Avani Tara Dixit is an American actress, voice actress and comedian. She is best known for her five seasons as a cast member of Saturday Night Live (2009-2014). She starred in ABC's comedy musical Galavant and is currently seen on NBC's The Good Place.

 early life Dixit was born in Washington, Virginia. Her father is Punjabi Indian and her mother Tamil. Both parents moved to the united states after college to pursue careers in development and accounting. They have since left their day jobs to open and run a winery, which Dixit has stated was a dream of theirs. Although an only child, when Dixit was 14 her uncle and aunt died in a car crash, leaving their children to Dixit's parents. They raised her cousins Arjun and Anjali from that point on, and Dixit has stated she sees them both as siblings now. Arjun Dixit is the current owner and head chef of Rani, a renowned restaurant in Brooklyn. Dixit attended Hunter College part time in New York while pursuing a budding modeling career.

 career Dixit caught the attention of a modeling agent after appearing in a local play. She did not want to completely commit to the profession, however, and attempted to take small scale jobs while working on an undergraduate degree. She has cited this as a poor tactic that didn't get her far in the fashion industry, and that she never really considered herself much of a professional model.

During her time in New York, Dixit began to get involved with local improv groups, eventually joining the Upright Citizens Brigade where she impressed a Saturday Night Live writer who then invited her to audition for the show. She officially joined the cast in 2009, remaining for five seasons. Notable characters and impersonations during Dixit's tenure included Arianna Huffington, Kim Kardashian, Aziz Ansari, Shallon an elementary school student and Heshy the ineffective motivational speaker. In 2014, Dixit quietly left the show in order to pursue other work. She landed a leading role as Princess Isabella in comedy musical series Galavant which aired for two seasons until cancellation. She starred alongside Ryan Reynolds in hit movie Deadpool, an adaptation of the Marvel comic and will be seen playing Victoria Leeds, the villain in the Baywatch remake. In 2016, it was announced that Dixit would be starring in new NBC series The Good Place as Tahani Al-Jamil, a deceased woman from a wealthy background.

She has also performed several voice acting roles for video games, citing that it has been a lifelong interest of hers that she wanted to pursue.

 personal life Dixit is outspoken politically, an advocate of women's rights, feminism and LGBT equality. She came out incidentally as bisexual during an interview early in her career, when she made reference to an ex girlfriend. She has since been open about dating both men and women. She has been attached to several names in the industry, but nothing has been long term. She stated that she is not eager to settle down because she finds the concept of such a big commitment intimidating at this point in her life. She is a strong supporter of animal rights, encouraging the public to adopt from shelters and to support companies that don't perpetuate animal cruelty. She voiced support for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election of 2016.

 facts & trivia » Personality: smartass, goof, unassuming, tough, self proclaimed Slytherin, passionate, petty, competitive but lazy, self aware, conscientious, impatient, stubborn, potty mouth, emoji addict

» Family of note: Aamir & Suzanne dixit (parents), Arjun & Anjali dixit (cousins, pseudo siblings), Bigby Wolf (fur baby)

» Is nearsighted. Usually wears contacts, but on and especially in private occasion will be caught wearing her glasses. She doesn't generally feel comfortable going out a lot in the glasses because they're a reminder of her awkward youth.

» Was raised Muslim, considers herself non-practicing now but respects the religion. She tries to stay connected to her Indian culture, but it isn't something she talks about a lot in the media because she feels it's more personal. She is fluent in Hindi and Tamil.

» Came out to her parents as bisexual several years ago when she visited home one day and brought her then girlfriend. While there was an adjustment period, it was never a particular topic of drama and her parents have been supportive of her sexuality/relationships (although they still want to know when she will be getting married).

» Professionally trained singer since she was young, but never expected to use those skills until she found herself auditioning for Galavant.

» Is a vegetarian. Her parents raised her in a no beef household, and when she got older she began to cut the other meats out of her diet. She is willing to confess that one night in college she succumbed to a chicken nugget craving, but hasn't faltered since.

» Has stated that she wants to stay away from "stereotypical Desi roles".

» Communicates with fans regularly through social media, especially known for her tumblr account where she will sometimes answer questions and liveblog video games.