Kunal Nayyar is a British-born Indian actor. He gained recognition with his portrayal of the character Raj Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019), and voiced Vijay on the Nickelodeon animated sitcom Sanjay and Craig (2013–2016). He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2021 British Academy Television Awards for his role in Criminal: UK.

Rajesh "Raj" Ramayan Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. He is one of four main male characters in the show, alongside Howard Wolowitz, Sheldon Cooper, and Leonard Hofstadter, to appear in every episode of The Big Bang Theory. Raj is based on a computer programmer that the show's co-creator, Bill Prady, knew when he was a programmer.