Navid Negahban

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Birthday:

2 June 1968, Iran

Height:

182 cm

Navid, though sometimes called "the man of a thousand faces," is still most widely regarded as Abu Nazir, the enigmatic al-Qaeda leader he played for two seasons on Showtime's Emmy-winning original series "Homeland." Among his many fans are Israeli president Shimon Peres and U.S. president Barack Obama. The versatile, scene-stealer has drawn critical praise as IRK delegate Jamot on the final season of Fox's hit series, "24," and has appeared on "CSI: NY," "CSI: Miami," "NCIS: Los Angeles," "Law & Order: SVU," "The Closer," "The Game," "Criminal Minds," "Lost," "JAG," "The West Wing," "Without a Trace," "The Shield" and others.Navid's star continues to rise on the big screen. He was a standout in Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated blockbuster "American Sniper" as Sheikh Al-Obodi, an Iraqi local paid to help the snipers locate their targets. He can next be seen in "Baba Joon," the first Persian-language film shot in Israel from director Yuval Delshad. "Variety" proclaims Navid once again "transforms in the role of Yitzhak," a turkey farmer struggling to pass his Iranian traditions onto his precocious Israeli-born son. The film, which received best picture at Israel's Ophir Awards, is now set to be the Jewish State's submission for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film.Navid recently wrapped principal photography in Vancouver on "Brain on Fire," a biographical drama with Chloë Grace Moretz, Carrie-Anne Moss and Richard Armitage, and this spring he was shooting in Morocco with Jonathan Rhys Meyers, John Hurt and Olivia Thirlby in the espionage thriller "Damascus Cover." His additional credits include a leading role in the critically acclaimed feature "The Stoning of Soraya M." The "New York Times" called his portrayal of Ali as "satanic as any horror-movie apparition."Navid also had significant supporting roles in the films "Brothers" starring Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal; "Powder Blue" with Jessica Biel and Forest Whitaker; "Charlie Wilson's War" starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Amy Adams and "Words and Pictures" with Clive Owens and Juliette Binoche.As an active voice-over actor, he lends his smoky tenor to "Revolution 1979," a video game series based on the Iranian revolution. It was awarded support from the Doris Duke Foundation in partnership with Sundance Institute's New Frontier Program for the Islamic Art's New Frontier Fellowship.Born in Mashhad, Iran, Navid caught the acting bug at the age of eight, when his portrayal of an old man drew laughter from a large audience at an elementary school play. His passion for acting led him to Germany where he spent eight years honing his theatrical skills prior to arriving in the United States. He is fluent in English, Farsi and German, and in his spare time enjoys traveling, studying anthropology, shooting pool, driving and playing poker. Show less «

[on performing as a complicated villain in 'Homeland'] It is like reading a foreign book with ten different dictionaries sitting there. When...Show more »

[on performing as a complicated villain in 'Homeland'] It is like reading a foreign book with ten different dictionaries sitting there. When I am playing a villain, I'm not really 'playing a villain' because a villain never looks at himself as a villain. He is being judged by the audience whether he is a villain or a hero. So you just need to be very non-judgmental when you play those types of characters. They are fascinating. That torture and torment and dark side inside us is all just point-of-view. That's what make it dark or light. Show less «

We are all vessels and what's inside us doesn't know any colour, doesn't know any kind of race. We need to look at each other and see each o...Show more »

We are all vessels and what's inside us doesn't know any colour, doesn't know any kind of race. We need to look at each other and see each other for what we are, not for what we have been told the other person is. Show less «

[on the popularity of the 'Homeland' series] I think it is a very brave show. It talks about issues that most people may have thought about ...Show more »

[on the popularity of the 'Homeland' series] I think it is a very brave show. It talks about issues that most people may have thought about but are afraid to talk about. They are drawn to it because it doesn't give them answers, it just teases their mind to start thinking about these topics. It doesn't create a hero, it creates an atmosphere for viewers to put themselves into and think what they would do if they were put into that situation. Show less «

People ask me where I went to school and I tell them the world has been my school. i have been in different theatre schools and acting schoo...Show more »

People ask me where I went to school and I tell them the world has been my school. i have been in different theatre schools and acting schools all around the world, but it's each person on the street - they are my teacher. Show less «