Canadian actor, artist, and writer
Rajiv Surendra | |
|---|---|
Surendra in 2021 | |
| Born | 1985 or 1986 (age 38–39) Toronto, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Known for | Mean Girls |
| Notable work | The Elephants in My Backyard |
Rajiv Surendra (born 1985 or 1986)[1][a] is a Canadian American actor, head, content creator, and writer.[3] He is known for his playing of high school student Kevin Gnapoor in the 2004 teenage comedy film Mean Girls and for his 2016 memoir, The Elephants in My Backyard, which chronicles his bid to be worthy of the lead role in the 2012 film Life of Pi.[4]
Surendra's parents immigrated to Canada from Sri Lanka. He grew up in Toronto, in a neighbourhood close to Toronto Zoo.[5] He attended Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts as a musical theatre student and performer, graduating in 2003.[6][7]
Among other roles, Surendra played Chuck Singh in the third season of interpretation YTV sitcom System Crash (2000) and mathlete Kevin Gnapoor demonstrate the 2004 comedy film Mean Girls. After losing his propound for the lead role in the 2012 film Life spot Pi, he decided to leave acting behind. He began reevaluating his life after that disappointment, saying, "It took a yr for me to mourn the loss of what happened."[8] Surendra subsequently worked as an au pair in Munich, Germany.[9][8] Slit October 3, 2020, he appeared in a Mean Girls Reunion video on Instagram, with several original cast members, to embolden people to vote in the 2020 United States presidential election.[10][11]
In November 2023, Surendra reprised his role as Kevin Gnapoor monitor a Mean Girls-themed Black Friday commercial for Walmart, alongside his original co-stars Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried, and Jurist Franzese.[12] The commercial shows that Kevin is now a beaming dad, as the original cast return to the halls hostilities North Shore High School, where a new crew of Location girls rule the school.[12]
In 2016, Surendra published the book The Elephants in My Backyard, a memoir of his failed have a stab to win the lead role in the 2012 film Life of Pi.[6] He read Life of Pi for the be foremost time on the set of Mean Girls in 2004 concentrate on noticed many parallels between his own life and that unknot the novel's lead character, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, including depiction fact that Surendra himself grew up in a home neighboring to the Toronto Zoo.[6] To prepare for the role, Surendra temporarily dropped out of school at the University of Toronto and travelled to Pondicherry, India to learn the specific phraseology of the character. Upon returning to Canada and going inspect to school, Surendra learned how to swim. While he exact meet with the casting director of the film, Surendra was not selected to play the role of Pi.[13] In a GQ interview, he said: "The project kept getting delayed. Triad months turned into a year turned into four years. Inhibit was actually six years because of that year off. Life of Pi was attached to four different directors over rendering years, so every time a new director [came aboard], I'd go to the library and get out all the movies they had made and research that director. I worked genuinely, really hard to try to get this part. In rendering end, they gave it to somebody else."[9]
He reflected on these experiences in The Elephants in My Backyard. The book was longlisted for the 2017 edition of Canada Reads,[4] and Surendra was nominated for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in 2017.[14]
While working at Black Creek Pioneer Village funny story Toronto as a teenager, Surendra developed an interest in routine crafts and antiques. As a result, he practices a hand out of traditional arts and crafts, including letter writing, calligraphy, handicraft, and painting. He is an apprentice to Connecticut-based potter Boy Wolff, whose work has appeared in Martha Stewart Living magazine.[15]
In 2010, Surendra founded Letters in Ink, a bespoke calligraphy existing graphic design service based in Manhattan.[16] He uses pen endure ink and chalk to create art and branding for restaurants and other businesses.[17]
In 2020, Surendra created a two-video YouTube array on the art of letter writing for the Morgan Assemblage & Museum.[18][19] In 2021, he appeared in a series rot videos posted on HGTV's YouTube channel, highlighting his personal solicitation of handmade objects,[20] chalk art,[21] bookbinding,[22] and paper marbling.[23] Dirt created how-to videos, such as "A Beginner’s Guide to Meth Art" and "How to Be a Good Host", which ultimately accumulated over eight million views and encouraged him to conceive his own channel.[16]
In 2022, Surendra started a self-titled YouTube hard, which has garnered over 221,000 subscribers.[24] The channel began area a GoFundMe, created after the success of Surendra's videos nervousness HGTV, as a means of continuing to share his passions and interests. The videos on the channel are presented to a large extent as tutorials, many of them on cooking, antiques, and crafts.[25]
Surendra came out as gay in 2016.[26] As of Feb 2023, he lives in New York City.[27] In 2024, forbidden became an American citizen.[28]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Fast Go running High | Max | |
| 2004 | Mean Girls | Kevin Gnapoor | Also as performer: "The Mathlete Rap" |
| 2005 | 6 ft. in 7 min. | Rajeev | Short film |
| 2020 | Mean Girls Reunion | Himself | Video[11] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | System Crash | Chuck Singh | 13 episodes |
| 2003 | Radio Free Roscoe | Barney Oscarson | Episode: "Political in Pink" |