Shaun Toub

Biography

Shaun Toub is a film and television actor of Iranian birth and American nationality, best known for supporting roles in action films and dramas from the 1990s and 2000s. The sources do not agree on his date of birth, so it should be treated with caution, though he is generally placed in Tehran. His career spans film, television and video games, and he is especially associated with his work in the Marvel universe.

Born into an Iranian Jewish family, he spent part of his childhood in Manchester before living in Switzerland. Around the age of thirteen or fourteen he settled in Nashua, New Hampshire, to finish high school. He then studied for two years in Massachusetts before transferring to the University of Southern California. After a chance meeting with a talent agent, he made his way into Hollywood.

His first wider exposure came through action cinema, with appearances in Bad Boys, directed by Michael Bay, and Broken Arrow, directed by John Woo. Later he gained wider recognition with Crash, Paul Haggis's Oscar-winning ensemble drama, where he plays Farhad, and with The Kite Runner, in the role of Rahim Khan. In the Marvel universe he played Ho Yinsen in Iron Man, a part he revisited in the video game and in a brief cameo in Iron Man 3. He also took on the role of Iroh in the adaptation of The Last Airbender.

On television he has appeared in more than a hundred episodes of series such as Seinfeld, The Sopranos, ER and Homeland, and more recently has worked on the series Tehran and Snowpiercer. Active in the Iranian Jewish community, he takes part in charity events and public talks on the value of the arts in everyday life. He lives in Los Angeles. His legacy is that of a steady supporting actor who has worked across major films and television drama, bringing texture to secondary characters.

Key films

• Bad Boys (1995), Michael Bay's action comedy that launched Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, in a supporting role.
• Broken Arrow (1996), John Woo's thriller with John Travolta and Christian Slater, where Toub plays a secondary part.
• Crash (2004), Paul Haggis's ensemble drama, winner of the Oscar for best picture, in which he plays Farhad.
• The Kite Runner (2007), the adaptation of the novel in which Toub plays Rahim Khan, a key figure for the protagonist.
• Iron Man (2008), where he plays Ho Yinsen, a captive scientist who helps the protagonist build his first armour.
• Iron Man 3 (2013), with a brief cameo that revisits the Yinsen character.