Kathreen Aziz Khavari (Persian: کاترین خاوری;) is an American actress, writer, and producer who first gained attention[2] when her sketch Brain of Terror, in which she played eleven different characters, went viral after it was featured on Upworthy.[3] She is best known for her role as Patricia on HBO's Insecure, Samantha on HBO's Big Little Lies, and for voicing Ms. Marvel in various Marvel Entertainment animated series and video games.[4][5][6]
Kathreen Khavari | |
|---|---|
 Khavari at the 2019 WonderCon | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, writer, producer, voice actress |
Early life
editKhavari was born and raised in Oakland, California to Iranian immigrant parents. After graduating from Skyline High School, she attended the University of California, Berkeley, studying public health, then later earned a Master's degree from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in Control of Infectious Diseases.[1]
Career
editKhavari realized her childhood passion of acting was unwavering, and upon returning home from London, she took small acting jobs while working in the public health field.[7] She made her off-Broadway debut in “You Are Dead, You Are Here” at the Here Arts Center in New York. [8]
In response to Donald Trump's "Muslim Ban", Khavari made headlines at the premier of Big Little Lies when she wore a dress that read "My Iranian Immigrant Mother Teaches Your Kids How to Read".[9][10][11][12][13]
Khavari's satirical sketches, which she posted to her YouTube channel Brain of Terror, touched on various social justice issues including gun control, Islamophobia, women's reproductive rights, and police brutality against black men in America.[14][15]
She voiced Ms. Marvel aka Kamala Khan in numerous Marvel animations including Avengers Assemble, Marvel Rising, and Black Panther’s Quest.[16]
Khavari and her writing partner, Chuck Neal, launched their podcast, Strongly Worded where they do dramatic readings of strongly worded written exchanges that their guests have engaged in. [17]
In 2022, she was the voice of Badyah Hassan in the Netflix animated series Dead End: Paranormal Park. She was also announced as the voice of a new Transformers robot, Twitch, in the Nickelodeon series Transformers: EarthSpark.
Khavari’s Oakland-based pilot, Embrace, debuted at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in their Indie Episodic category.[18][19] The pilot also won the Episodic Pilot Competition Jury Award at SXSW.[20] The judges stated that it won "for its originality of voice, its depiction of characters and relationships that are both enigmatic and appealing, as well as telling an absorbing story in a world unseen on television at the moment."[21]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Mascots | Bosphorus Cooper | Christopher Guest |
| 2020 | The Night | Elahe | Kourosh Ahari |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Love Bites | Young Lawyer | Episode: "Firsts" |
| 2011 | Blue Bloods | Alya Demir | Episode: "Thanksgiving"; uncredited |
| 2013 | Famous Farrah | Farrah Satrapi/"Dorian Plague" | Main role |
| 2016–2018 | Avengers Assemble | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan (voice) | Recurring role[22] |
| 2016–2018 | Insecure | Patricia | Recurring role |
| 2017 | Big Little Lies | Samantha | Recurring role |
| 2017 | Ginger Snaps | Cheerleader #1 (voice) | Recurring role |
| 2017 | Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! | Zara (voice) | Episode: "Protein Titans 2"[22] |
| 2017–2018 | Marvel Future Avengers | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan, Muneeba Khan (voice) | Recurring role, English dub[22] |
| 2018 | Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters | Young Riya Dashti, Riya's Aunt, Mrs. Rook (voice) | 2 episodes[22] |
| 2018 | Marvel Rising: Initiation | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan (voice) | Television film[22] |
| 2018 | Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan, Mom (voice) | Television film[22] |
| 2018 | Marvel Rising: Chasing Ghosts | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan (voice) | Television film[22] |
| 2018 | Spider-Man | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan, Shannon Stillwell (voice) | Recurring role[22] |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Heart of Iron | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan (voice) | Television film |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Battle of the Bands | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan (voice) | Television film |
| 2019 | Marvel Rising: Operation Shuri | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan (voice) | Television film |
| 2020 | Embrace | Co-writer (with Chuck Neal) and star | Main role |
| 2022 | Dead End: Paranormal Park | Badyah (voice) | Netflix original animated series[23] |
| 2022 | Transformers: EarthSpark | Twitch Malto, additional voices | Main role[24][22] |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Marvel Battle Lines | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan |
| 2019 | Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order | Ms. Marvel / Kamala Khan[22] |
| 2021 | Destruction AllStars | Tw!nkleR10t[22] |
References
edit- ^ a b "Episode 12: The Importance of Persistence in Acting and Business with Kathreen Khavari". TheAsianAmericanVoice.com. The Asian American Voice. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18.
- ^ King, Jamilah (January 23, 2014). "Iranian-American Actress Gets Fed Up With Hollywood's Racism". Color Lines. Race Forward. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ^ Lamour, Joseph (February 6, 2014). "This actress is having the most entertaining identity crisis I've seen in a while". Upworthy. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
- ^ "Women of Marvel Podcast Kat Khavari". Marvel.com. Marvel. Archived from the original on 2018-01-21.
- ^ Damore, Meagan (9 October 2017). "NYCC: Marvel Animation Promises More Ms. Marvel, Black Panther, Venom". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
- ^ Dietsch, TJ. "'MARVEL'S AVENGERS: ULTRON REVOLUTION' PLUNGES INTO CIVIL WAR". Marvel.com. Marvel. Archived from the original on 2017-09-17. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ Khavari, Kathreen. "Author Kathreen Khavari". Huffpost.com. Huffington Post.
- ^ "Photo Flash: First Look at YOU ARE DEAD. YOU ARE HERE., Beg. Tonight at HERE". Broadwayworld.com. Broadway World. 5 June 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ Jensen, Erin (February 8, 2017). "Reese Witherspoon, daughter Ava Phillippe are twins at Big Little Lies premiere". USA Today. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
- ^ Patel, Arti (9 February 2017). "Actress Kathreen Khavari Has A Pretty Blunt Message For Trump On Her Dress". Huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Ongley, Hannah (9 February 2017). "Actress Kathreen Khavari Wears a Bold Political Message To Her Latest Premiere". I-D.vice.com. i-D. Archived from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Fuller, Gillian (February 9, 2017). "Kathreen Khavari of Big Little Lies Wore a Scathing Anti-Trump Dress on the Red Carpet". Allure.com. Allure. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Wood, Zoe (October 14, 2017). "The fashion world speaks out: 'Without immigration, we'd be selling potato sacks'". The Guardian. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ^ Aran, Isha (September 14, 2016). "The voice of Ms. Marvel is a superhero in her own right". Splinternews.com. Splinter News. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Sayed, Kelli (November 7, 2016). "Muslim Ms. Marvel Issues Reigh of Terror". Altmuslimah.com. Alt Muslimah. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ Markus, Tucker Chet (September 6, 2018). "Kathreen Khavari Joins the Marvel's Voices Podcast". marvel.com. Marvel.
- ^ "Strongly Worded". Podcasts.Apple.com.
- ^ "Embrace". Sundance.org. Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on 2019-12-25.
- ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (February 4, 2020). "Embrace: Iranian Immigrant Dramedy Looks to Create Connection in a Divisive Time". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- ^ Roberts, Jordan (24 March 2020). "The 2020 SXSW Film Festival Announces Jury and Special Awards". SXSW. SWSX. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ Mcnary, Dave (March 24, 2020). "SXSW Film Festival Unveils 2020 Winners After Cancellation". Variety. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Kathreen Khavari (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 28, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (July 2, 2020). "Quirky, Spooky, Hilarious World of DeadEndia Coming to Netflix". Animation Magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
- ^ Petski, Denise (July 22, 2022). "Transformers: EarthSpark: Paramount+ Series Sets Voice Cast, Teaser Trailer". Deadline. Retrieved September 28, 2024.