Sunita Mani (born December 13, 1986) is an American actress, dancer and comedian. She is best known for her television roles as Trenton in the USA Network drama Mr. Robot (2015–2017) and Arthie Premkumar in the Netflix comedy GLOW (2017–2019).[1] Mani played the lead roles in the 2020 films Save Yourselves! and Evil Eye.

Sunita Mani
Born (1986-12-13) December 13, 1986 (age 37)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • dancer
  • comedian
Years active2005–present
Spouse
Kenny Warren
(m. 2018)

Early life

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Mani was born to Usha and Venk Mani,[2][3] from Tamil Nadu, India.[4]

She graduated from Dickson County High School in Dickson,[5] Tennessee in 2004.[3]

After studying writing at Emerson College, where she gained experience in stand-up comedy, Mani joined the Upright Citizens Brigade[5] for three years, where she learned more about improv.

Career

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She began her acting career by appearing in the MTV web TV pilot Writer's Block, and in a few commercials including ones for Burger King and Levi's.[6] [7][8]

Her first film appearance was in The Unspeakable Act (2012), an American coming-of-age drama written and directed by Dan Sallitt which won the Sarasota Film Festival's Independent Visions Award. Mani gained public recognition for her dance performance in the music video for the song "Turn Down for What", released in December 2013. She appeared in the drama–thriller television series Mr. Robot as Trenton.[9] In 2016, she appeared in Don't Think Twice, an episode of Broad City, and episodes of The Good Place. She was cast in the 2017 Netflix series GLOW.[10]

Mani is a member of the alt-comedy group Cocoon Central Dance Team.[11]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 The Unspeakable Act Jessica
2013 Sardines out of a Can Extra
2015 3rd Street Blackout Elora
Stinking Heaven Sunita
2016 Little Sister Performance Art Dancer
Don't Think Twice Amy
2018 Madeline's Madeline Assistant Max
2019 The Death of Dick Long Lake Travis
Wine Country Dolly
Can You Keep a Secret? Lissy
2020 Save Yourselves! Su
The Outside Story Slater
Evil Eye Pallavi Kharti
2022 Everything Everywhere All at Once TV Musical - Queen
Spirited Ghost of Christmas Past
2023 You Hurt My Feelings Dr. Allen
Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain Tricia
2025 The Roses Filming
TBA Death of a Unicorn Post-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2012, 2018 The Chris Gethard Show Various 3 episodes
2015–2017 Mr. Robot Trenton 16 episodes
2016 Person of Interest Sonum Episode: "The Day the World Went Away"
Broad City Coworker 1 episode
The Good Place Chad 2 episodes
Search Party Pia 2 episodes
2017–2019 GLOW Arthie Premkumar 29 episodes
2017–2021 No Activity Fatima Khorasani 27 episodes
2018 Drop the Mic Herself Episode: "WWE Superstars vs. GLOW & Laila Ali vs. Chris Jericho"
2019 Helpsters Rhonda Runner Episode: "Amazing Alie/Robbie & Rhonda Runner"
2020 Three Busy Debras Homra Simpson Episode: "Debspringa"
At Home with Amy Sedaris Denise Hershey Musgrave Episode: "Signature Dishes"
Social Distance Dr. Larson Episode: "Humane Animal Trap"
Dream Corp LLC Margot Daly Recurring; 8 episodes
2020–2021 Mira, Royal Detective Neeti/Preeti (voice) 4 episodes
2021 Summer Camp Island (voice) Episode: "Spirit Balls"
Ultra City Smiths Detective Jaya Mukherjee (voice) 2 episodes
Scenes from a Marriage Danielle Episode: "Innocence and Panic"
2022 Servant Veera
2023 Scavengers Reign Ursula (voice) 12 episodes
2024 Fantasmas (TV series) Nancy 1 episode
TBA Government Cheese Main role[12]

Short videos

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Year Title Role
2012 See You Then, Then
2013 Sardines Out of A Can Extra
2015 The Truth About Meeting Women
This is a Dream and I'm Going to Kill You Sunita
2016 Why Wasn't It Perfect? Haley Sharma
Vegas Vegas
The Place We Live Autumn
2017 Snowy Bing Bongs Across the North Star Combat Zone
I Brought Pie Alice
2018 Alpha Squadron Alpha 4 / Chelsea
2019 Regulation Mia Nichols
Dick Pics! (A Documentary)
Others John's Other
2020 I Love to Wait

Music videos

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Year Title Artist Ref.
2010 "Commotion" The Hundred in the Hands [13]
2014 "Turn Down for What" DJ Snake and Lil Jon [6]

References

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  1. ^ "Behind the Scenes of the "Turn Down for What" Music Video—An Interview with Sunita Mani". Cream City, MD. March 21, 2014. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  2. ^ Wagner, Sydney (January 15, 2020). "Dr. Venk Mani steps down as Dickson Co. medical examiner after nearly 40 years". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Gadd, Chris (June 28, 2018). "Sunita Mani of Netflix's 'GLOW': Dickson nurtured her offbeat style". The Tennessean. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  4. ^ Jhunjhunwala, Udita (October 18, 2020). "Sunita Mani interview: 'We're having a moment, there will be more equalised seating at the table'". Scroll.in. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Pudzianowski, Lydia (March 8, 2018). "Sunita Mani Defies Comfort Zones". FLOOD Magazine. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Chitnis, Deepak (June 2, 2014). "That girl with the funky dance moves in 'Turn Down for What' is Sunita Mani". The American Bazaar. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  7. ^ Handler, Rachel (October 1, 2020). "Sunita Mani Is Taking Up Space". Vulture. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  8. ^ "Sunita Something". Tumblr. March 24, 2023.
  9. ^ "Top 20 Countdown: Guest Host Miss Info + Her Baby Get "Butt Popped"". VH1+Music. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  10. ^ Denise Petski (September 22, 2016). "'G.L.O.W.': Jenji Kohan Netflix Comedy Series Adds Britt Baron, Jackie Tohn & Five More". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  11. ^ "About". Cocoon Central Dance Team.
  12. ^ Otterson, Joe (April 16, 2024). "David Oyelowo Apple Series 'Government Cheese' Rounds Out Cast With Four Additions (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  13. ^ ""The Hundred in the Hands, Commotion, Daniels, Warp Records"". Vimeo. Warp Records. October 15, 2010. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
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