Omid Abtahi

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Omid Abtahi
Abtahi speaking at the 2016 Wondercon in Los Angeles, California
Born (1979-07-12) July 12, 1979 (age 44)
Alma materCalifornia State University Fullerton (BA)
OccupationActor
Years active2005-present

Omid Abtahi (Persian: امید ابطحی; born July 12, 1979)[1][2] is an Iranian-born American actor.[3] He is best known for his roles as Salim in Starz Original American Gods, Penn Pershing in The Mandalorian on Disney+, Saleem Ulman in NCIS on Paramount+, and Homes in the fourth installment of The Hunger Games film series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. He is also known for his performances as Justin Yates in Ghost Whisperer on CBS and Detective Jerry Molbeck in the American TV adaptation of Those Who Kill on A&E.

Early life and education[edit]

Abtahi was born in Tehran, Iran. At the age of 5 he moved to Paris with his family and later they moved to the United States, finally moving to Irvine, Orange County, California when he was 10.[3][4]

Abtahi graduated from University High School in Irvine in 1997 and attended California State University, Fullerton. He began studying advertising, then picked up a second major in theater and graduated in 2002.[4][5]

Career[edit]

Before acting on television, Abtahi performed on stage in many theatrical productions including Fraulein Else at the Berkeley Repertory, McCarter Theatre and Longwarf Theatre; Adoration of the Old Woman at the Sundance Theatre Lab and Your Everyday Typical Romantic Comedy at the Kennedy Centre. He has also guest starred on the television series JAG, Judging Amy and 24. He played Justin Yates in Ghost Whisperer.

After arriving in Los Angeles, Abtahi was a series regular on FX's Over There and Showtime's Sleeper Cell.

Abtahi made his New York stage debut in Urge for Going by Mona Mansour.[6] He is also the voice of Farid in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and of Sergeant John Lugo in Spec Ops: The Line. He also voices Victor "Gator" Diallo in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Film Role Notes
2006 Running with Scissors Restaurant Manager
2008 The Mysteries of Pittsburgh Mohammed
Ocean of Pearls Amrit Singh
The Last Lullaby Van
Space Chimps Dr. Jagu (voice)
2009 Brothers Yusuf
2010 Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back Dr. Jagu / Reporter #2 (voice) Direct-to-video
2012 Argo Reza
2014 Boys of Abu Ghraib Ghazi Hammoud
2015 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 Homes
2016 Window Horses Ramin (voice)
2021 Justice Society: World War II Hawkman (voice) Direct-to-video

Television[edit]

Key
Denotes television programs that have not yet aired.
Year Film Role Notes
2005 JAG Wahid Episode: "Heart of Darkness"
Judging Amy Reza Ajami Episode: "The New Normal"
Over There Pfc. Tariq Nassiri 12 episodes
2005–2009 24 Safa / Jibraan Al-Zarian 4 episodes
2006 Sleeper Cell Salim 7 episodes
2007 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Chandru 'Dru' Kambhatla Episode: "The Good, the Bad and the Dominatrix"
The Unit The Boss Episode: "Play 16"
2007–2008 Ghost Whisperer Justin Yates 3 episodes
2008 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Sumner Episode: "Gnothi Seauton"
Eli Stone Amir Khan Episode: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
My Own Worst Enemy Tony Nazari 9 episodes
2009 Can Openers Ali TV movie
Bones Hal Shirazi Episode: "The Bones That Foam"
NCIS Saleem Ulman 2 episodes
2009–2010 FlashForward Ed Fiore 2 episodes
Three Rivers Dr. Yousef Khouri 2 episodes
2010 Pleading Guilty Jonathan Ziven TV movie
The Event William 2 episodes
Nikita Amir Komera Episode: "Resistance"
The Mentalist Markham Shankar Episode: "Red Hot"
Grey's Anatomy Aasif Episode: "Something's Gotta Give"
2010–2013 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Cadet Amis (voice) 2 episodes
2011 Fringe Simon Phillips Episode: "Concentrate and Ask Again"
Homeland Raqim Faisel 3 episodes
Hide Neil TV movie
2012 The Good Wife Samir Episode: "Live From Damascus"
Family Guy Prince Faisal (voice) Episode: "Leggo My Meg-O"
Covert Affairs Sayid al-Muqri Episode: "Hello Stranger"
2012–2013 Last Resort Nigel 5 episodes
2013 Family Guy Mahmoud (voice) Episode: "Turban Cowboy"
Castle Waqas Rasheed Episode: "Dreamworld"
NCIS: Los Angeles Ari Sayed 2 episodes
Revolution Captain Riley 2 episodes
2014 Legends Bashir Al-Kanazer 2 episodes
Those Who Kill Detective Jerry Molbeck 10 episodes
2015 Better Call Saul Detective Abbasi 3 episodes
2016 Damien Amani Golker 10 episodes
2017 Shameless Sameer Episode: "Frank's Northern Shuttle Express"
Hawaii Five-0 Naser Salaam Episode: "He ke'u na ka 'alae a Hina"
2017–2021 American Gods Salim 21 episodes
2018 The Crossing Jake 2 episodes
We Bare Bears Kale (voice) Episode: "The Limo"
2019 Love, Death & Robots Wes (voice) Episode: "Sonnie's Edge"
DuckTales Faris D'jinn (voice) 2 episodes
2019–2023 The Mandalorian Penn Pershing 5 episodes
2021–2022 Fear the Walking Dead Howard 8 episodes
2021 The Lost Symbol Inmate Episode: "As Above, So Below"
2022–2023 Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight Alfie (voice) 4 episodes
2023 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Ahmed (voice) 4 episodes
City on Fire Detective Ali Parsa 8 episodes

Video games[edit]

Year Film Role Notes
2012 Diablo III Additional Voices
Unit 13 Informant 1
Spec Ops: The Line Staff Sergeant John Lugo
Call of Duty: Black Ops II Farid, Mujahideen Soldier
2015 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Additional Voices
2016 Titanfall 2 Militia Captain
1979 Revolution: Black Friday Babak Azadi
Mafia III Additional Voices
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Victor 'Gator' Diallo
2018 Thief of Thieves Corbin "Chip" Tavistock
2019 Metro Exodus Cannibal, Child of the Forest
Days Gone Additional Voices
Rage 2 Miscellaneous Voices
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Additional Voice
2020 Disintegration Ox-eye, Outlaw, Redshirt
2021 The Artful Escape Talish, Hyperionite 3

Short film[edit]

Year Film Role Notes
2009 Not Necessary Larry Dallas
Diplomacy American Interpreter
Stars The Pimp
2010 An Idle Dream Pascal
2011 The Perfect Meal Social Worker (voice)
2018 Goliath 22 Omar

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Alumnus Omid Abtahi cast in Hunger Games". 30 September 2014.
  2. ^ https://www.twitter.com/abtahiomid/status/1546895816471855104?s=46
  3. ^ a b " Omid Abtahi Confirms as a Judge". Archived from the original on 2018-03-04. Retrieved 2016-01-29. noorfilmfestival.com Accessed 2016-1-28
  4. ^ a b " Omid Abtahi cast in Hunger Games". 30 September 2014. ocregister.com Accessed 2016-1-29
  5. ^ https://unitheatrearts.org/industry-speaker/
  6. ^ BWW News Desk. "Photo Flash: Public Theater's URGE FOR GOING". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2016-01-29.

External links[edit]