Shaun Toub

Art media — 07 December 2010

Shaun Toub (born 1963) is an Iranian film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Farhad in the 2004 movie Crash, as Rahim Khan in the movie The Kite Runner, and as Yinsen in the movie Iron Man.

Personal life

Toub, was born in Tehran, Iran and raised in Manchester, England (his family left Iran before the 1979 revolution).^[3] 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.

Career

Through a chance encounter with an astute 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, Just Shoot Me, Sliders, Nash Bridges, JAG, NCIS, The Bold and the Beautiful, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Married… with Children, Lost, Living Single and various movies made for television.

His filmography includes his memorable performance in Michael Bay‘s Bad Boys with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, John Woo‘s Broken Arrow with John Travolta and Christian Slater, Mick Jackson‘s Live from Baghdad starring Michael Keaton and Helena Bonham Carter for HBO, and Path to Paradise with Peter Gallagher, Marcia Gay Harden also for HBO. His performance as Farhad in Paul Haggis‘s Oscar-winning film Crash, a critical and box office surprise hit, received positive reviews. He also plays the role of Rahim Khan in The Kite Runner (2007).

He appeared in the Marvel Comics adaptation Iron Man as Yinsen with his Crash co-star, Terrence Howard. He has reprised his role as Yinsen for the video game adaptation.

His portrayal of Iroh in The Last Airbender, as well as that of costar Dev Patel (Zuko), are popularly praised as the sole pleasant performances in the film.