Amir Talai
Amir Talai is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor. He is best known for portraying Alastor in the Amazon Prime Video adult animated musical series Hazbin Hotel. He also voiced Crane in the Nickelodeon animated comedy series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, and Skidmark in the Netflix animated comedy adventure series Turbo Fast. Talai appeared in numerous television series, including portraying Abdul in the Oxygen sitcom series Campus Ladies, Cyrus in the CBS comedy-drama series The Ex List, and Alan in the Fox sitcom series LA to Vegas. He also portrayed Raza Syed in 2008 comedy film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Wendell in the 2011 teen comedy television film Best Player, Patel in 2012 romantic comedy film What to Expect When You're Expecting, Rami in the 2018 crime drama film A Patient Man, and Bill Morley in the 2024 family comedy film The Present. Talai is also a musical theatre performer.
Early life and education
Amir Talai was born on June 24, 1977, in San Francisco in California, United States, as a child of Persian immigrants from Iran. He grew up in a Muslim family. He graduated from the University of California in Berkeley, with a degree in mass communications, with a minor in dramatic arts. After graduation, he moved to West Hollywood, California.Career
Talai is an actor with numerous credits, mostly in episodic roles. He had several recurring roles including as Abdul in the Oxygen sitcom series Campus Ladies, Cyrus in the CBS comedy-drama series The Ex List, and Alan in the Fox sitcom series LA to Vegas. He also appeared in series such as American Horror Story, Bosch, The Shrink Next Door, Ghosts, and High Potential. Talai portrayed Raza Syed in 2008 comedy film Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Wendell in the 2011 teen comedy television film Best Player, Patel in 2012 romantic comedy film What to Expect When You're Expecting, Rami in the 2018 crime drama film A Patient Man, and Bill Morley in the 2024 family comedy film The Present. He also plays Haled in the upcoming 2026 independent romantic comedy film Go-Love-Go.He is best known for portraying Alastor the Radio Demon, one of the main characters in Hazbin Hotel which has aired on Amazon Prime Video since 2024. His other main roles include Crane in the Nickelodeon animated comedy series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, and Skidmarks in the Netflix animated comedy adventure series Turbo Fast. He also voiced numerous episodic and background characters in the adult animated comedy series Family Guy and American Dad!.
Talai also performs in the musical theatre, including portraying Bert Healy in the 2018 rendition of Annie at the Hollywood Bowl, directed by Michael Arden. In 2024, he also performed songs of Alastor from Hazbin Hotel at the Majestic Theatre in New York City. Additionally, the 2024 electro swing pop song "Stayed Gone", which he performed for Hazbin Hotel together with Christian Borle, was listed on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100, peaking at number eleven.
Talai was also a board member of the Los Angeles division of the SAG-AFTRA labor union. He also advocates for representation of marginalized artists and performers in media and has written articles related to the matter in publications such as BuzzFeed and Vulture.