Iranian of the Day

This weekend, the annual 2011 Tony awards were held celebrating the age-old mankind's paradox of pretending. Arian Moayed received a well deserved nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play, for his portrayal of Musa the Iraqi translator in the acclaimed play, "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo", written by Rajiv Joseph, an actual living American-Indian.

Why do we like to act? Why do we choose to construct a completely alternate reality to our present, and delve into fantasy worlds where we momentarily live as completely different people, and why do we crave the drama of the stage and film?

Arian Moayed knows.

Moayed left Iran at age 5 after the 1979 revolution and he has basically grown up in the US graduating from high school in 1998 and Indiana University in 2002. Like many interesting and independently creative people who come from the Mid-West, Moayed's parents wisely chose to incubate their talented son in the steamy lush and idyllic suburbs of Chicago, Glenview to be precise.

Moayed moved to New York after college and began his theatrical career hooking up with fellow IU grad, Tom Ridgely who was at the Waterwell. After several years of incredibly varied stage productions including the intriguingly titled "The Persians: a comedy about war with five songs." (Note to self: I have got to see this play one day.)

Although he read for the Bengal Tiger role in 2007, Moayed was not able to join the show until 2009 when it debuted in LA.

Coming on the heels of his most recent success with Bengal Tiger, Moayed look sure to stir things up even more when shooting begins this year on his screenplay, "This Island Made Me" starring Campbell Scott, a story about an eleven-year old Iranian immigrant who tries to reunite his family together for a concert.

With the successes of Shohreh Aghdashloo as the most prominent example, it seems the stage suits Iranian acting and the modern Iranian actor well.