Adhir Kalyan in Aliens in America
His name may never have had a household ring to it, but actor Adhir Kalyan was set to make an impression with viewers one way or another with his leading role in “Aliens in America” (CW, 2007- ), playing Raja, a Pakistani Muslim exchange student trying to fit in at his small Wisconsin town. Kalyan, who is of Indian descent, was born in 1984 and raised in Durban, South Africa. He began acting onstage in South African theater in productions of “Macbeth,” “Oliver” and even “A Christmas Carol” before moving to London to continue to acting.
For his part, Adhir Kalyan narrated how fortuitous, if not, circuitous, his route to stardom was.
“I was born and raised in South Africa,” Kalyan revealed. In 2005, I moved across to London to further my acting career. Last year, I got an audition for this show out of London. The producers had looked to cast this show here in the U.S. and Canada but the pool of actors of Indian descent is not huge, so they went across to London and fortunately for me, I was cast in the role.”