Arian Moayed

Arian Moayed
Moayed in 2024
Born (1980-04-15) April 15, 1980 (age 44)
Tehran, Iran
EducationIndiana University Bloomington (BA)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • screenwriter
  • director
Years active2002–present
SpouseKrissy Shields
Children2

Arian Moayed (Persian: آرین مؤید; born April 15, 1980) is an Iranian-American actor, screenwriter, and director. Moayed received two Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (2011) and A Doll's House (2023), and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his role as Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession.[1][2][3]

Moayed portrayed Todd Spodek in Netflix's Inventing Anna and Agent P. Cleary in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home and Disney+ series Ms. Marvel.

Early life

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Moayed was born in Tehran, Iran. His father is a banker by profession. His parents emigrated from Iran in 1986. The family settled in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, when Moayed was five years old. He speaks Persian.[4]

Moayed graduated from Glenbrook South High School in 1998. He then received a bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 2002. During college, he appeared in plays by Samuel Beckett, Carlo Goldoni and William Shakespeare.[1]

Career

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Moayed moved to Manhattan after college.[2] In 2002, Moayed and director Tom Ridgely, who was Moayed's roommate at Indiana University,[2] co-founded the Waterwell, a theater, education and film company based out of New York.[1][2] Waterwell has produced more than a dozen stage productions and shows since the theater was established.[1]

He portrayed the character of Musa in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, where Moayed appeared opposite Robin Williams.[1] Moayed received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Musa at the 65th Tony Awards in 2011.[1] He also received a Drama League Award nomination and received a Theater World Award.

As a writer/director, Moayed wrote and directed his first short Overdue, which premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival and was released on The Business of Being Born website. His second film, Day Ten, stars Omar Metwally and is about the days after September 11, 2001, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.

In 2016, he starred as Babur, one of two characters in Guards at the Taj, a play written by Rajiv Joseph, alongside Omar Metwally as Humayun. For his performance, he received a 2016 Obie Award presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice.

In 2017, Moayed starred as Richard Saad in Stephen Karam's The Humans, which performed at the Roundabout Theater off-Broadway, Helen Hayes Theater and Gerald Schoenfeld Theater on Broadway as well as the Hampstead Theater in London, United Kingdom. The production, directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Scott Rudin, won a Tony Award for Best Play, and garnered Moayed a Drama Desk Award.

From 2018 to 2023, Moayed starred as Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession, for which he received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 and 2023.

Waterwell

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Waterwell focuses on socially conscious and civic minded approach to theater, education, and film. Waterwell mission states, "empower its audience to change their lives and the world in which they live."

As the co-founder of Waterwell, Moayed has helped devise over a dozen original productions including most recently a dual-language Hamlet (played the title role) to critical acclaim. Also with Waterwell, Moayed produced a forgotten war musical called Blueprint Specials, produced on board of the Intrepid with a cast of veterans.[5]

With Waterwell Films, he has written and directed the Emmy nominated[6] and Webby nominated The Accidental Wolf, a premium short form series starring Kelli O'Hara, Laurie Metcalf, Denis O'Hare, Brandon Dirden, Ben McKenzie, Judith Ivey, Reed Birney, Marsha Stephanie Blake and a cast of over 70 Tony nominations on its own platform, theaccidentalwolf.com.

Personal life

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Moayed lives in New York City with his wife, Krissy Shields, and two daughters.[1][2]

In October 2023, Moayed signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter to Joe Biden, President of the United States, calling for a ceasefire of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in response to the October 7th terror attack.[7]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2003 Phileine Says Sorry Taxichauffeur 2
2007 Arranged Ahmed Khaldi
2008 The Christians Darmon
2011 Roadie Irfan
2014 Appropriate Behavior Ali
Rosewater Hamid
Saint Janet Dr. Apte
2015 The Rumperbutts Gavin
Rock the Kasbah Riza
2019 Abe Amir
2021 Spider-Man: No Way Home Agent P. Cleary
2023 You Hurt My Feelings Mark
Retribution Sylvain
2024 Shell Dr. Hubert
House of Spoils Andres
TBA Fountain of Youth TBA Post-production

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2003–2004 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Various 3 episodes
2004–2010 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Samil Al-Bana / Eli Gold 2 episodes
2005 Law & Order Fadi Abu Ubdeh Episode: "Bible Story"
2006 Six Degrees Jay Episode: "A New Light"
2007 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Amal Qinawi Episode: "Philadelphia"
M.O.N.Y. Ates Kiliclioglu NBC pilot
2009 White Collar Avet Episode: "Threads"
2013 The Following David 2 episodes
2014 Believe Corey 7 episodes
Black Box Cyrus Episode: "The Fear"
2015 The Blacklist Burke Episode: "Ruslan Denisov (No. 67)"
Elementary Yusuf Al Shamsi Episode: "Absconded"
2017 Mr. Mercedes Augie Episode: "Pilot"
2017–2019 Madam Secretary Mohammed "Mo" Alwash 11 episodes
2018–2023 Succession Stewy Hosseini Main role (25 episodes)
2021 Love Life Kian Parsa 6 episodes
2022 Inventing Anna Todd Spodek 9 episodes
Ms. Marvel Agent P. Cleary 3 episodes
2024–present Elsbeth Joe

Theatre

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Year Title Role Venue
2005 The Persians Xerxes Perry Street Theatre, Off-Broadway
2006 The American Pilot The Translator/The Trader/Soldier (u/s) New York City Center/Stage II, Off-Broadway
2007 The Last Year in the Life of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
as Devised by Waterwell: A Rock Operetta
Performer Barrow Street Theatre, Off-Broadway
2007 Queens Boulevard (the musical) Abdi Peter Norton Space, Off-Broadway
2008 Masked Na'im DR2 Theater, Off-Broadway
2009 Mahida's Extra Key to Heaven Ramin Peter Norton Space, Off-Broadway
2011 King Lear Edgar The Public Theater, Off-Broadway
2011 Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Musa Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway
2012 Food and Fadwa Emir Azzam New York Theatre Workshop, Off-Broadway
2015 Guards at the Taj Babur Linda Gross Theater, Off-Broadway
2015 The Humans Richard Saad Laura Pels Theater, Off-Broadway
2016 Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway
2017 Hamlet Hamlet Loreto Theater, Off-Broadway
2023 A Doll's House Torvald Helmer Hudson Theatre, Broadway

Accolades

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Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination
Award Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
Drama Desk Awards 2008 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Masked Nominated [8]
2016 Outstanding Ensemble Performance The Humans Won
2023 Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play A Doll's House Nominated
Drama League Award 2023 Distinguished Performance Nominated [9]
Hollywood Critics Association Awards 2023 Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series Succession Nominated [10]
Online Film & Television Association Awards 2022 Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated [11]
Primetime Emmy Awards 2022 Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated [12]
2023 Nominated [13]
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2024 Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series Won [14]
Tony Awards 2011 Best Featured Actor in a Play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Nominated [15]
2023 A Doll's House Nominated [16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Kennedy, Mark (2011-06-03). "Arian Moayed loving life thanks to 'Bengal Tiger'". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ryzik, Melena (2011-05-01). "From Starry-Eyed to Star: Arian Moayed Is Acclaimed for 'Bengal Tiger' and Waterwell". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. ^ "Arian Moayed". imdb.com.
  4. ^ Lacher, Irene (2009-05-29). "Arian Moayed aims to show the world the true face of Middle Easterners". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  5. ^ "Blueprint Specials". The American Theatre Wing. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  6. ^ "The Accidental Wolf". Television Academy. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  7. ^ "Artists4Ceasefire". Artists4Ceasefire. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  8. ^ "Arian Moayed – Broadway Cast & Staff IBDb".
  9. ^ "2023 Drama League Award Nominees Announced". 2023-04-25. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  10. ^ "Hollywood Critics Association's Creative Arts Category Nominations for the 2023 HCA TV Awards – Hollywood Critics Association". Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  11. ^ "26th Annual TV Awards (2021-22) – Online Film & Television Association". Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  12. ^ Buchanan, David (August 3, 2022). "Emmy nominee profile: Arian Moayed ('Succession') finally earns recognition for his hilarious, shrewd Stewy". Gold Derby. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  13. ^ "Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series Nominees / Winners 2023". Television Academy. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  14. ^ "Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  15. ^ "Tony Awards: Complete list of nominees". The Washington Post. May 3, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  16. ^ Sherman, Rachel; Cohn, Gabe (May 2, 2023). "Tony Awards Nominations 2023: Updating List". The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
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