Aasif Mandvi Says Fatherhood ‘Changed Me Fundamentally’

Actor shares how his life and career priorities have shifted in his 50s

Linda Childers,

AARP

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Published May 15, 2024

Aasif Mandvi against red ombre background

AARP (Brian Feinzimer/Getty Images)

Aasif Mandvi, 58, has made a career out of writing smart, comedic material and playing roles that challenge cultural stereotypes facing many Muslim Americans. The actor says his role as tech expert Ben Shakir on the Paramount+ series Evil has been especially rewarding, because Ben “gets to be intelligent, funny — and more importantly for me, he gets to be physical and sexual. He’s energetically planted in the earth and inhabits a kind of visceral masculinity that brown actors don’t often get to play.” Mandvi shares with AARP the work he’s most proud of and what he’s planning for the future, plus the one role that changed his life completely: becoming a father at age 54.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Has working on Evil altered your beliefs on the supernatural?

I’m probably a little bit more of a skeptic than my character Ben. He’s more confident of his scientific base of everything and has a sort of empiricist kind of viewpoint. I do believe in spirituality and something in terms of cosmic consciousness.

You’ve had such a diverse career. What piece of work are you most proud of?

At this point, I’m most proud of the play Sakina’s Restaurant that I wrote and starred in off-Broadway. We partnered with Audible to do a revival of the show in 2018. I’m also incredibly proud of starring in Today’s Special, a movie inspired by Sakina’s Restaurant. These are roles where I’ve been able to show different facets of myself, working as both writer and actor.

How did you come up with the idea for your web series, Halal in the Family?

I was approached by an organization to do some work to combat Islamophobia in the U.S. I’d done a piece on The Daily Show with Miles Kahn, the producer, about a fake sitcom kind of thing, and we decided to expand on that idea and turn it into an actual parody sitcom about a Muslim American family. We made multiple episodes that addressed phobias, social and cultural issues — and the web series is also really funny. I’m proud to have won a Peabody award for Halal in the Family. The show got millions of impressions, and we learned people were hungry for that kind of content. The series inspired conversations about topics that can be difficult to talk about such as hate groups and media bias. While the series originally launched on Funny or Die, it’s now available on YouTube.

What’s next for you?

I’d really like to direct. As a storyteller, I’ve written and produced films and TV, so I think moving into a producer/director role will allow me the opportunity to work on more of the kinds of stories I’d like to tell. As a brown, South Asian actor, and somebody who’s been in this business for a long time, we’re at a point now where there’s a space to tell more diverse stories. I love acting, and I’ll always continue with that.

How do you like to unwind when you’re not working?

These days, with a 4-year-old son [with wife, Shaifali Puri], there’s little time to unwind. But when I’m not acting, writing or taking on the impossible task of being the world’s number one dad, I watch movies, go to the theater when I can, and work out. I also spend way too much time going down YouTube rabbit holes that involve anything related to alien visitations, past lives, the Beatles, Bee Gees, Oasis or any music from the ’70s. I also watch The Graham Norton Show, The Jonathan Ross Show and old episodes of The Dick Cavett Show.

How has becoming a dad later in life changed you?

Oh, it’s changed me fundamentally. I think becoming a parent is one of the most transforming things you can do in life. I spent most of my life interested in my career and achieving glory, fame and success, and then after becoming a parent — especially an older parent — my priorities shifted. I don’t think about myself as much anymore. It’s all about my son, Ishan, and it’s been one of the most joyful experiences I’ve ever had. Becoming a parent has taught me about growth as a human and how to not only be a better person but the kind of person I want to see reflected in him. It can be hard sometimes, because a 4-year-old is very observant. Just today, I went down to the basement with a plate of food to work on something, and my son said, “Daddy, are you going to the basement with your lunch? That’s a no-no. Don’t do that.” I realized he was right and that I shouldn’t be eating in a dirty basement. My son watches and absorbs everything.

How have your other priorities changed as you’ve gotten older?

It’s more important to me now, as an artist, to do work I care about, with people I respect, and to balance work with projects that feed my soul creatively. I’ve been very fortunate in that the work I’ve done on Evil, The Daily Show and other projects has allowed me to collaborate with creative people I really respect and admire. The Daily Show was a place where I got to do some really interesting work alongside some funny, smart and incredibly talented people who were at the top of their game and helped push me further as an artist.

What are you doing to stay physically fit and mentally sharp?

I work out as much as I can. I try not to eat junk food. And I have a very smart wife, Shaifali, who went to law school … and so I argue with her.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

If you don’t risk failure, you may always be good enough, but if you want to be great, you have to embrace failure and make it your friend.

Lena Hall, Mike Colter and Aasif Mandvi in a still from 'Evil'

Mandvi stars as paranormal investigator Ben Shakir on the Paramount+ show 'Evil.'

Elizabeth Fisher/Paramount+

Aasif Mandvi Shares His Favorite Acting Roles

Sakina’s Restaurant: “In this one-man show, I play six male and female characters who inhabit an Indian restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The show premiered in 1998 in New York City and was the first play about the South Asian immigrant experience to be produced on or off-Broadway. It received two Obie Awards and in 1999 returned for a 20th anniversary revival in New York City. It’s now available on Audible.”

Disgraced: “In 2012, I performed the lead role of Amir Kapoor, a Pakistani American lawyer, in this play held at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Playwright Ayad Akhtar won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Disgraced, and I consider it to be one of the best written and most provocative roles for a South Asian actor on the American stage.”

A Series of Unfortunate Events: “In this Netflix show, which ran from 2017 to 2019, I starred as Uncle Monty. I chewed up the scenery, wore a fancy giant mustache, spoke with a posh English accent and handled a python. Nuff said.”

Evil: “Out of all my television work, playing the role of Ben on Evil allowed me to really grow with a character over time. The writing on the show is so good, and Ben gets to travel a journey from certainty to uncertainty and then back again, which has been a lot of fun. Portraying Ben is also a departure from the kind of highly cerebral or purely comic relief roles we often see brown men playing on television.”

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Linda Childers has written for a number of media outlets including Costco Connection, O, U.S. News and World Report, The Washington Post and Woman’s Day. She lives in California with her family and rescue dog.

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