Nikhil Pai is an actor, director, and educator whose career spans from classical and contemporary theater to television and film to immersive performance to voice over.
He was most recently seen on stage in Theatre Movement Bazaar’s Tiny Little Town, a new musical adapted from Gogol’s The Government Inspector (playing Kevin Konner née Khlestakov). This production just toured in the UK at the Greenwich Theatre in London and the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it won the “Mervyn Stutter’s Spirit of the Fringe Award” as well as the “Special Commendation Best Musical Award” from Musical Theatre Review. More locally, he starred as Dave Riley in the International City Theatre’s – Scenies “Outstanding Production of a Comedy” and “Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy” winner - The Outsider.
Nikhil has been a company member of LA’s premier classical theater company, Independent Shakespeare Co. since 2010, and in that time has worn many hats – directing Noël Coward’s Private Lives, playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Arnold in the West Coast premiere of The Snow Geese, among others, and serving on the company’s Board of Directors from 2018-2024.
He is also a frequent collaborator with the immersive performance company, The Speakeasy Society, playing Jacob Marley in Ebenezer!, F. Scott Fitzgerald in Wild, and Tik Tok in their episodic series The Kansas Collection.
He has made appearances in the wildly popular television shows Westworld, Grace and Frankie, The Morning Show, Superstore, Castle, and Selfie, among others. His film credits include Miss Stevens, Straight Up, and Hollywood Stargirl. He has also lent his voice to the award-winning CurtCo Media narrative podcast, Solar.
Nikhil teaches Acting in the CalArts School of Theater. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts and Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his Master of Fine Arts in Acting from CalArts.
