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American actress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mozhan Navabi (born May 3, 1980) is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in The Blacklist and House of Cards and played Soraya Manutchehri in The Stoning of Soraya M..[1] She was previously known as Mozhan Marnò, but returned to her given last name, Navabi, in 2023.
Mozhan Navabi | |
|---|---|
Marnò in 2015 | |
| Born | May 3, 1980 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | Barnard College (BA) Yale University (MFA) |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, writer, director |
| Years active | 2006–present |
Navabi was born in Los Angeles. Her parents are from Iran and met in California.[2] She was educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.[3][4] She received her BA in French and German comparative literature from Barnard College and her MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama.
She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.[5] In addition to English she speaks French, German, Persian, and some Italian.[3]
Navabi played the title role in the 2008 film The Stoning of Soraya M., about a woman whose husband falsely accuses her of adultery, resulting in her death by stoning.[5][6] In addition she has had roles in a number of television series including The Paul Reiser Show, The Glades, Hung, The Mentalist, Bones, The Unit, Medium, K-ville, and Standoff. Navabi also appeared in the Untitled John Wells Medical Drama Pilot, which was not aired. She also stars in Ana Lily Amirpour's directorial debut, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, produced by Elijah Wood, under his company, The Woodshed.[5] In 2011, Navabi voiced Mirabelle Ervine, a Breton mage and Master Wizard of the College of Winterhold, in the critically acclaimed video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.[7] She played reporter Ayla Sayyad on seasons 2 and 3 of the acclaimed Netflix series House of Cards, for which she was nominated for a SAG award. She played Mossad agent and assassin Samar in seasons 2-6 of The Blacklist.[8][9]
Navabi also directs and writes screenplays. Her first feature-length screenplay, When the Lights Went Out, was a quarter finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship. She adapted When the Lights Went Out as a play and it was mounted at New York Stage and Film in July 2013 starring Laura Innes, and directed by Kate Whoriskey (Ruined).[5][10] Navabi’s short film, Incoming, which she wrote and directed, was accepted to the Noor Iranian Film Festival, LA SHORTS FEST, the Asians on Film Festival, and the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival.
In February 2024, Navabi was cast in the Netflix limited series Zero Day to portray a recurring role of Melissa Kornblau.[11]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Charlie Wilson's War | Refugee Camp Translator #2 | |
| 2008 | August | Ashley | |
| Traitor | Leyla | ||
| 2009 | The Stoning of Soraya M. | Soraya Manutchehri | |
| StereoLife | Gwendolyn Leeds | Short | |
| 2010 | Apples | Lucky (voice) | Short |
| 2014 | A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night | Atti | |
| 2019 | London Arabia | Mrs. Hassan | Short |
| Wonder Woman: Bloodlines | Doctor Cyber (voice) | ||
| 2021 | iGilbert | Detective Rivera | |
| 2024 | A Chair for Her | Lameece | Short |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Unit | Protocol Chief | Episode: "Security" |
| Standoff | Agnacia | Episode: "Life Support" | |
| 2007 | Shark | Maria Lutrova | Episode: "Gangster Movies" |
| K-Ville | Jodi Mazetta | Episode: "Ride Along" | |
| 2009 | Bones | Azita Jabbari | Episode: "A Night at the Bones Museum" |
| Medium | Rachel | Episode: "The Devil Inside, Part 2" | |
| 2009–11 | The Mentalist | Nicki Weymouth | Guest Cast: Season 2-3 |
| 2010 | Hung | Samara | Episode: "The Middle East is Complicated" |
| The Glades | Renee LeFleur | Episode: "Cassadaga" | |
| 2011 | The Paul Reiser Show | Zeba | Recurring Cast |
| 2012 | Ringer | Marguerite | Episode: "P.S. You're an Idiot" |
| In Plain Sight | Charlotte | Episode: "Sacrificial Lamb" | |
| 2014–15 | House of Cards | Ayla Sayyad | Recurring Cast: Season 2-3 |
| 2014–19 | Madam Secretary | Roxanne Majidi | Guest Cast: Season 1 & 6 |
| 2014–22 | The Blacklist | Samar Navabi | Main Cast: Season 2-6, Guest: Season 9 |
| 2019 | The Affair | Petra | Recurring Cast: Season 5 |
| 2021 | Maid | Tara | Recurring Cast |
| 2022 | Pam & Tommy | Gail Chwatsky | Recurring Cast |
| Fleishman Is in Trouble | Nahid | Recurring Cast | |
| 2024 | Law & Order | Stacey Dean | Episode: "Unintended Consequences" |
| TBA | Zero Day | Melissa Kornblau | Recurring Cast |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Mirabelle Ervine, Namira |
| 2016 | 1979 Revolution: Black Friday | Bibi Golestan |
| Year | Title | Author | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Hausfrau | Jill Alexander Essbaum | Narrator |
| 2016 | The Other Einstein | Marie Benedict | Narrator |
| Missoula | Jon Krakauer | Narrator[12] | |
| The Guest Room | Chris Bohjalian | ||
| 2018 | Song of a Captive Bird | Jasmin Dzarnik | Narrator |
| 2019 | The Stationery Shop | Marjan Kamali | Narrator |
| The Other Americans | Laila Lalami | Nora | |
| 2020 | The Paris Diversion | Chris Pavone | Narrator |
| The Book of Longings | Sue Monk Kidd | Narrator |
| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | The Stoning of Soraya M. | Nominated |
| 2015 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | House of Cards | Nominated |
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