Kokomo Tribune Entertainment NOW
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/516411
TV Media Weekly
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May 23 - 29, 2015
each of them made me go and
study that character."
"For all of them, there are ques-
tions that you are always searching
for the answer to," he continued.
"It's not the answer that's impor-
tant, it's the journey. The journey
that you're taking to find the an-
swer. That's what makes you a bet-
ter person. It makes you be less full
of yourself than thinking you're the
man, because when you look
around, you see that in the big pic-
ture you're nothing. You're just a
grain of sand."
With so many roles out there
and only so much time, Negah-
ban's a pretty busy guy. In between
shooting films, he's done voice
work on the "Assassin's Creed"
and "Call of Duty" video game
franchises and has had numerous
guest spots in TV shows such as
"Arrow," "Person of Interest" and
"The Mentalist." Bouncing be-
tween television and film has giv-
en Negahban insight into the dif-
ferences between working in both
of those mediums.
"When you work on a TV show,
if you're a guest star, you're com-
ing in and out," he said. "Those, to
me, are some of the toughest jobs
because you work three or four
days, coming in to something
that's already established."
By Andrew Sawyer
TV Media
A
n actor's career is defined
by the roles they play. A
great character actor in-
habits those characters to
give them life on screen and brings
a little piece of that experience to
everything that comes after.
Navid Negahban is one such ac-
tor with many credits to his name,
and audiences may best recognize
him as the villainous Abu Nazir
from Showtime's "Homeland" or
from the recent box office hit
"American Sniper" (2014). A self-
described character actor, Negah-
ban took some time out of his busy
shooting schedule for an exclusive
interview with TV Media.
The film he was working on was
"Price for Freedom," which will
have its world premiere at the
Hoboken International Film Festi-
val Friday, May 29, in Middletown,
New York. Based on the true story
and book by Dr. Marc Benhuri, the
film chronicles the creation of an
underground railroad to help peo-
ple escape from a brutal dictator-
ship in Iran in 1979. Benhuri's story
drew Iranian-born Negahban to
the role, and he was inspired fur-
ther when they had a chance to
meet.
"Marc himself answered some
of the questions I've had my entire
life," Negahban said. "You play a
character, you want to fall in love
with that character and I fell in love
with Marc."
One not-so-loveable character
Negahban played that is probably
his most well known is that of Abu
Nazir on "Homeland." He said he
gets recognized all the time when
he's out, but especially at airports.
People do double-takes, but can't
quite place why they know his
face. One incident occurred during
a trip to Israel when Negahban
was interrogated in a room for sev-
eral hours.
"The entire time I was sitting
there," he recounted, "I was think-
ing that I am Abu who has been
captured in this interrogation
room. What would he do? How
calm would he be? How would he
answer." Eventually, he explained
that he was shooting a television
show and the rest of the trip went
smoothly.
The dramatic drive grabbed hold
of Negahban from a very young
age, seeing him perform in plays as
young as eight years old. He cites
Behrouz Vossoughi, one of the
most legendary Iranian actors, as a
great inspiration for him, describ-
ing Vossoughi as the "Iranian Mar-
lon Brando."
"I grew up with him," Negah-
ban said. "I would skip school just
to go and see his movies." He
eventually got to meet Vossoughi
and counts meeting his hero as
one of the most special moments
in his life.
It was his passion for acting that
prompted his move from Iran
when he was 20. After spending
some time in Turkey as well as Bul-
garia, Negahban's star began to
rise while he lived in Germany and
worked at a theater company.
Times were tough, though, and he
admitted to sleeping in the streets
some nights if he missed the train.
His love of acting, however, kept
him at it.
"Since I was a kid, I wanted to
be too many things," Negahban
said. "I wanted to be an astronaut,
I wanted to be a police officer, I
wanted to be a cowboy. Nobody
can be all of those things in one
lifetime. I get a chance to be all of
them. Each of those characters al-
lowed me to discover the world
around me. Educated me. Because
Navid Negahban as Abu Nazir in "Homeland"
The answer is the journey
A chat with television and film star Navid Negahban
2
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