At age 19 chose to stop using his childhood nickname of Jory. No longer wanted to use a Muslim last name when he decided there were parts of Islam he did not agree with. Chose to honor his Western European history by using his mother's maiden name, Coleman.
American of 50% Western European ancestry and 50% South Asian ancestry.
Mother is from Minnesota. Father is Pakistani originally born in India.
Raised as Muslim but is "inspired by aspects of secular humanism, metaphysical Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism".
Graduated from Karachi American School in Karachi, Pakistan.
Has played characters that were Indian, Pakistani, Iraqi, Mexican, Italian, Puerto Rican and "just plain American".
Initially wanted to be a comedian but his father's family thought this was a shameful idea. Pakistani comedians from the 1970s tended to overact and were not respected as actors.
Speaks fluent Hindi and Urdu.
In addition to TV/film, also doing stage and voice over work. Announcer on three McDonald's commercials that will soon hit the airwaves. (April 2003)