Necar Zadegan

Necar Zadegan
Born (1982-06-20) June 20, 1982 (age 42)
ZAHEDAN, islamic Republic of Iran
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Barbara
Occupation(s)Actress, model
Years active2005–present
Notable credit(s)24
Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce
NCIS: New Orleans
Elena Undone

Necar Zadegan (Persian: نکار زادگان /nɪˈkɑːr ˈzædɪɡæn/; born June 20, 1982) is a German-born actress. Zadegan made her Broadway debut alongside Robin Williams in the Pulitzer Prize–nominated production Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo in 2011. She is known for playing First Lady (and then President) Dalia Hassan on the eighth season of 24.[1] She then played the leading roles of Delia Banai on Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce and Special Agent Hannah Khoury on NCIS: New Orleans.[2]

Early life

Zadegan was born on June 20, 1982, in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.[3] She is of Iranian heritage.[3]

Zadegan graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) with a BA degree in Literature.[3] She spent a semester abroad at the Sorbonne University.[2] She speaks Persian, French, English, and German fluently.[2]

Career

From 2005 to 2009, Zadegan had roles in such television series as The Bernie Mac Show, Nip/Tuck, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, The Unit, How I Met Your Mother, Big Shots, Lost, The Shield, and CSI: Miami.

In 2009, Zadegan appeared in the Persian language stage production of From Satellite with Love "Az Mahvareh Ta Eshgh", touring in the U.S. and Europe.[4]

In 2009, Zadegan played 'The Leper' in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which moved to Broadway in 2011.[5][6] The same year she portrayed the First Lady turned president, Dalia Hassan, in the FOX series 24.[7]

Zadegan appeared in the 2010 film Elena Undone in the title role of Elena Winters for FilmMcQueen.[8] That same year she also appeared opposite Michael Sheen and Samuel L. Jackson in the role of Jehan Younger in the Columbia TriStar psychological thriller Unthinkable.

Zadegan returned to television as resident villainess Isabel on the NBC series The Event.[1] She then took on the series regular role of Dr. Gina Bandari on the 2012 series Emily Owens M.D.[9] She appeared as Scarlet Leon, the female lead, opposite Greg Kinnear in the 2014 American version of the comedy Rake.[10]

Later that same year she rounded out the all female-lead cast for Bravo's first scripted series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce in the role of Delia Banai. The show went on to be the first ever to get a three-season pickup and ran for five seasons before premiering its final season in Spring 2018.[11]

In 2015 Zadegan continued to appear in other television series such as Extant, Legends and as the Queen of Iran opposite Michael Sheen for Showtime's critical success Masters of Sex.

Zadegan joined the cast of NCIS: New Orleans in October 2018 playing the role of Special Agent Hannah Khoury, the senior agent in the NCIS New Orleans office.[12]

Zadegan played the role of Ra-Sharir in the first two episodes of season 3 of Documentary Now! for IFC in 2019.[13]

She voices the character of Viola in the 2019 virtual reality sci-fi feature film Eleven Eleven, written by Australian screenwriter Lucas Taylor.[14][15]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Touch Kerime Short film
2008 In Another Life Mira Short film
2010 Unthinkable Jehan Younger
2010 When the Voices Fade Nadia Short film
2010 Elena Undone Elena
2010 The Deal TBA Short film
2011 Joshua Tree Angelina
2011 Meth Head Maia
2019 Eleven Eleven Viola (voice) Sci-fi VR film
2022 Dear Albert Simone
2024 Cosmetic Criminals Carolyn (Mom) Video
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2005 The Bernie Mac Show Sales associate 1 episode
2006 Nip/Tuck Nastran 1 episode
2007 NCIS Lt. Rihama Shaheen (uncredited) 1 episode
2007 The Unit Pari 1 episode
2007 How I Met Your Mother Girl #2 1 episode ("Moving Day")
2007 Big Shots Prostitute Pilot episode
2008 Lost Translator 1 episode ("Confirmed Dead")
2008 The Shield Dr. Lucine 1 episode
2009 Floored and Lifted Caroline 2 episodes
2010 CSI: Miami Salumeh Farooq 1 episode
2010 24 Dalia Hassan Recurring role, 20 episodes
2010 Outlaw Patty Friedman 2 episodes
2010–11 The Event Isabel 5 episodes
2011 A Gifted Man Madeline Fahn 1 episode
2012 Harry's Law Sarita Radan 1 episode
2012 Major Crimes Roma Strauss 1 episode ("The Ecstasy and the Agony")
2012–13 Emily Owens, M.D. Gina Bandhari Main role
2013 The Fosters Gretchen 1 episode ("Clean")
2014 Rake Scarlet Leon Main role
2014 Legends Ana Paulanos 2 episodes
2014–2018 Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce Delia Banai Main role
2014–2015 Extant Shayna Velez 6 episodes
2015 Masters of Sex Queen of Iran 1 episode ("Three's a Crowd")
2018–2019 The Good Doctor Dr. Ko 3 episodes
2018 Here and Now Layla Shokrani 10 episodes
2018–2021 NCIS: New Orleans Special Agent Hannah Khoury Main role (Seasons 5–7)
2019 Documentary Now! Ra-Sharir 2 episodes
2020 Star Trek: Picard Bjayzl 1 episode
2021–2024 Mayor of Kingstown Assistant D.A. Evelyn Foley 20 episodes

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2014 The Elder Scrolls Online Additional voices
2017 Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds Ourea Voice, DLC for the original game
2023 The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom
2023 Diablo IV Additional voices
2024 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Nawal Shafiq-Barclay

References

  1. ^ a b Bennett, Eve (2019-01-10). Gender in Post-9/11 American Apocalyptic TV: Representations of Masculinity and Femininity at the End of the World. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-5013-3109-1.
  2. ^ a b c "Special Agent Hannah Khoury, Necar Zadegan, Biography". CBS. Viacom CBS. 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  3. ^ a b c Martinez, Jose (April 2010). "Necar Zadegan: A Force of Nature". Venice Magazine. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2021 – via Wayback Machine, Internet Archive.
  4. ^ Interview with Necar Zadegan – Hollywood (September 25, 2009) Archived August 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Parstimes.com
  5. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "Bengal Tiger, by Pulitzer Finalist Rajiv Joseph, Opens April 25 in Return to L.A." Playbill. Archived from the original on 2022-09-12. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  6. ^ Isherwood, Charles (April 2011). "Ghostly Beast Burning Bright in Iraq". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  7. ^ Luther, Catherine A.; Lepre, Carolyn Ringer; Clark, Naeemah (2017-09-12). Diversity in U.S. Mass Media. John Wiley & Sons. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-119-23405-0.
  8. ^ Harvey, Dennis (July 2010). "Elena Undone". Variety. Archived from the original on 2022-09-10. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  9. ^ Peikert, Mark. "Necar Zadegan Talks High School, Theater, and 'Emily Owens, M.D.'". Backstage. Archived from the original on 2022-09-11. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  10. ^ Peikert, Mark. "The Magical Casting Process for Fox's 'Rake'". Backstage. Archived from the original on 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  11. ^ Kaplan, Ilana (8 June 2018). "Lisa Edelstein Says Goodbye to Her 'Girlfriends'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  12. ^ Rice, Lynette. "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce star joining NCIS: New Orleans as a special agent". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2018-08-24. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  13. ^ Stern, Marlow (20 February 2019). "Owen Wilson on Playing a Cocaine-Fueled Cult Leader in 'Documentary Now!'". Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 10 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  14. ^ Eleven Eleven at IMDb
  15. ^ "Lucas Taylor". Troyeur. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.