Cast & creator
Navid Negahban
Best known for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Mentalist
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
55
film credits
48
television credits
100
1970–2026 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (103)
Showing 103 of 103 credits
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Sam Farhidi
1999Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Rankesh Chanoor
1999
The Mentalist
Hassan Zarif
2008
Law & Order
Imam Ibrahim
1990
The Fix
Qasim
2026
Criminal Minds
Hassan Nadir
2005
NCIS
Jalil Shaloub
2003
Scene of the Crime
Harun
1970
NCIS: Los Angeles
Aziz Anshiri
2009
CSI: Miami
Rahim Farooq
2002
24
Abdullah
200124
Jamot
2001
JAG
Jamal Bin Fahad Al-Hadi
1995
Arrow
Al Ow-Al
2012
The West Wing
Maz
1999
Lost
Omar
2004
Fringe
Dr. Malik Yusef
2008
The Night Agent
Abbas Mansuri
2023
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Morsi
2000
Person of Interest
Ali Hasan
2011
The Closer
Dr. al-Thani
2005
Without a Trace
Nazar Rahim
2002
Homeland
Abu Nazir
2011
Scorpion
Agent Khara
2014
Las Vegas
Farouk Naeem
2003
The Shield
Zayed Al-Thani
2002
The Cleaning Lady
Hayak Barsamian
2022
The Unit
Faheed
2006
Veep
Abbas
2012
Shark
Amir Khan
2006
The Agency
Palestinian Officer
2001The Agency
Arab Driver
2001
Legion
Amahl Farouk / Shadow King
2017
Pantheon
Farhad (voice)
2022
God Friended Me
Hasan
2018God Friended Me
Hassan
2018
Castlevania
Sala (voice)
2017
Tehran
Masoud Tabrizi
2020
The Old Man
Faraz Hamzad
2022
Dark Blue
Ahmad Satar
2009
American Sniper
Sheikh Al-Obeidi
2014
Aladdin
Sultan
2019
WondLa
Loroc (voice)
2024
Moonlight
Amir Fayed
2007
Threat Matrix
Fred
2003
Alias
Foreman
2001
American Assassin
Minister Behurz
2017
12 Strong
General Dostum
2018
Brothers
Murad
2009
The Serpent Queen
Claude de Lorraine
2022
Charlie Wilson's War
Refugee Camp Translator
2007
Over There
Iraqi Father
2005
Kandahar
Mohammad 'Mo' Doud
2023
Splinter Cell: Deathwatch
Reza "Gunther" Karimi (voice)
2025
Sniper: Ghost Shooter
Mothershed
2016
The Team
Said Gharbour
2015
Pretty Persuasion
Mr. Azzouni
2005
Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham
Ra's al Ghul (voice)
2023
Sand Castle
Kadeer
2017
Ghosts of Beirut
Ali Reza Asgari (2007)
2023
Brain on Fire
Dr. Najjar
2017
Atlas Shrugged: Part I
Dr. Robert Stadler
2011
Powder Blue
Doctor Brooks
2009
Words and Pictures
Rashid
2014
The Stoning of Soraya M.
Ali
2009
Sitting in Bars with Cake
Isaac
2023
The Power of Few
Sahel
2013
In Full Bloom
The Shepherd (voice)
2019
Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming
Mehran (voice)
2017
Damascus Cover
Sarraj
2017
Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero
Mohammad Mohammad-Mohammadi
2016The Marshal
Lenny Gibbs
Murder 101: If Wishes Were Horses
Sheik Ahmad
2007
Broken
Keith
2007
War Stories
Al Qaeda Rebel at Bridge
2003
The Moment
Malik Jamil
2013
The Fallen Ones
Ammon
2005
Dead Air
Abir
2009
Heal
Abdul
2010
Boundaries
Trombonist
2000
Richard III
Sir James Tyrrel
2007
Saving Jessica Lynch
Fedayeen Colonel
2003
Saat des Terrors
Kashif Baqri
2018
Price for Freedom
Victor Daniels
2017
Tehranto
Narrator (voice)
2022
In the Garden of Tulips
2023
Am Abgrund
Tofik Gasimov
2024
Baba Joon
Itzhak
2015
The Ambassador's Wife
Ambassador
2009
Dark Corners
Karim
2021
Stellina Blue
Amir Keshavarz
2009
Day One
Dr. Nasir
2015
The First Goodbye
2021Diplomacy
Iranian Foreign Minister
2009
Osprey
Adam Zakaria
2017Osprey
Co-Producer
2017
London Arabia
Mo
2019London Arabia
Producer
2019
Becoming the Enemy
Victor Daniels
2017
Carving a Life
Dr. Kasem
2017
Liberation
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
2009The Apple Tree
Director
Djinn
Djinn
2008