Avan Tudor Jogia (born February 9, 1992) is a Canadian actor, singer, activist and director, perhaps best known for his role as Beck Oliver in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious (2010â€"2013), and as Danny Desai in the ABC drama television series Twisted (2013â€"2014) â€" a role which earned him nominations at the 2013 and 2014 Teen Choice Awards.
Jogia first came to prominence with his portrayal of Danny Araujo in the 2006 biographical television film A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story. After moving to the United States in his late teens, he had landed various television roles within series' such as Caprica (2009â€"2010), Victorious, Twisted, and miniseries Tut (2015). Jogia's numerous film credits both within television and cinema, include Spectacular! (2008), Finding Hope Now (2010), Rags (2012), Ten Thousand Saints (2015), and I Am Michael (2015). His directorial debut came about in 2011, with the short film Alex, which was followed by the 2016 web series Last Teenagers of the Apocalypse. Besides acting, Jogia co-founded the LGBT online organization Straight But Not Narrow in 2011, which seeks to shape the viewpoints of teenagers and adults on matters pertaining to the LGBT community.
Among Jogia's future acting roles is a rendition of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Life and career
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1992â€"2006: Early life and career beginnings
Avan Tudor Jogia was born on February 9, 1992 in Vancouver, British Columbia to Mike and Wendy Jogia. His father is a British Indian expatriate, who immigrated to Canada, and his mother is of English, Welsh and German descent. Jogia is the younger brother of Ketan, a music producer in London. Besides English, Jogia learned to speak some Gujarati and French.
Until the age of 16, Jogia was a student at Killarney Secondary School. He left school during the 10th grade in order to pursue acting full-time; at this point in time, Jogia had already amassed a number of small television credits. By the age of 17, he moved to Los Angeles, California on the trial-basis that he would land a role within a six-month period â€" or return to schooling.
Jogia has cited British actor Tim Curry as one of his early acting inspirations, particularly Curry's role as Long John Silver in the 1996 musical adventure comedy film, Muppet Treasure Island. British actor Sir Ben Kingsley is another of Jogia's inspirations; the two would later appear in the 2015 miniseries Tut, and work together on the 2016 short film Of Dogs and Men.
2006â€"2009: Minor roles in film and television
His first role came in 2006, when he portrayed Danny Araujoâ€"the younger brother of teenage transgender woman Gwen Araujoâ€"in the biographical television film A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story, directed by Agnieszka Holland. In 2007, he had a recurring role in The CW television sitcom Aliens in America as the character Sam, and also appeared in the Canadian horror television movie Devil's Diary.
Jogia next appeared in the 2008 Nickelodeon network original film Gym Teacher: The Movie, as Champ Sinclair, a role opposite Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actor Christopher Meloni. He returned to the network the following year, starring in the 2009 film Spectacular! as Tajid, alongside future Victorious co-star Victoria Justice.
2009â€"2014: Victorious, Twisted and other projects
From 2009 to 2010, Jogia had a recurring role in the television series Caprica, a spin-off of Battlestar Galactica, on Syfy. He had been cast in the role of Ben Stark in August 2008, with production of the series' pilot episode completed by the conclusion of that year. Caprica was shot in and around Vancouver, British Columbia.
In late 2009, Jogia joined the cast of Nickelodeon television program Victorious. Starring alongside Victoria Justice, Ariana Grande, and Elizabeth Gillies, Jogia played Beck Oliver, the boyfriend of Jade West (Gillies). This was the actor's first main role in a television series; a role, which lasted from the series' inception in March 2010, through to the conclusion of the fourth and final season of the show in 2013. Jogia also appeared as Oliver in the Nickelodeon film, iParty with Victorious, a Victorious crossover movie with iCarly.
Throughout his tenure on Victorious, Jogia starred in various films. In 2010, he appeared in the drama film Triple Dog, and the gang-crime film Finding Hope Now (filmed in 2009) as the lead character, Santos Delgado. Jogia later directed and starred in Alex, a short film; this marked his first project he directed. During the following year, he appeared in the 2012 Nickelodeon television movie Rags, along with Keke Palmer and Drake Bell, where Jogia portrayed Finn Covington.
Jogia was cast in the lead role of Danny Desai on the ABC Family mysteryâ€"thriller series Twisted (originally titled Socio), in October 2012. The role saw Jogia opposite main cast members Maddie Hasson and Kylie Bunbury, and supporting cast members including Denise Richards, Sam Robards and Kimberly Quinn. The series pilot was greenlighted in August 2012, and was filmed in October in New York City. In February 2013, ABC Family ordered the show as a series and production commenced in Studio City the following month, on April 3, 2013. On the themes of the series, Jogia remarked, "Twisted is similar to Pretty Little Liars in that it's about trying to find out who did it, but it's more about the human relationships between characters and the strain that things can put on them. It's also a little bit of a social commentary piece, because it covers very timely issues." The series premiered on June 11, 2013, and ran for 19 episodes; for his role as Desai, Jogia received two nominations at the 2013 and 2014 Teen Choice Awards, in the categories "Summer TV Star: Male" and "Actor: Drama", respectively. ABC Family opted not to renew Twisted for a second season, in August 2014.
2014â€"present: Tut, Ten Thousand Saints and I Am Michael
In 2014, Jogia was cast in the Spike TV miniseries, Tut, alongside English actor Sir Ben Kingsley. In the lead role of the titular Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Jogia was reunited with Twisted actress Kylie Bunbury, who portrayed Suhad â€"Tutankhamun's love interest. On the casting of Bunbury, Jogia noted that, "[i]t was cool to be able to work with someone [Bunbury] you have built-in chemistry with. Going into this situation, I had no idea what it was going to be like, so knowing I was taking this on with someone I knew really helped." The miniseries, filmed in Morocco, premiered on Spike on July 19, 2015, and concluded on July 21, 2015.
Jogia returned to cinema, after joining the cast of multiple films throughout 2014. In February of that year, Deadline reported that Jogia would star in Ten Thousand Saints, an adaption of the 2011 novel of the same name by Eleanor Henderson. Released in 2015, the film also starred Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld and Ethan Hawke. In August 2014, he landed a role in I Am Michael. Based on Benoit Denizet-Lewis' New York Times Magazine article "My Ex-Gay Friend" in 2011, the film's cast includes James Franco, Zachary Quinto and Emma Roberts, along with Jogia who portrays Nico, a gay Buddhist the protagonist (Franco) briefly falls in love with. Principal photography on the film commenced on August 11, 2014, in New York City and concluded later that month. The film was released at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, before a limited release and through video on demand in January 2017. Later in 2015, Jogia appeared as Dark in the short film, Here Now. Further in 2015, he released a trailer for a horrorâ€"thriller short film he directed, entitled Of Dogs and Men. The short film had appearances by Sir Ben Kingsley, who previously worked with Jogia on Tut.
Jogia's next credit was the 1970sâ€"based crime drama film Shangriâ€"La Suite (also known as Killing the King), together with Luke Grimes and Emily Browning. The film follows to young lovers (Grimes and Browning) who go on a journey to Los Angeles with the intent of killing Elvis Presley; Jogia starred as Teijo Littlefoot, an old friend of the protagonist (Grimes), who joins the duo's journey in search of a sex change. The film was released in late 2016. He appeared as Bones, in the 2016 web series short Last Teenagers of the Apocalypse. The four-part series, which was released on April 21, 2016, was produced and directed by Jogia. He also headlined in the 2016 thriller The Drowning (previously, Border Crossing), with Julia Stiles and Josh Charles. Adapted from Pat Barker's 2001 novel Border Crossing, Jogia portrayed the central character, Danny, who was rescued from drowning by the man (Charles) who aided his conviction for murder 12 years earlier. Jogia starred in The Drowning, a psychological thriller by director Bette Gordon (Variety), alongside Julia Stiles and Josh Charles. He plays a young man who was sentenced to prison for murder as a child, and returns to confront the psychologist whose expert witness testimony he believes was responsible for his conviction. Jogia starred in the comedy film The Outcasts, alongside lead actress Victoria Justice. He was cast in the role of Dave on May 13, 2014, and the film marks Jogia and Justice's third collaboration since the 2009 television film Spectacular!.
Upcoming projects
Future credits include The Year of Spectacular Men, a film directed by Lea Thompson. Thompson is the mother of Zoey Deutch, who also appears in the film opposite Jogia. He will portray Sebastian, the "loving boyfriend" of a movie star (Deutch). Another forthcoming project, includes A Midsummer Night's Dream, a contemporary film adaption of the comedy of the same name written by William Shakespeare. Jogia also landed a co-lead role with Eve Hewson in Rebecca Addelman’s directorial debut, Paper Year. Production on the project commenced in October 2016, with an expected release in 2017. Jogia will star in Syfy's 13-episode series titled Ghost Wars which will air Fall 2017. Production has begun in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He plays a character named Matt in the upcoming 2018 film The New Romantic, and is currently filming the 2019 expected film Shaft.
Personal life
Jogia describes himself as "spiritual", having spent months as a Buddhist, and has roots in Hinduism. Jogia maintains that he has "looked at all kinds of ways of being, because I’m curious about what it takes to be human." He is a dual citizen of Canada and the United Kingdom. Jogia has a number of tattoos; one on his chest, leg, upper leg, shoulder, back, and his lower arm. Jogia was in a relationship with actress Zoey Deutch from 2011 to 2016. The couple split amicably after almost five years together, and remain friends.
Activism
Jogia co-founded the online PSA organization Straight But Not Narrow (SBNN) in 2011, with Heather Wilk and Andre Pochon, in conjunction with the support of fellow actor, Josh Hutcherson. The non-profit organization is aimed towards changing the attitudes and viewpoints of heterosexuals about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Jogia believed, "[t]here was no one making straight youth responsible for their apathy. When you see a bully beating up a kid and you stand idle, that’s as loud, or louder, than the actual oppression", and hence established the organization.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Director
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- Avan Jogia on Twitter
- Avan Jogia on IMDb
