Shaun Toub


Shaun Toub is an Iranian–American actor. He is best known for his roles as Yinsen in Iron Man and Iron Man 3, Farhad in Crash, Rahim Khan in The Kite Runner, Majid Javadi in the Showtime TV series Homeland, and Faraz Kamali in Tehran.

Early life

Toub, who is of Persian Jewish background, was born in Tehran, Iran. His parents were both podiatrists. At age 2, he moved to Manchester, England, where his mother attended podiatry school. He returned to Iran, where he lived until he was 13, before moving to Switzerland. He moved to Nashua, New Hampshire to finish his last year of high school. He decided at age 5 he wanted to become an actor. His high school yearbook notes: "The funniest guy in school and the most likely to succeed in the entertainment world." After two years of college in Massachusetts, Toub transferred to USC.
Toub is active in the Iranian Jewish community, through various charity events and public speaking. He has been a recipient of the Sephard award at the Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival. Toub resides in Los Angeles, with his wife, Lorena.

Career

Through a chance encounter with a talent agent, he broke into the Hollywood scene. Toub has made appearances in over 100 television episodes including Seinfeld, The Sopranos, ER, NCIS, Married... with Children, Lost, Homeland and various movies made for television.
His filmography includes his performance in Michael Bay's Bad Boys with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, John Woo's Broken Arrow with John Travolta and Christian Slater and Mick Jackson's Live from Baghdad starring Michael Keaton and Helena Bonham Carter for HBO. His performance as Farhad in Paul Haggis's Oscar-winning film Crash received positive reviews. He played the part of the Virgin Mary's father in The Nativity Story. He also played Rahim Khan in The Kite Runner.
Toub played Ho Yinsen in the 2008 film Iron Man. Yinsen is the surgeon held captive by terrorists who first saves Tony Stark's life then helps Stark escape by helping him construct the first Iron Man suit. Toub reprises the role in a cameo appearance in the 2013 film Iron Man 3.
In the series Grimm he played the part of Bonaparte, one of the villains of the latest series.

Filmography

Films

Television

Video game