Ajay Friese
| Ajay Friese | ||
|---|---|---|
| Born | Ajay Nikolaus Parikh-Friese
March 19, 1998 (age 21) Redmond, Washington, U.S.A. |
|
| Occupation | Actor
Musician |
|
| Years active | 2012-present | |
| Social Media | Instagram: @friendlybrownkid
twitter: @friese_ajay Facebook: Ajay Friese |
|
Ajay Parikh-Friese, known professionally as Ajay Friese, is a Canadian/American actor and musician from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. As an actor, his roles include Vijay Dhar on the Netflix and Legendary TV series Lost In Space, Farson Dengdamor on BBC America and Netflix series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and Parker/Googz in the YTV and Netflix series Reboot: The Guardian Code. Friese stars, alongside Madison Iseman (Jumanji), and Paloma Kwiatkowski (Bates Motel), in the upcoming apocalyptic thriller, Riot Girls, where he plays the character Sony.[1] Friese has recently been cast as the lead in an upcoming movie entitled, Coming Soon,[2] to be filmed later in 2019 or early 2020.
As a singer/songwriter and musician, Friese is working on his debut solo album, being recorded at Mission Sound Studios[3] [4] in Brooklyn, New York. The upcoming studio album is slated to be released later in 2019 and is reported to feature talent including vocalist Nicki Richards[5] (Madonna, Michael Jackson), guitarist Alex Nolan (Cyndi Lauper), and violinist Lorenza Ponce (Bon Jovi). It is being produced by Everett Bradley (Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen)[6]. From 2014 to 2016, Friese was also the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the award-winning band Close The Bombay Doors.
Early Life[edit]
Ajay Friese (Ajay Nikolaus Parikh-Friese) was born in Redmond, Washington, on March 19, 1998. Friese was exposed the theatre at a young age when he accompanied his older sister, Amisha Parikh-Friese, around North America while she was performing as the character Tam, in the Second National Tour of the Broadway Musical, Miss Saigon. In 2000, his family moved to Victoria, Canada, where Friese grew up, except for one year living with his family in Okinawa, Japan, when he was six. Friese began to pursue music at the age of four when he began lessons on the violin. He soon joined the BC Fiddle Orchestra, under the direction of renowned multi-instrumentalist Daniel Lapp. His family began attending British Columbia Jam Camp Society summer camps, which further inspired his musical interests and songwriting capabilities. Friese dropped the fiddle, but started playing drum set, guitar, and ukulele. At age 10, Friese joined CISV International, a program, "...founded in the belief that peace is possible through building friendship and mutual understanding."[7] Through his participation in CISV, Friese attended several international camps, focused on peace education and social justice, in France, Germany, and Canada. Friese attended Reynold's High School (as part of the Reynold's Centre for Soccer Excellence), and later St. Michael's University School, both in Victoria, B.C. Friese also trained as a hip hop dancer and was a member of competition crews at Vibestreet Dance Studios under the instruction of Roberta Bierman and international choreographer of the year nominee Scott Forsyth.
Career[edit]
Friese began his acting career at age 11 and was soon represented by The Characters Talent Agency in Vancouver. As a stage actor, Friese starred in a number of productions including Oliver! (Oliver Twist), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Puck), Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom), and Hana's Suitcase (Akira).[8] Friese has also acted in five operas with Pacific Opera Victoria[9] and as Peter Cratchit in the Belfry Theatre production of A Christmas Carol[10].
His first screen appearances were as a guest star on the TV show Mr. Young in 2012, and in the Nickelodeon TV movie, One Crazy Cruise in 2015. Recently, Friese has appeared in a number of Netflix productions airing in 2017, 2018, and 2019 including the series lead role of Parker/Googz in Reboot: The Guardian Code, as well as recurring roles as Farson Dengdamor in season two of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, as Vijay Dhar in Lost In Space, and as Amir in The Order.
Friese will appear as Sony in his first feature film, Riot Girls, set for release on September 13th, 2019. Riot Girls, is a, "post-apocalyptic thriller set in an alternate 1995, where a mysterious disease has wiped out all of the adults."[11]
Friese has also been cast in the starring role in Altitude Film's upcoming production entitled, Coming Soon, scheduled to be filmed in 2019 or early 2020. According to Deadline, "in Coming Soon, a series of bizarre murders inspired by classic ’80s films are discovered in the sleepy UK town of Cliff Valley. The inhabitants find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation and three movie obsessed friends are caught up in the race to catch the killer."[12]
A singer/songwriter, from 2014 to 2016 Friese fronted the band Close The Bombay Doors. In 2016, while still in high school, they released their debut EP entitled, This Right Here, produced by Juno award winner, Colin Stewart of The Hive Studios (The New Pornographers, Dan Mangan, Yukon Blonde). Close The Bombay Doors played a variety of venues and festivals including Rifflandia[13], Rock of the Woods[14], and the Northwest Folklife Festival[15], and was nominated for three Vancouver Island Music Awards[16][17]. Friese is presently working on a solo album which he plans to release later in 2019.
Friese is also a photographer whose images of the night sky have been viewed over half a million times on the website 500px[18].
Personal Life[edit]
Ajay Parikh-Friese is the son of Margie Parikh and Lonn Friese. He has an older sister, Amisha, who also has appeared in a number of stage acting productions. His ethnic background is mixed with his heritage coming from India, on his mother's side, and Finland, Germany, Lithuania, and Poland on his father's side.
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | One Crazy Cruise (TV Movie) | Foreign Boy | |
| 2017 | Caviar (short) | Boy | Main role |
| 2018 | Great Ghosts (short) | Ghost Who Cannot Stand | |
| 2018 | Deadly Deed: A Fixer Upper Mystery (TV Movie) | Will | |
| 2019 | Riot Girls (feature) | Sony | Main role |
| 2020 | Coming Soon | Lead |
TV[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Mr. Young | Rupinder | Episode: Mr. Rockstar |
| 2017 | Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Farson Dengdamor | 5 episodes |
| 2018 | Reboot: The Guardian Code | Parker/Googz | 20 episodes - Series Lead |
| 2018-present | Lost In Space | Vijay Dhar | 12 episodes |
| 2019 | The Order | Amir | 3 episodes |
Discography[edit]
| Close the Bombay Doors* | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| *all songs written and arranged by Ajay Friese (Ajay Parikh-Friese) | |||
| Year | Title | Songs | Notes |
| 2016 | This Right Here | ||
| The Wolf | Ajay Parikh-Friese - vocals, guitar
Tuli Porcher - cello Cody Norton-Steeple - drumset Ben Parker - trumpet Logan Chester - bass, electric guitar Hailey Phillips - violin Additional lyrics for Pea Soup written by Ian Rowe | ||
| Arabic #3 | |||
| Pea Soup | |||
| Horizon | |||
| Brad Pitt | featuring: Orla McElroy | ||
Awards and nominations[edit]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
References[edit]
- ↑ "Ajay Friese". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ Wiseman, Andreas; Wiseman, Andreas (2019-05-10). "Altitude Launches '80s Homage Thriller 'Coming Soon' From 'The Witch' & 'Riot Girls' Producers — Cannes". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
- ↑ "Ajay Friese on Instagram: "Headed to NYC to record an album, my debut solo album. 💽 . This is my DREAAMMM YOO🙏 Literally made my first album plan when I was 12, have…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
- ↑ "album📝📀 - @friendlybrownkid". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
- ↑ "Nicki Richards", Wikipedia, 2019-04-16, retrieved 2019-05-12
- ↑ "Everett Bradley". Retrieved 2019-05-12.
- ↑ "Home - CISV International". cisv.org. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ "Ajay Friese". Dirk Gently's Holistic Wiki. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ "Opera Review: POV's Albert Herring - Monday Magazine". Monday Magazine. 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ "Oak Bay teen returns to the Belfry stage - Oak Bay News". Oak Bay News. 2015-12-03. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ Vuckovic, Jovanka, Riot Girls, Madison Iseman, Paloma Kwiatkowski, Ajay Friese, retrieved 2018-04-17
- ↑ Wiseman, Andreas; Wiseman, Andreas (2019-05-10). "Altitude Launches '80s Homage Thriller 'Coming Soon' From 'The Witch' & 'Riot Girls' Producers — Cannes". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
- ↑ "Rifflandia 2014 (Sept. 13) - Victoria Music Scene". Victoria Music Scene. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ "CLOSE THE BOMBAY DOORS | Rock of the Woods Music Festival". rockofthewoods.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ "Close The Bombay Doors's schedule for 2016 Northwest Folklife Festival". Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ "VIMA XIII Winners". docs.google.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ "News: 2015 Vancouver Island Music Awards Winners - Victoria Music Scene". Victoria Music Scene. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
- ↑ "Ajay Parikh-Friese". 500px.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
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