Navid Negahban

Navid Negahban

Place of Birth
Mashhad, Iran
Known For
Acting

Details

Place of Birth
Mashhad, Iran
Known For
Acting

Biography

Navid Negahban is an Iranian-American actor, producer, and director whose work spans four decades, three continents, and over 166 credits in film, television, and video games.

Born in Mashhad, Iran, he discovered theater at eight years old. He left Iran in 1985, traveling through Turkey and Bulgaria before arriving at a refugee camp in Ingelheim, Germany, where he applied for asylum. He spent eight years performing with the Rheinland-Pfalz Theater in Kaiserslautern before moving to the United States in 1993. He is fluent in Persian, English, and German.

He is best known for playing Abu Nazir in Showtime's Homeland (2011–2013), Amahl Farouk / Shadow King in FX's Legion (2017–2019), The Sultan in Disney's live-action Aladdin (2019), General Abdul Rashid Dostum in 12 Strong (2018), Sheikh Al-Obodi in American Sniper (2014), Faraz Hamzad in FX's The Old Man (2022–2024), and Abbas Mansuri in Netflix's The Night Agent (2025).

As a producer, his film Baba Joon won five Ophir Awards including Best Picture at the Israeli Film Academy. As a director, his short film The Apple Tree won Best Short Film at the Japan Indies Film Festival (2025). He received a BAFTA Games Award nomination for Best Performer for his work on 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (2017).

He is represented by Innovative Artists. Official website: https://navidnegahban.com

Navid Negahban's LGBTQ+ Titles

Pretty Persuasion
Pretty Persuasion
Mr. Azzouni

Acting (99)

2026
Hotel Tehran as Qasim
2025
Splinter Cell: Deathwatch as Reza "Gunther" Karimi (voice) (8 episodes)
2024
WondLa as Loroc (voice) (1 episode)
2024
Am Abgrund as Tofik Gasimov
2023
Sitting in Bars with Cake as Isaac
2023
Kandahar as Mohammad 'Mo' Doud
2023
Ghosts of Beirut as Ali Reza Asgari (2007) (3 episodes)
2023
In the Garden of Tulips
2023
The Night Agent as Abbas Mansuri (7 episodes)
2023
Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham as Ra's al Ghul (voice)
2022
Tehranto as Narrator (voice)
2022
The Serpent Queen as Claude de Lorraine (1 episode)
2022
Pantheon as Farhad (voice) (3 episodes)
2022
The Old Man as Faraz Hamzad (9 episodes)
2022
The Cleaning Lady as Hayak Barsamian (11 episodes)
2021
Dark Corners as Karim
2021
The First Goodbye
2020
Tehran as Masoud Tabrizi (8 episodes)
2019
London Arabia as Mo
2019
In Full Bloom as The Shepherd (voice)
2019
Aladdin as Sultan
2018
Saat des Terrors as Kashif Baqri
2018
God Friended Me as Hasan (1 episode)
2018
God Friended Me as Hassan (1 episode)
2018
12 Strong as General Dostum
2017
Osprey as Adam Zakaria
2017
Damascus Cover as Sarraj
2017
Carving a Life as Dr. Kasem
2017
American Assassin as Minister Behurz
2017
Castlevania as Sala (voice) (10 episodes)
2017
Price for Freedom as Victor Daniels
2017
Sand Castle as Kadeer
2017
Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming as Mehran (voice)
2017
Brain on Fire as Dr. Najjar
2017
Legion as Amahl Farouk / Shadow King (19 episodes)
2017
Becoming the Enemy as Victor Daniels
2016
Sniper: Ghost Shooter as Mothershed
2016
Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero as Mohammad Mohammad-Mohammadi
2015
Baba Joon as Itzhak
2015
Day One as Dr. Nasir
2015
The Team as Said Gharbour (8 episodes)
2014
American Sniper as Sheikh Al-Obeidi
2014
Scorpion as Agent Khara (1 episode)
2014
Words and Pictures as Rashid
2013
The Moment as Malik Jamil
2013
The Power of Few as Sahel
2012
Arrow as Al Ow-Al (1 episode)
2012
Veep as Abbas (1 episode)
2011
Homeland as Abu Nazir (25 episodes)
2011
Person of Interest as Ali Hasan (1 episode)
2011
Atlas Shrugged: Part I as Dr. Robert Stadler
2010
Heal as Abdul
2009
Brothers as Murad
2009
Dead Air as Abir
2009
NCIS: Los Angeles as Aziz Anshiri (1 episode)
2009
Liberation as Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
2009
Dark Blue as Ahmad Satar (1 episode)
2009
Diplomacy as Iranian Foreign Minister
2009
The Stoning of Soraya M. as Ali
2009
Powder Blue as Doctor Brooks
2009
The Ambassador's Wife as Ambassador
2009
Stellina Blue as Amir Keshavarz
2008
The Mentalist as Hassan Zarif (1 episode)
2008
Fringe as Dr. Malik Yusef (1 episode)
2008
Djinn as Djinn
2007
Charlie Wilson's War as Refugee Camp Translator
2007
Broken as Keith
2007
Moonlight as Amir Fayed (1 episode)
2007
Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses as Sheik Ahmad
2007
Richard III as Sir James Tyrrel
2006
Shark as Amir Khan (1 episode)
2006
The Unit as Faheed (1 episode)
2005
Over There as Iraqi Father (1 episode)
2005
Criminal Minds as Hassan Nadir (1 episode)
2005
The Closer as Dr. al-Thani (1 episode)
2005
The Fallen Ones as Ammon
2005
Pretty Persuasion as Mr. Azzouni
2004
Lost as Omar (1 episode)
2003
Saving Jessica Lynch as Fedayeen Colonel
2003
NCIS as Jalil Shaloub (1 episode)
2003
Las Vegas as Farouk Naeem (1 episode)
2003
Threat Matrix as Fred (1 episode)
2003
War Stories as Al Qaeda Rebel at Bridge
2002
Without a Trace as Nazar Rahim (1 episode)
2002
CSI: Miami as Rahim Farooq (1 episode)
2002
The Shield as Zayed Al-Thani (1 episode)
2001
24 as Abdullah (1 episode)
2001
24 as Jamot (8 episodes)
2001
Alias as Foreman (1 episode)
2001
The Agency as Arab Driver (1 episode)
2001
The Agency as Palestinian Officer (1 episode)
2000
Curb Your Enthusiasm as Morsi (1 episode)
2000
Boundaries as Trombonist
1999
The West Wing as Maz (1 episode)
1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Rankesh Chanoor (1 episode)
1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Sam Farhidi (1 episode)
1995
JAG as Jamal Bin Fahad Al-Hadi (1 episode)
1990
Law & Order as Imam Ibrahim (1 episode)
1970
Scene of the Crime as Harun (1 episode)

Directing (1)

The Apple Tree • Director
• Director

Production (2)

2019
London Arabia • Producer
• Producer
2017
Osprey • Co-Producer
• Co-Producer