Nick E. Tarabay

Nick E. Tarabay
Tarabay at Florida SuperCon 2014
Born (1975-08-28) 28 August 1975 (age 49)
Beirut, Lebanon
OccupationActor
Years active2000–present

Nick Emad Tarabay (born 28 August 1975) is a Lebanese-born American actor. He is known for portraying Ashur on the Starz television series Spartacus and Cotyar on the Amazon Prime Video science fiction television series The Expanse.

Early life

Tarabay was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to a large family. His parents reside in Lebanon, as does his younger brother and a large extended family of cousins, uncles and aunts.[1] He moved to New York after high school. As a clothing salesman, he worked for Hugo Boss and Gucci, while studying acting at the T. Schreiber Studio and appearing in Off-Off-Broadway plays. He moved to Los Angeles in 2004, where he studied under Larry Moss and appeared in their studio's staging of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.

Career

Tarabay made his television debut as an extra in an episode of Sex and the City (2000). He got another minor role in The Sopranos (2001–2004), where he played the role of Matush, a drug dealer. He also played the role of The Captor in David Ellison's 2005 dramatic short film When All Else Fails.[2] As well he played a role in the 2008's television series Crash, in which he played the character Axel Finet, a hot-tempered police lieutenant.[3][4] He was not brought back for the second season.

Tarabay played a central supporting role in the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand in the character of Ashur, a former gladiator who was injured and now is used as an agent and spy.[5] He also appears in the prequel miniseries Spartacus: Gods of the Arena with the same role prior to his injury, as well as the sequel to Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Vengeance.[6] In 2013, he appeared as Klingon patrol officer in J. J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness.

Tarabay played a role in the seventh season of USA Network's Burn Notice as "Dexter Gamble."[7] Additionally, Tarabay portrays Reiken in the Brent Ryan Green film The Veil.[8] In 2014, he joined the cast of the CW series Arrow as supervillain Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang.[9] Tarabay served as a recurring character in the fourth season of Person of Interest as "Devon Grice," an ISA operative. He joined the TV show The Expanse in its second season.[10] He voiced the role of Haluk in Bioware's 2019 video game Anthem. In October 2020 he was cast as the villain Eclipso in the second season of the CW television series Stargirl.[11]

Filmography

Film roles
Year Title Role Notes
2013 Star Trek Into Darkness Klingon
2015 Death Valley Roy Dillen
2017 The Veil Reiken
2018 Pacific Rim: Uprising Sonny
2022 Wendell & Wild Fawzi Voice role
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2000 Sex and the City Dancer 1 episode
2001–2004 The Sopranos Matush 3 episodes
2007 CSI: Miami Neil Massey 1 episode
2007 The Unit Fat Man / Man 2 episodes
2007 Moonlight Ralf Martan 1 episode
2008–2009 Crash Axel Finet Main role (season 1)
2009 Without a Trace Bobby Elber 1 episode
2009 NCIS Haziq Khaleel 1 episode
2010–2012 Spartacus Ashur Main role, 27 episodes
2011 Detroit 1-8-7 Amir Sakhani 1 episode
2012 Common Law Cooper Williams 1 episode
2013 Burn Notice Dexter Gamble 2 episodes
2013 Major Crimes Jason Goss 1 episode
2014 Believe Niko Zepada 5 episodes
2014, 2017 Arrow Digger Harkness / Captain Boomerang 3 episodes
2014–2015 Person of Interest Devon Grice 3 episodes
2015 Longmire Tyler Malone 3 episodes
2016 Castle Vasily Zhirov Episode: "Dead Red"
2017–2018 The Expanse Cotyar Ghazi Recurring role (seasons 2–3), 15 episodes
2018 Taken Boone Episode: "Render"
2020 Motherland: Fort Salem Witchfather Episodes: "A Biddy's Life", "Hail Beltane", "Mother Mycelium"
2021 MacGyver Tibor Babic Episode: "Jack + Kinematics + Safe Cracker + MgKNO3 + GTO"
2021 Stargirl Eclipso Main role (season 2)[11]
2022 The Cleaning Lady Julian Cortes Episode: "Paradise Lost"
TBD Spartacus: House of Ashur Ashur
Video game roles
Year Title Role Notes
2019 Anthem Haluk Voice role
2019 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Jamal "The Butcher" Rahar Voice role and motion capture
2021 The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes Salim Othman Voice role

References

  1. ^ Godbee, Kevin (22 January 2009). "Cigar Smoking Celebrity Interview - Nick Tarabay". Puff. Puff Enterprises. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
  2. ^ "When All Else Fails (2005)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  3. ^ Perry, Byron (18 June 2008). "D.B. Sweeney, Nick Tarabay". Variety. Retrieved 2009-08-30.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Crash". Starz Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2009-10-15. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
  5. ^ "Australian Andy Whitfield is 'Spartacus'". The Hollywood Reporter. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-30.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (November 7, 2011). "Starz Renews 'Spartacus' for Third Season". The Hollywood Reporter.
  7. ^ "Burn Notice Episode Guide". USA Network.
  8. ^ "First Look At Actors William Moseley And Serinda Swan In 'The Veil'". Knowshi Magazine. 6 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  9. ^ "'Arrow' Casts 'Flash' Villain 'Captain Boomerang'". Screenrant. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  10. ^ KEVIN (26 April 2018). "Pop-Culturalist Chats with The Expanse's Nick E. Tarabay". Pop-Culturalist.com. there is a certain freedom to play the "villain" because they're never bound by rules
  11. ^ a b Petski, Denise (October 26, 2020). "'Stargirl' Casts Nick Tarabay & Jonathan Cake As Eclipso & The Shade, Adds Ysa Penarejo As Recurring". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2020-10-26.