Utkarsh Ambudkar Breaks Into Impromptu Freestyle Rap on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

The “Ghosts” star honored Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien’s recent 130th birthday for the host who’s a fan.

Indian American actor and rapper Utkarsh Ambudkar broke out into an impromptu rap on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” on CBS on Jan. 3 to mark “Lord of the Rings” author J.R.R. Tolkien’s 130th birthday recently. Colbert is a big fan of all things related to the epic high-fantasy novel.

Ambudkar currently stars as the male lead in the CBS comedy “Ghosts,” which Colbert touted as the “most-watched comedy.” Dressed in a dark brown and orange suit, he was cheeky and hilarious during his first late-night show appearance. “I’m so glad CBS forced you to have me on the show.”

Based on the British series, “Ghosts,” a single-camera comedy is about Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay (Ambudkar), a cheerful freelance journalist and up-and-coming chef from the city, respectively, who throw both caution and money to the wind when they decide to convert a huge rundown country estate they inherited into a bed and breakfast — only to find it’s inhabited by the many spirits of deceased residents who now call it home.

The actor gave his own take on the show. “I basically just stare off into the middle distance.” In the CBS-supplied clip, aired at the beginning of Ambudkar’s segment on the show, Ambudkar is seen doing a spot-on funny impression of his other co-star (and possessing spirit) Rebecca Wisocky who plays British Hetty on the show.

Apart from his acting, Ambudkar is well known as the rapper UTK the INC in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway-conquering improv rap group Freestyle Love Supreme, which wrapped its limited engagement on Broadway on Jan. 2.

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Ambudkar has been cast in a recurring role in Mindy Kaling’s coming-of-age comedy on Netflix, “Never Have I Ever,” and has starred as the mongoose Chikku in the Disney Junior animated series “Mira, Royal Detective” (2020).

He also recently voiced a conniving real-estate rat in the live-action/computer-animated slapstick comedy, “Tom and Jerry” (2021), based on the titular cartoon characters of the same name. He has also appeared in the comedy film “Pitch Perfect” (2012) as Donald, and in the television shows “The Mindy Project” (2013) and “The Muppets” (2016), among others.