1. Overview
Rahul Kohli is an English actor widely recognized for his prominent roles across television series, films, and video games. He gained significant recognition for his portrayal of Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti in the supernatural procedural crime drama iZombie (2015-2019). His career trajectory has seen him take on diverse characters in various genres, including horror, drama, and animation, establishing him as a notable figure in both live-action and voice acting. His collaborations with acclaimed director Mike Flanagan on series like The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021), and The Fall of the House of Usher (2023) have further solidified his public profile.
2. Early life and education
Rahul Kohli's personal background is rooted in a diverse family heritage, and his educational journey laid the foundation for his acting career.
2.1. Early life and family background
Kohli was born on November 13, 1985, in England, specifically in Northwest London. He is the son of Indian immigrant parents. His mother was raised in Thailand, while his father spent his early years in Kenya. Notably, two of his grandparents were born in parts of British India that now constitute modern-day Pakistan. His parents are of Punjabi descent and practice Hinduism.
2.2. Education
Kohli attended Northolt High School. Following his secondary education, he enrolled at Uxbridge College to pursue studies in media. In 2006, he further honed his craft by training with the esteemed Questors Theatre company, which provided him with initial professional acting training.
3. Career
Rahul Kohli's professional acting career spans a variety of mediums, with significant contributions to television, film, and video game voice acting, where he has taken on key roles that have defined his public profile.
3.1. Television
Kohli's breakthrough role came in the television series iZombie, where he was cast as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti, a lead character, from 2015 to 2019. He appeared in all 71 episodes of the show, which significantly raised his public profile. Following this, he had a recurring role as Jack Spheer in Supergirl from 2017 to 2019, appearing in two episodes across its second and fifth seasons.
He lent his voice to the animated series Harley Quinn from 2019 to 2020, portraying Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow across five episodes. In 2020, he voiced Aarush Cheena in five episodes of The Rocketeer.
A significant turning point in his career was his collaboration with director Mike Flanagan. Kohli starred as Owen Sharma in The Haunting of Bly Manor, a Netflix horror drama miniseries released in October 2020. He continued his work with Flanagan, starring as Sheriff Hassan Shabazz in Midnight Mass, a supernatural horror miniseries released in September 2021. In 2022, he appeared as Vincent Beggs in the episode "See You Later" of Flanagan's series The Midnight Club. His most recent collaboration with Flanagan was in the 2023 miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher, where he played Napoleon Usher. In 2024, he took on a main role as Sunil Bhandari in Death and Other Details and a voice role as Egill in Twilight of the Gods.
3.2. Film
Kohli's film career includes both feature and short films. His early work included short films such as The Vacancy (2007) as Tom, Alone Together (2011) as Ahmad, and I'll Be Home Soon (2014) as Wasim. In 2016, he appeared as Dev in Gangsters Gamblers Geezers. He gained further cinematic exposure with the 2018 film Happy Anniversary, where he played the character Ed. In 2022, he starred as Teddy in Next Exit. His upcoming film role includes Bri in The Life of Chuck, slated for release in 2024.
3.3. Video game voice acting
Kohli has established a notable presence as a voice actor in the video game industry. In 2019, he voiced Garcia the Gregarious in Rage 2 and Fahz Chutani in Gears 5. He joined the popular battle royale game Fortnite in 2021, voicing The Origin in Chapter 3. In 2022, he provided the voice for Tobin in Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. His 2023 roles include Malum Caedo in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun and the Minotaur in Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical. He also voiced Rupinder "Roops" Kapoor in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023). Looking ahead, he is set to voice Arjun Devraj in the 2026 video game Saros.
4. Personal life
In July 2018, Rahul Kohli announced his engagement to Yasmin Molloy, though this engagement was privately ended at a later time. Kohli has since confirmed he is dating video game writer Alanah Pearce, having appeared in her streams and streamed himself from her apartment.
Outside of his acting career, Kohli is known for his strong support for the football team Liverpool F.C. He is also an avid gamer and is known for being a heavy user of Twitter. His passion for gaming led him to appear as a guest presenter at The Game Awards 2022, where he announced an award-winning game.
Kohli has publicly discussed his personal stance on pronouns. After reading a GLAAD guide on how to be an ally to transgender people, he began using both "he/him" and "they/them" pronouns for himself. He clarified that while he is cisgender and not non-binary, he adopted this practice to help normalize the use of "they/them" pronouns more generally.
5. Filmography
This section provides a comprehensive listing of Rahul Kohli's acting credits across film, television, and video games.
5.1. Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Vacancy | Tom | Short film |
| 2011 | Alone Together | Ahmad | Short film |
| 2014 | I'll Be Home Soon | Wasim | Short film |
| 2016 | Gangsters Gamblers Geezers | Dev | |
| 2018 | Happy Anniversary | Ed | |
| 2022 | Next Exit | Teddy | |
| 2024 | The Life of Chuck | Bri |
5.2. Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | My Holiday Hostage Hell | Navi | Episode: "West Papau" |
| 2012 | Holby City | Cal Nelson | Episode: "Blood Money" |
| 2013 | EastEnders | Manager | 1 episode |
| 2015-2019 | iZombie | Ravi Chakrabarti | Main role |
| 2016 | Red vs. Blue | Male Tex (voice) | Episode: "Get Bent" |
| 2017-2019 | Supergirl | Jack Spheer | 2 episodes (Season 2, Episode 18; Season 5, Episode 6) |
| 2019-2020 | Harley Quinn | Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2020 | The Rocketeer | Aarush Cheena (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2020 | The Haunting of Bly Manor | Owen Sharma | Miniseries; Main cast |
| 2021 | Midnight Mass | Sheriff Hassan | Miniseries; Main cast |
| 2022 | The Midnight Club | Vincent Beggs | Episode: "See You Later" (Episode 5) |
| 2023 | The Fall of the House of Usher | Napoleon Usher | Miniseries; Main cast |
| 2024 | Death and Other Details | Sunil Bhandari | Main role |
| 2024 | Twilight of the Gods | Egill | Voice role |
5.3. Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Rage 2 | Garcia the Gregarious | |
| 2019 | Gears 5 | Fahz Chutani | |
| 2021 | Fortnite | The Origin | Chapter 3 |
| 2022 | Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed | Tobin | |
| 2023 | Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun | Malum Caedo | |
| 2023 | Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical | Minotaur | |
| 2023 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III | Rupinder "Roops" Kapoor | |
| 2026 | Saros | Arjun Devraj |