# Jay Chandrasekhar
**Jay Chandrasekhar** (full name Jayanth Jambulingam Chandrasekhar) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and film director, born in 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, best known as a founding member of the comedy troupe [Broken Lizard](https://www.edgepedia.org/broken-lizard) and as the director and co-writer of the *Super Troopers* films.[1](https://www.nndb.com/people/668/000356597/) • [2](https://flicklist.tv/people/jay-chandrasekhar) A Tamil-American, he has been described as the most active contributor to the five-member Broken Lizard team.[3](https://www.ebix.com/articles/08%20may%2008%20india%20tribune.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968, Chicago, Illinois, USA[1](https://www.nndb.com/people/668/000356597/) |
| Signature work | *Super Troopers* (2001), directed, co-written, and starring as Arcot "Thorny" Ramathorn[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar) |
| Box office | *The Dukes of Hazzard* (2005) grossed over $111 million worldwide[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) |
| Crowdfunding | Raised more than $4.5 million for *Super Troopers 2*, the number one film in the country on its opening weekend, April 20, 2018[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) |
| Television directing | Episodes of *Arrested Development*, *Community*, *The Goldbergs* (24 episodes, 2014–2021), *Happy Endings*, *Psych*, *New Girl*, and others[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151540/) |
| Memoir | *Mustache Shenanigans*, published by Penguin Books in 2016[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) |
## Broken Lizard and early work
Chandrasekhar formed the sketch comedy group Charred Goosebeak with classmates at [Colgate University](https://www.edgepedia.org/colgate-university); after graduation the group moved to New York City and reformed as Broken Lizard.[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) In his own account, he spent a semester of his junior year in 1989 in Chicago, performing stand-up at open mics and training at the Improv Olympic, where his classmates included [Chris Farley](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-farley) and Dave Koechner.[7](https://brokenlizard.com/jay/) After college the group performed live shows with short videos, and Chandrasekhar took a class at NYU before co-directing the troupe's 30-minute short *The Tinfoil Monkey Agenda*.[7](https://brokenlizard.com/jay/)
The troupe's first feature was *Puddle Cruiser* (1996), built from 60 pages of a college love story Chandrasekhar had written, with four more male parts added for the other members; he directed, and the film won the Hamptons Film Festival and drew attention at Sundance.[7](https://brokenlizard.com/jay/)
## Super Troopers and the feature career
Made on a budget of under $3 million, *Super Troopers* (2001) featured Chandrasekhar as its director alongside Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and [Erik Stolhanske](https://www.edgepedia.org/erik-stolhanske), all playing immature Vermont state troopers whose captain was portrayed by Brian Cox. It sold to Fox Searchlight at Sundance and became an unlikely cult hit, earning $23 million in theaters and making many times that on VHS and DVD; Roger Ebert called it "the kind of movie that makes you want to like it."[8](https://apnews.com/article/65e876b574285699da472cd69a2d27db) • [7](https://brokenlizard.com/jay/) Chandrasekhar also played Thorny, and the film credits him as actor, director, writer, and film editor.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar)
He followed with *Broken Lizard's Club Dread* (2004), in which he also appeared as Putman, and then the studio film *[The Dukes of Hazzard](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-dukes-of-hazzard-film)* (2005), a big-screen adaptation of the 1980s television series that grossed over $111 million worldwide.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar) • [5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) *Beerfest* (2006), for Warner Brothers, followed, with Chandrasekhar directing, writing, and playing Barry.[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar) Later Broken Lizard features include *[The Slammin' Salmon](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-slammin-salmon)* (2009), on which he was writer and actor, and *The Babymakers* (2012), which he directed and produced.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar)
**Super Troopers 2 and 3.** After raising more than $4.5 million in crowdfunding, Chandrasekhar directed *[Super Troopers 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-troopers-2)* (2018), which opened as the number one film in the country on April 20, 2018.[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) He returned as director, writer, and Thorny for *Super Troopers 3* (2026), completing the trilogy.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar) Cox returns as Captain John O'Hagen, now struggling with retirement, and [Hannah Simone](https://www.edgepedia.org/hannah-simone) plays Sarita, Thorny's sister, whose romance with Farva drives the main storyline.[8](https://apnews.com/article/65e876b574285699da472cd69a2d27db) In interviews around the release, Chandrasekhar described the mission as "bring[ing] back good old-fashioned R-rated American theatrical comedy."[8](https://apnews.com/article/65e876b574285699da472cd69a2d27db)
## Television directing
Alongside his film work, Chandrasekhar has built an extensive television directing career, including several episodes of the Emmy Award-winning *Arrested Development*, as well as *Up All Night*, *Happy Endings*, *Community*, *Royal Pains*, *Blue Mountain State*, *Psych*, *[Chuck](https://www.edgepedia.org/chuck-tv-series)*, *Undeclared*, *New Girl*, *The Grinder*, *Crazy Ex-Girlfriend*, *The Goldbergs*, *Schooled*, *Lethal Weapon*, and *Good Trouble*.[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) On IMDb he is credited as director on 24 episodes of *The Goldbergs* between 2014 and 2021, and recent credits include *Animal Control* (2023–2026), *Unstable* (2023), and *Resident Alien* (2021).[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151540/) He was nominated for a NAACP Image Award in 2012 for directing *Happy Endings*.[9](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jay-chandrasekhar/)
## Reception and other work
His films have generally drawn a warmer audience response than a critical one: on Rotten Tomatoes, *Super Troopers* holds 37% from critics against 90% from audiences, and *Beerfest* 41% against 75%.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar) His lowest-rated film on the site is *The Babymakers* at 8% from critics.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar)
His memoir *Mustache Shenanigans: Making Super Troopers and Other Adventures in Comedy*, published by Penguin in 2016, recounts the history of Broken Lizard and the making of *Super Troopers*.[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/) He tours the country doing stand-up comedy and lives in Los Angeles.[5](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/)
## References
1. [Jay Chandrasekhar, NNDB](https://www.nndb.com/people/668/000356597/)
2. [Jay Chandrasekhar, FlickList.tv](https://flicklist.tv/people/jay-chandrasekhar)
3. [India Tribune, "Born in 1968 in Chicago, the Tamil-American writer-director Jay Chandrasekhar"](https://www.ebix.com/articles/08%20may%2008%20india%20tribune.pdf)
4. [Jay Chandrasekhar Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jay_chandrasekhar)
5. [Jay Chandrasekhar biography, Hulu Press](https://press.hulu.com/bios/jay-chandrasekhar/)
6. [Jay Chandrasekhar, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151540/)
7. [Jay Chandrasekhar, The Official Site of Broken Lizard](https://brokenlizard.com/jay/)
8. ["'Super Troopers' at 25: A quarter-century of mustaches and maple syrup — and a new film," AP News](https://apnews.com/article/65e876b574285699da472cd69a2d27db)
9. [Jay Chandrasekhar, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jay-chandrasekhar/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors › Directors of the United States and Canada › Contemporary film directors › Directors debuting in the 1990s and 2000s*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license