Background:

Ravi Patel is an American actor who is of East Indian descent. He is known for his appearances on the films “Transformers” (2007), “Powder Blue” (2009) and “Five” (2011) and has played regular roles The CW's  “Easy Money” (2008) and “Past Life” (2010) as well as recurring roles on “Look” (2010) and “The New Normal” (2012). With his sister Geeta Patel, he is co-directing the documentary “One in a Billion” (2012).   


Investment Banker

Childhood and Family:

Ravi Patel was born on December 18, 1978, in Freeport, Illinois. He majored in Economics and International Studies at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and got his degree in 2001. During his last year in college, Ravi worked as a broker. He turned to be an investment banker directly afterward. He later trained with improv schools The Groundlings and the Upright Citizens Brigade. Ravi's sister, Geeta Patel, is a writer and director.


Powder Blue

Career:

An ex-investment banker, Ravi Patel established the well known poker magazine “All In” before pursuing a career as an actor in 2004. After perfecting his comic craft with The Groundlings and the Upright Citizens Brigade, he landed his first film role opposite Cricket Leigh, Kat Turner and John McGarr in the indie comedy “The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down” (2006), which won five independent film awards premiered at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival. There he played the role of Rajeev. The same year, Patel appeared as lawyer in the episode “The Gang Goes Jihad” of the FX popular sitcom “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and co-starred with Thomas Alan Beckett, Gino Burman-Loffredo and Sara Erikson in the TV film comedy “After Midnight: Life Behind Bars.” He continued to appear in a TV series pilot called “The World According to Barnes” (2007), where he starred as Nasser, guest star in “Scrubs” (2007) and play a small role as telephone operator in Michael Bay's science action hit movie “Transformers” (2007), based on the Transformers toy line.

Patel played the role of George Patil on the short lived comedy/drama series “Easy Money,” which premiered on The CW on October 5, 2008. In 2009, he had various roles on the comedy show “Static.” Around 2008-2009, Patel also appeared in some several films, like Geo Santini's “Hotel California” (2008),starring  Erik Palladino, Tyson Beckford and Simon Rex, the short “Happy Wednesday” (2008), where he starred as Ravi Saldana, “Powder Blue” (2009), starring Jessica Biel, Eddie Redmayne and Forest Whitaker, the comedy short “Bent” (2009), opposite David Walton and Majandra Delfino, and Jon Weinberg in Jonathan W. Stokes's “The Last Hurrah” (2009). His voice could be heard as Art of Indian Business in the short “The Indian and the Samurai” (2009). The actor also graced TV films in “Squeegees” (2008) and “Precious Meadows” (2008).    

In 2010, Patel landed the regular role of Dr. Rishi Karna in the police procedural series “Past Life,” opposite Kelli Giddish, Nicholas Bishop and Richard Schiff. Debuted on Fox on February 9, 2010, the show was axed after three episodes aired because of rapidly declining ratings. The network later aired the remaining episodes but left the final two episodes unaired. He played the role of Vinnay in three episodes of “Look” (2010), which was written by Adam Rifkin, and starred with Rachael Leigh Cook in a Fox sitcom pilot, “Nevermind Nirvana” (2010). The same year, he co-starred opposite Kate Albrecht, Zack Bennett and Janina Gavankar in the Jonathan W. Stokes comedy film “Men, Interrupted.” 2011 saw the actor appear in such films as “My Freakin' Family” (TV), “Have I Shared Too Much?” (short), “Five” (TV) as well as episodes of “Outsourced” and “Svetlana.” Besides, he appeared in the TV show “Game for Gamers,” with Jareb Dauplaise, Taryn Southern and Megan Stevenson.

Recently, in 2012, Patel guest starred as Poorab Sangani in the “Bones” episode “The Don't in the Do,” and as Dr. Harvey Kapoor in the episode “Messenger” of “Perception.” He also appeared in three episodes of “The New Normal,” as Amir. Patel also appeared in the made for TV film “Family Trap,”  with Mandy Moore, and the short film “...Or Die.”

Patel is co-directing with his sister Geeta Patel the documentary film “One in a Billion,” which is in post-production.

Patel has completed filming the small role of Wick in the upcoming comedy film “Get a Job,” which is set to be released in 2013. The film will star Anna Kendrick, Bryan Cranston and Alison Brie.        


Awards:

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