Who Is Jay Behpoornia? Kimia Behpoornia’s Dad Steals Game Changer With His Acting Reel

Of all the elaborate prizes in Game Changer Season 8 Episode 8, “What’s the Catch?,” one of the funniest ends up going to someone who was not even playing the game. Kimia Behpoornia initially has a professional acting reel waiting for her, but Jacob Wysocki receives a catch reading “as a gift for your dad” and immediately sees the comic possibilities. That decision brings Kimia’s real father, Jay Behpoornia, into the episode and turns what should have been Kimia’s prize into one of the most memorable sequences of the game.

Jay does not appear for a quick cameo and disappear. The show gives him a surprisingly elaborate acting reel built around several completely different characters, genres and dramatic situations. His willingness to commit to every scene is what makes the sequence work so well, and it explains why viewers came away from the episode wanting to know more about Kimia’s father.

Is Jay Behpoornia Really Kimia Behpoornia’s Dad?

Yes, Jay Behpoornia is Kimia Behpoornia’s real father. The episode does not hire an older performer and simply pretend that he is related to her for the joke. Kimia openly identifies Jay as her dad while the reel is playing, making the family connection part of the comedy rather than something the show tries to conceal.

The appearance also has a fitting connection to Kimia’s own path into comedy. Kimia has spoken previously about her father signing her up for improv when she was young and shy, helping push her toward a form of performance that would later become a major part of her career. Years later, Game Changer reverses that relationship by putting Jay in front of the camera and making him the performer while Kimia watches from the sidelines.

Why Does Jay Get Kimia’s Acting Reel?

Earlier in “What’s the Catch?,” Kimia receives a professional 2026 acting reel as one of the prizes on the board. Like almost every reward in this episode, however, the prize remains vulnerable to a catch that can completely change what it means. During the final stretch of the game, Jacob receives the condition “as a gift for your dad” and is allowed to attach it to another player’s prize.

Jacob briefly considers other possibilities, including using the catch on Kurt Maloney’s professional photographs. He quickly realizes, though, that turning Kimia’s acting reel into a gift for her father could produce something much funnier than simply giving someone’s dad a set of headshots. Once he chooses Kimia’s prize, the show commits fully to the idea and produces an actual reel starring Jay.

Related: Game Changer Season 8 Episode 8 Recap: Every Prize and Catch in “What’s the Catch?”

What Happens in Jay Behpoornia’s Acting Reel?

Jay’s reel is much more elaborate than a few lines filmed against a blank background. Game Changer places him in multiple scenes that parody familiar movie and television genres, complete with costumes, scene partners and different dramatic situations. The increasingly serious production around such an absurd prize is part of what makes the montage so funny.

One sequence turns Jay into “00J,” a James Bond-style secret agent receiving a gadget-filled watch. He gets into character quickly and even works in his own preference for a shaken martini, leaning completely into the spy-movie setup. Other scenes move him into crime drama, romance and more heightened dramatic territory, allowing the reel to function like an exaggerated showcase of his supposed acting range.

The show keeps changing the tone instead of relying on a single joke. Jay plays emotional scenes, faces dramatic confrontations and continues treating each new character seriously even as the scenarios become increasingly ridiculous. Rather than looking uncomfortable about suddenly being drafted into his daughter’s prize, he seems willing to give the production exactly the performance it wants.

Has Jay Behpoornia Acted Before Game Changer?

Game Changer is not the first time Jay has appeared in a filmed project connected to Kimia. He previously appeared in the comedy short Lunch Tattoo, which Kimia Behpoornia co-wrote and produced with Nicholas Luciano. The film follows two friends getting their first tattoos while dealing with opposition from their families, and the production incorporated the actors’ real parents into the story.

Jay appears as the father of Kimia’s character, Roksana, while Parvin Behpoornia appears as her mother. That means Jay was not completely unfamiliar with performing in front of a camera when Game Changer handed him the acting reel. Even so, the Season 8 episode gives him a much more exaggerated showcase, asking him to jump between characters in a way that naturally makes the whole sequence feel like an unexpected audition tape.

Why Jay’s Acting Reel Becomes One of the Episode’s Best Catches

The strongest catches in “What’s the Catch?” are not necessarily the ones that make a prize completely miserable. Some of them take something ordinary and accidentally transform it into a much better piece of comedy, and Jay’s reel is probably the clearest example. Kimia technically loses a useful professional prize, but the show gains an entire sequence that would never have existed without Jacob’s catch.

There is also a nice reversal underneath the joke. Jay once helped encourage Kimia toward improv, while Kimia eventually became a professional actor and comedian who regularly appears on Dropout. In this episode, the daughter watches as the father suddenly receives his own professionally produced showcase and enthusiastically runs through one role after another.

Jacob intended to make Kimia’s prize ridiculous, and he absolutely succeeds. The catch also gives Jay Behpoornia an unexpected Game Changer spotlight and lets viewers see why Kimia finds the whole situation so funny. Kimia may leave without the acting reel she originally won, but the Behpoornia family ends up with something considerably more memorable.