The Indian and The Samurai The Indian and The Samurai
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Jonathan Ahdout (Anil)

Jonathan Ahdout was born in Santa Monica, CA. His family is Iranian-American, having left Tehran in 1982 and settled in Southern California the following year.

Ahdout made his professional acting debut in "House of Sand and Fog" opposite Sir Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Prior to his landing the role of Esmail in "House of Sand and Fog," Ahdout's acting experience was limited to a few school plays. In addition to his role in "House of Sand and Fog", Ahdout has acted in the Fox Television series "24" for season "Day: 4", in the independent feature film "American Gun" opposite Forrest Whitaker and Marcia Gay Harden, and debuts his first comedic performance in the film "The Indian and the Samurai" by Shilpi Roy. Ahdout is now a sophomore at the USC School of Cinematic Arts studying Film and Television Production, and hopes to take up a second major in Business Administration. Ahdout is determined to create a multi-layered career, with hopes of pursuing producing and directing. He also has a strong interest in music composition and hopes to develop this talent so as to become a film scorer as well.



Shaun Parker (Eddie)

Shaun's passion is improv, having done 9 years of short form back in Wisconsin and taken classes from improv giants such as Keith Johnstone and Paul Sills. Since moving out to Los Angeles, Shaun has studied at both the Groundlings and the Upright Citizens Brigade. Last June, Shaun had one of his greatest moments in performing a piece in the longest running show of it's kind, "Mortified", hailed as a "culture phenomenon" by Newsweek. Shaun is also very proud of his 6 years volunteering for the Sundance Film Festival and 1 year volunteering at the famed Sundance Summer Labs. After,literally, hundreds of hours on stage, Shaun has been compared to the likes of Jack Black when Shaun's weight is down and Chris Farley when his weight is up. Shaun weights for the day when the next fat kid is compared to "Shaun Parker".



Viji Nathan (Manjula)

Viji Nathan started acting at age 8, and won several monoacting competitions in India at state and national levels. She was good at math and acting, so you can guess which one was encouraged in her Indian home. Acting in All India Radio plays, hundreds of stage-productions etc "as a hobby", she has guest-starred on the FOX series "The O.C.", in a CBS web-series "BBQ Bill" and in a number of feature films including "Hiding Divya" with Madhur Jaffrey. She has also appeared in a number of commercials, including one for Heineken beer that is currently playing nationally.