd jobs but never lasts longer than few days in one place. He meets a girl with dreamy eyes (Rajini)…
Fun Facts
Currently: Playing Mohammed, the doorman who comes to the aid of Marjorie, a doyenne in crisis, in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife. [January 2006]