Ramin Karimloo

Ramin Karimloo is a Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter born on September 19, 1978, in Tehran, Iran. He is recognized for his extensive work in West End and Broadway theatre, with particular distinction in the long-running musicals The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.

Karimloo's early professional work began after he relocated to the United Kingdom. His first stage role was Aladdin in a pantomime production in Chatham, after which he joined the UK national tour of The Pirates of Penzance in 2001, playing a police officer and understudying the Pirate King. The following year he took on the Pirate King role in Bath, England, and joined the national tour of Sunset Boulevard as Artie Green, also covering the role of Joe Gillis. His West End debut came in Les Misérables, where he initially played Feuilly while understudying Marius Pontmercy and Enjolras, before returning to the production in 2004 as the full-time Enjolras. That December, he performed in a Les Misérables concert at Windsor Castle held in honor of French president Jacques Chirac. In 2003, he took on the role of Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny in The Phantom of the Opera, and his final matinee performance in that role was filmed for a behind-the-scenes feature on the DVD of Joel Schumacher's film adaptation, in which he also appeared in a cameo as Gustave Daaé. In June 2005, he joined the UK national tour of Miss Saigon as Christopher Scott.

Karimloo began performing as the Phantom in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera in September 2007, continuing in the role through November 2009. That performance earned him a Theatregoers' Choice Award nomination for Best Actor in a Take Over Role. In July 2008, he participated in the Sydmonton Festival as the first actor to play the Phantom in the workshop presentation of Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. He then originated the role of the Phantom when Love Never Dies opened in London in March 2010, performing alongside Sierra Boggess and continuing until the show closed on August 27, 2011. In October 2010, he reprised the role of Enjolras in the 25th anniversary concert of Les Misérables at The O2 Arena in London, a performance that was later streamed on PBS and released on DVD and Blu-ray in early 2011.

On October 1 and 2, 2011, Karimloo reunited with Boggess and Hadley Fraser for the 25th anniversary production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, playing the Phantom opposite Boggess as Christine Daaé and Fraser as Raoul de Chagny. The performances were streamed live to cinemas worldwide. From November 2011 through March 2012, he returned to Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre, London, playing Jean Valjean opposite Fraser as Javert, a run for which he won the 2013 Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Takeover in a Role. He subsequently played Valjean in the Canadian production of the newly staged Les Misérables, which opened in September 2013.

Karimloo made his Broadway debut in the 2014 revival of Les Misérables, again as Jean Valjean, earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical as well as a Theatre World Award. He concluded that run on August 30, 2015. In February 2015, he played Tom Watson in a production of Parade at Lincoln Center, appearing alongside Jeremy Jordan, Joshua Henry, Laura Benanti, and Davis Gaines. He originated the role of Gleb Vaganov in Anastasia, a stage adaptation of the 1997 animated film, which brought him back to Broadway. He later starred as Nick Arnstein in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl. His many portrayals of Anatoly Sergievsky in the musical Chess have also been a notable part of his career, beginning with a production at the Kennedy Center in 2018, followed by a 2020 Japan tour and a Broadway concert in 2022. He can also be heard as Stavros in As the Curtain Rises, Broadway's first original podcast soap opera.

Karimloo returned to Broadway in 2025 as the Pirate King in the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of The Pirates of Penzance, titled Pirates! The Penzance Musical, a role that echoed his early career work understudying and then playing the same character on UK tour more than two decades prior. Beyond the stage, he has released recordings including a solo album, Ramin, issued by Sony Music Entertainment in April 2012 in the UK and in August 2012 in Canada and the United States, and has appeared in television projects including a guest role in Warwick Davis's BBC2 comedy Life's Too Short and a recurring role in the Sky series The Spa.