Faran Tahir

Faran Tahir
Tahir in May 2008
Born	Faran Haroon Tahir (1964-02-16) February 16, 1964 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	University of California Harvard University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Parent(s)	Naeem Tahir (father) Yasmeen Tahir (mother)
Relatives	Ali Tahir (brother)

Faran Haroon Tahir (born February 16, 1964) is a Pakistani-American actor who appears in American television series and films. He is the son of veteran Pakistani actor Naeem Tahir.

Early life

Faran Haroon Tahir was born on 16 February 1964 in Los Angeles to Naeem Tahir and Yasmeen Tahir. He grew up in Pakistan and returned to the United States 1980.^[1] He has attended University of California Berkeley and Harvard University where he studied theatre.^[2]

Career

In 1985, he appeared as Bolshintsov in U.C. Berkeley's production of A Month in the Country, and in 1988 portrayed Errol Philander in Athol Fugard's "Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act." ^[3] He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a BA in Theatre before acquiring a graduate degree from the American Repertory Theater's (A.R.T.) Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.

He made his film debut playing Nathoo in the Disney's 1994 live-action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He has since appeared in such films as Picture Perfect (1997), Anywhere But Here (1999) and Charlie Wilson's War (2007). He also played the male lead in the 1999 independent film ABCD. In 2008, Tahir played the role of the villain Raza in the Marvel Comics-based Iron Man.^[4] He played Starfleet Captain Richard Robau in the 2009 film Star Trek.^[5] In 2013, Tahir played President Patel in the science-fiction film Elysium.^[6]

Tahir has guest starred on many television series, including Alias, The Practice, Family Law, The Agency, NYPD Blue, Lost, 7th Heaven, The West Wing, Walker, Texas Ranger, The D.A., 24, Monk, Justice, Cold Case, Chuck, Hawaii Five-0^[7] and Warehouse 13.^[8] He also co-starred with Robert Beltran and Chase Masterson in the 2005 Sci-Fi Channel original movie Manticore.^[9] He also starred in the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy as Isaac^[10] and appeared on the CW series Supernatural as the Egyptian god Osiris in the seventh season's episode "Defending Your Life".^[11] Tahir starred in the ghost horror film Jinn.^[12] The role of Frank, Cliff Barnes' right-hand man in the reboot of Dallas.^[13] In 2015 Tahir appeared in a recurring role as the Commander on Supergirl.^[14]

He appeared in JAG in the episodes "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" which served as the two pilot episodes for the series NCIS. Seven years later, Tahir appeared in the spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles.

In 2016 Tahir joined American Crime as Rhys Bashir,^[15] and was cast as Captain Nemo on Once Upon a Time^[16]

Personal life

Tahir has two brothers (born 1969 & 1974). His father is Naeem Tahir, Director General at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts.^[17]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Faran Tahir.

• Faran Tahir at the Internet Movie Database
• Faran Tahir at AllMovie