Navid Negahban
Actor
Navid Negahban joins the PMP Network to discuss his role in the Showtime series 'Homeland.' He portrays Abu Nazir, a high-ranking member of Al-Qaeda, described as the CIA's public enemy number one. Negahban shares his appreciation for the character's fascinating and multi-layered nature.
Navid Negahban
“Homeland”
About Navid Negahban
Navid Negahban is an Iranian-American actor, producer, and director born in Mashhad, Iran. He gained prominence portraying Abu Nazir in Showtime's Homeland and has appeared in major productions including Disney's live-action Aladdin as the Sultan, 12 Strong as General Dostum, and FX's Legion as the Shadow King. He received a BAFTA Games Award nomination for Best Performer in 2017 for the video game 1979 Revolution: Black Friday and founded the Romany Road Artist Foundation in 2019.
In this interview
- Described Abu Nazir as a fascinating and multi-layered character he loved playing
- Discussed portraying a high-ranking Al-Qaeda member, the CIA's public enemy number one
- Called the role a fantastic and juicy opportunity for an actor
“I love the character. It's so fascinating and so multi-layer and that's what I love about the character.”— Navid Negahban, in this interview
Since this interview
Negahban continued building a diverse career, appearing in The Cleaning Lady (2022) and Netflix's The Night Agent (2025), where he spoke entirely in Persian. He also made his directorial debut with the short film The Apple Tree, which won Best Short Film at the Japan Indies Film Festival in 2025.
