Quick Facts
Biography
Shaun Toub (Persian: شان طوب, born 1963) is an Iranian film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Yinsen in 2008's Iron Man, Farhad in the 2004 movie Crash, Rahim Khan in the movie The Kite Runner, and Majid Javadi in the Showtime TV series Homeland.
Personal life
Toub, who is of Persian Jewish background, was born in Tehran, Iran and raised in Manchester, England (his family left Iran before the 1979 revolution). At the age of fourteen, he moved to Switzerland, and after a two-year stay, he crossed the Atlantic to Nashua, New Hampshire to finish his last year of high school. 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, Shaun transferred to USC.
Shaun is active in the Iranian Jewish community. Through various charity events and public speaking engagements, he inspires the community to embrace the arts, as the arts enhance everyday life. He has been a recipient of the Sephard award at the Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival. Toub currently resides in Los Angeles.
Career
Through a chance encounter with a talent agent, he broke into the Hollywood scene. Toub has received accolades for several of his 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 (2007).
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.
His most recent role is in the series Grimm, playing the part of Bonaparte, one of the villains of the latest series.
Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Out of Time | Speechmaker | Television film |
| Glitz | Maitre'd | Television film | |
| 1989 | Dark Holiday | Prison Soldier | Television film |
| 1991 | Before the Storm | Jeep Soldier | Television film |
| 1993 | Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story | ||
| Hot Shots! Part Deux | Sleeping Guard | ||
| 1995 | OP Center | Lt. Arkov | Television film |
| Bad Boys | Store Clerk | ||
| 1996 | Broken Arrow | Max | |
| Executive Decision | Terrorist | ||
| Suddenly | Mr. Tabibsidan | Television film | |
| 1997 | Path to Paradise | El Sayyid Nosair | Television film |
| Steel Sharks | Capt. Reza Lashgar | ||
| Out to Sea | Bettor in Front | ||
| 1999 | Stigmata | Doctor | |
| D.R.E.A.M. Team | Prince Ali Saleed | Television film | |
| 2002 | Maryam | Dr. Darius Armin | |
| Live from Baghdad | Sadoun Al-Jenabi | Television film | |
| 2003 | Underground | Dark Skinned Man | Short film |
| 2004 | Land of Plenty | Hassan | |
| Crash | Farhad | ||
| 2006 | The Path to 9/11 | Emad Salem | Television film |
| The Nativity Story | Joaquim | ||
| 2007 | The Kite Runner | Rahim Khan | |
| Charlie Wilson's War | Hassan | Uncredited | |
| 2008 | Iron Man | Ho Yinsen | |
| 2010 | The Last Airbender | Iroh | |
| 2011 | Setup | Roth | |
| 2013 | Papa | Evan Shipman | |
| Iron Man 3 | Ho Yinsen | ||
| 2014 | Stretch | Filming | |
| Unity | Narrator | Documentary |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Hunter | Phillip DePaul/Stephen Avak | Episodes "Need Justice: Part 1" and "Need Justice: Part 2" |
| 1990 | Columbo | Amir | Episode: "Agenda for Murder" |
| Matlock | Rahmad Hussein | Episode: "Nowhere to Turn" | |
| Dragnet | Ralph Singas | Episode: "Queen of Hearts" | |
| Gabriel's Fire | Attendant | Episode: "Windows" | |
| 1991 | Under Cover | Jeep Soldier | Episode: "Sacrifices" |
| In the Heat of the Night | Cabby | Episode: "Unfinished Business" | |
| 1993 | Bodies of Evidence | Rajeeb Kambata | Episode: "Eleven Grains of Sand" |
| 1993–1994 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Asabi | Episodes "Pilot", "Neverending Battle", "I'm Looking Through You" and "All Shook You" |
| 1994 | Living Single | Cabby | Episode: "Fatal Distraction" |
| Café Americain | Colonel Faisal | Episode: "Love the One You're With" | |
| One West Waikiki | Joseph Kastrami | Episode: "Terminal Island" | |
| The Bold and the Beautiful | Moustafa | 2 episodes | |
| Married... with Children | Akbar | Episode: "A Man for No Seasons" | |
| 1995 | Ellen | Foreign Man | Episode: "Hello, I Must Be Going" |
| JAG | Prison Commandant | Episode: "Scimitar" | |
| 1996–1997 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Asabi | Episodes "Seconds" and "I've Got You Under My Skin" |
| 1996 | Sisters | Weatherman | Episode: "Don't Go to Springfield" |
| 1996 | Nash Bridges | Cecil Riskin | Episode: "Hit Parade" |
| 1996 | Sliders | Kheri-Heb | Episode: "Slide Like an Egyptian" |
| 1996–1997 | Pacific Blue | Mahmood | Episodes "Outlaw Extreme" and "The Last Ride" |
| 1997 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Lance | Episode: "Last Hope" |
| ER | Butler | Episode: "Ground Zero" | |
| Seinfeld | Pinter | Episode: "The Betrayal" | |
| The Visitor | N/A | Episode: "Going Home" | |
| 1998 | Early Edition | Hassan Rejim | Episode: "Mum's the Word" |
| Cybill | Scary Man | Episode: "Ka-Boom!" | |
| Soldier of Fortune, Inc. | Hamzed Ali Amin | Episode: "Iraq and Roll" | |
| 1999 | G vs E | Dr. Clean | Episode: "Evilator" |
| CI5: The New Professionals | Shabadi | Episode: "Orbit" | |
| Just Shoot Me! | Ernesto | Episode: "Love Is in the Air" | |
| 2000 | Cover Me | Spiros | Episode: "Where Have You Gone, Sandy Koufax?" |
| Charmed | Triad Member #2 | Episodes "Magic Hour", "Sight Unseen" and "Power Outrage" | |
| 2001 | Malcolm in the Middle | Janic | Episode: "Hal Quits" |
| The Sopranos | Arouk Abboubi | Episode: "Employee of the Month" | |
| Son of the Beach | Mohammed | Episode: "Chip's a Goy" | |
| Special Unit 2 | Herkamer | Episode: "The Wraps" | |
| The District | Boris | Episodes "Fools Russian: Part 1" and "Fools Russian: Part 2" | |
| The Division | Yuri | Episode: "The First Hit's Free, Baby" | |
| 2002 | She Spies | Joshua Bick | Episode: "Poster Girl" |
| 2003 | The Agency | Colonel Tambour - Al Tayeh's Deputy | Episode: "Unholy Alliances" |
| 2006–2007 | Smith | Jerry | Episodes "Pilot", "Three" and "Four" |
| 2007 | Lost | Sami | Episode: "Enter 77" |
| 2008 | NCIS | Khalid Mohammed Bakr | Episode: "Tribes" |
| 2009 | The Unit | Misha Belikov | Episode: "Bad Beat" |
| Chuck | Dr. Mohammed Zamir | Episode: "Chuck Versus the Broken Heart" | |
| 2011 | Castle | Philip Boyd | Episode: "Head Case" |
| 2012 | Luck | Dr. Khan | Episodes "Ace Forces Escalante to Swap Jockeys" and "Two Prized Colts Go Head-to-Head" |
| Last Resort | Admiral Safir Ahsan | Episode: "Cinderella Liberty" | |
| 2013 | Homeland | Majid Javadi | 6 Episodes |
| 2016 | Grimm | Conrad Bonaparte | Season 5, 4 Episodes |
Video game
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Iron Man | Yinsen | N/A |
