He was born in the US to Indian Tamil parents, both of whom are physicians. His parents are from Bangalore, India.[1] He has one sister, who is a physician, doing a residency in a combined internal medicine and psychiatry residency program. He and his sister were raised in San Antonio. In San Antonio, he went to Keystone School and graduated from there in 1991. He is cousin of film director Jay Chandrasekhar He is married to actress Olga Sosnovska; they have one daughter, Halina. [1]
Ramamurthy attended Tufts University initially as a pre-med major to follow in his parents' footsteps.[1] He was also a member of the Kappa Charge of Theta Delta Chi. He then became interested in acting when he took an "Intro to Acting" class during his junior year as part of his graduation requirement. After participating in several plays — including Our Country's Good, he chose to change career goals. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in history and then attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 1999.[1],[2]
Career
Ramamurthy has appeared in theatrical productions of A Servant of Two Masters in London's West End, Indian Ink at the Soho Repertory Theatre, and East Is East at the Manhattan Theatre Club. His film credits include Thanks to Gravity, Orient Express and Little India. In addition, he has appeared on several TV shows, including Ellen, Casualty, Guiding Light, Ultimate Force, Grey's Anatomy, and Numb3rs. [3] Ramamurthy enjoys playing soccer. Ramamurthy made a conscious decision to not audition for stereotypical Indian roles, although he has been offered such parts.[1] Ramamurthy's current role on Heroes is his biggest role yet. Although the character of Mohinder Suresh was originally written for a 55-year old, his audition tape and screen test were convincing enough for writers to rewrite the part for Ramamurthy. [4]
Ramamurthy appeared as the second guest on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 25, 2007. During the interview he shared about his vacation to the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican City, where a couple of German tourists wanted to take his picture, in spite of the strict "No Pictures" policy.