Aasif Mandvi of The Daily Show: Not "That Kind of Muslim" (Interview w/ Cenk Uygur)

Aasif Mandvi established himself as a working actor in Hollywood in the 1990s and early 2000s appearing on TV shows like Miami Vice, CSI, Law & Order, The Sopranos and Oz. But he became a household — if often mispronounced — name after joining The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a “Senior Foreign-Looking Correspondent” in 2006.

Today Mandvi writes, produces and stars in a comedy web series poking fun at 80s sitcoms and anti-Muslim bias called “Halal in the Family” (http://halalinthefamily.tv)

In this interview, he talks with The Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur about:

- Turning down The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’s initial offer for him to audition

- Why his youth spent in the north of England helped him as an adult trying to pick up American women

- How 9/11 changed everything for American Muslims

- How “Halal in the Family” was inspired by news anchor Katie Couric

- Long-standing Muslim traditions that CELEBRATE portraits of the Prophet Muhammad

- What motivates “New Atheists” like Bill Maher and Sam Harris to generalize about Muslims

- How his acting career was inspired in equal parts by The Fonz and Omar Sharif

- Why he once told a casting agent he’d be willing to learn how to be a snake charmer

Check out episodes of “Halal in the Family” here: http://halalinthefamily.tv 

Find out all this and much more in the latest fun, funny and fascinating installment of TYT Interviews.

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