Shelley Malil

Shelley Malil is proud to be from the Indian state of Kerala and a Malayalee, a people known for their comedic take on life. He had dreams of becoming a comedic actor like his idol Bob Hope, whom he first saw on a neighbor's TV set--the only one in the fishing village on the southern tip of India where he was raised. He caught national attention as "Chad", one of the Budweiser "What are you doing?!" guys in Anheuser-Busch's inspired "Whassup?!" commercial spin-off. The clever send-up was voted best Super bowl commercial by a number of trade publications, magazines and entertainment commentators. Shelley first came to Hollywood in 1995, after a two-year stint at New York's famed American Academy of Dramatic Arts. With less than $1000 to his name and a phone number of a friend of a friend in his pocket, he drove his van west. He asked his mother to make him a roll-away mattress so that he would be able to sleep in his van until he could find room and board. Within three weeks of his arr