A biography for Kayvan Novakhasn’t been written yet.
“The more channels putting money into quality programming the better.”
“When I was 18 years old, I had a Saturday job working in a clothing store on London's Bond Street. I would fold T-shirts for ten hours at a time and get paid £19 for the privilege.”
“Being funny was something I was doing before I understood what that even was. Now I'm making a career out of it.”
“People say they don't want to call a call-centre in India. Why not? They're doing the same job - you just don't like Indians.”
“I can't really walk down the street as Brian Badonde without someone going, 'Bwark.'”
“The biggest mistake you can make with a prank show is remove the 'real' element, which is the funniest thing.”
“I think it's always difficult to get a show on telly, whether you're George Clooney or just starting out. But there's room. If you're into it, chase it. You'll get it.”
“Stanley Tucci is a classy actor, and Ian Holm is very short but equally classy - and both are also amazing.”
“I had a niche. And my niche was that I was brown. So it's like, 'Great, I get to go up for all these 'brown parts.'' I call them 'brown parts' because that's what they are. That's not to be resentful, because I loved playing those parts - I got to meet so many cool actors.”
“I want to be James Bond! I don't want to be Doctor Who.”
“My characters are much more famous than I am, so I don't crave attention; I just crave working and doing good work. Having a feeling of self-worth.”
“I'm Iranian, which means I feel that I have more right to take off other races and religions, being an 'ethnic' myself. But it's a mythical character, the Fonejacker, and it's all tongue in cheek.”
“I think I've exhausted all my options in the U.K., unless I become a game show host.”
“You don't read many positive things about Iran in the press, which is depressing, but when I go back to my grandparents' house in the hills, and I'm sitting by the pool, sipping a bootleg Turkish beer, watching a pirate DVD, eating my grandma's cooking... you realise there is a real bridge between politics and country and people.”
“I miss watching TV and thinking they were all real. I used to feel like that about 'Neighbours.'”
“'MasterChef' is pretty good.”
“Getting expelled from secondary school and going to a more arty-farty college gave me the incentive to perform and opened some doors.”
“When I wind someone up, it's never to make them feel angry or aggressive; that doesn't make good telly. It's about uncovering a layer of themselves that is kind of sweet and nice.”
“Character building is one of my favourite things to do.”
“I enjoyed school until the age of 13 - I loved my teachers, my friends. Then, suddenly, you get thrown into a boys' school, and the ecosystem changed, and I wasn't sure where I fitted in. I was still always the clown, but I wasn't inspired, I guess.”