Jay Chandrasekhar
Birthdate – April 9, 1968 (56 Years Old)
Birthplace – Chicago, Illinois, USA
One of the guiding creative minds behind the long-running comedy troupe, Broken Lizard, Jay Chandrasekhar (birthname: Jay Jambulingam Chandrasekhar) has expanded the group’s brand into the movies with cult hits, starting with Super Troopers (2001), with fellow Broken Lizard company members Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, and Kevin Hefferman, along with Brian Cox and Marisa Coughlan.
The sequel, Super Troopers 2, with guest actors Cox and Rob Lowe, arrived 17 years later in 2018, with a planned third Super Troopers movie in development via Chandrasekhar’s usual distributor, Disney-owned Searchlight. However, Jay Chandrasekhar didn’t launch the Broken Lizard movie marathon with the goofy Troopers: In 1996, he directed and edited the group’s self-funded movie debut which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Puddle Cruiser and became a cult item on college campuses.
Following Super Troopers, Chandrasekhar led the Broken Lizards in the slasher-horror spoof, Club Dread (2004), with guest star Bill Paxton. Chandrasekhar’s first mainstream studio (Warner Bros) film as director only was the updated remake of the TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), with Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds, and Willie Nelson, earning over $111 million worldwide. Reuniting the Broken Lizard gang with a bigger budget (via Legendary Pictures and Warners’ distribution), Chandrasekhar directed and starred in Beerfest (2006), with guest stars Will Forte, Mo’Nique, and Cloris Leachman.
Allowing fellow Lizard Kevin Heffernan to take over the directing reins of a Broken Lizards feature comedy, Chandrasekhar co-starred in the restaurant-based comedy, The Slammin’ Salmon (2009), with guest stars Michael Clarke Duncan and Olivia Munn. For a change of pace, Jay Chandrasekhar’s next film directing the comedy group was a pure filmed recording of their live act, Broken Lizard Stands Up (2010). Making an unexpected move away from the Lizards, Chandrasekhar partnered with producer Jason Blum for the relationship comedy, The Babymakers (2012), with Paul Schneider and Olivia Munn.
After 2012, The Broken Lizards gang struggled to launch a Super Troopers sequel, with Chandrasekhar finally filming Super Troopers 2 in 2015 for a delayed Fox Searchlight release in 2018. It took Chandrasekhar three more years to get behind the movie camera again (this time as director and supporting cast member without any fellow Broken Lizards) for Universal Studios’ Easter Sunday (2022), with Jo Koy, Jimmy O. Yang, Tia Carrere, Tiffany Haddish, and Lou Diamond Phillips.
Jay Chandrasekhar has previously appeared as a supporting actor in such comedies as Jackass Number Two (2006); I Love You, Man (2009), with Paul Rudd; the Broken Lizards-produced ensemble comedy, Freeloaders (2012), with Clifton Collins, Jr., Jane Seymour, Olivia Munn, and Dave Foley; and Natalie Morales’ comedy 2021 comedy, Plan B.
Personal Details
Chicago-born Jay Chandrasekhar was raised by Tamil-born doctors Arcot and Hema Chandrasekhar, along with two sisters, one named Sandy. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs of Oak Park and Hinsdale, Chandrasekhar graduated from the college prep institute, Lake Forest Academy, and later graduated from Colgate University, with a major in European History and a minor in Philosophy. He formed the comedy sketch group, Charred Goosebeak, at Colgate U., and later, when the grads assembled in New York City, renamed themselves Broken Lizard. He has been married to actor Susan Clarke since 2005; the couple has twin daughters and a son. His height is 6’½”.
Filmography
Easter Sunday
Nick (2022)
Super Troopers 2
Thorny (2018)
Some Facts About Jay Chandrasekhar
Frat Boy: Jay Chandrasekhar’s movies are known for their somewhat frat-boy sense of humor, which derives from the fact that some of the members of his original comedy sketch group, Charred Goosebeak, came from his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, at Colgate University.
Awards Confusion: Chandrasekhar has the curious distinction of winning major awards from the leading American festivals, South by Southwest and the Hamptons International Film Festival, and also being nominated for worst director from the Razzie Awards and the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.
What’s in a Middle Name?: Jay Chandrasekhar claims that he learned at age 25 that his Tamil middle name, Jambulingam, literally means “large penis.”
Awards
Winner, Audience Award, SXSW Festival (2001).
