Navid Neghaban thought he may have had a career in comedy. Then he ended up playing a terrorist.
The Homeland star kicked off his acting career at age eight when he played an old man in a school play.
“I still remember my line,” he says, on a long-distance phone call from Los Angeles. “It doesn’t matter what I was doing, but (the audience) was laughing, and I got such a pleasure and such a great feeling out of it.
“I don’t know why I ended up playing a terrorist.”
Neghaban’s comic side may sound far-fetched to fans of Homeland, who only know him as the villainous Abu Nazir.
In life, however, Neghaban is quick to laugh, friendly, endearingly enthusiastic and, when it comes to Nazir, quietly philosophical.
It is clear the responsibility of playing a Muslim terrorist on an American television show has not escaped the Iranian/American, who laughs off the fact he sometimes runs into difficulties at various airports and once, at the Mexico border.
“Playing Abu has given me a better opportunity to portray the other side, to show a human being,” he says. “They’re not just animals running around shooting people. To understand their issues, the reasons behind their rage, (it) may help us to stop them from creating that rage.
“I believe by calling them terrorists, you’re putting them in a category where you don’t bother to get to know them. It’s a scary name, and it labels someone as a scary man. It creates fear for us. At the same time it doesn’t let us get to know them and understand where they are coming from… it may be able to help us solve this problem.”
It then stands to reason that Neghaban’s portrayal of Nazir is not of a heartless monster but as a very real and complex man – a man who shows, at times, great compassion – but who is also capable of doing terrible things.
“I would describe him as a man who has been true – who has had a lot of tragedies in his life – and I think he thinks that he has some cleaning up to do, to make the world a better place. Maybe that’s what he’s thinking,” he muses.
“We all have a core that is filled up with love. All the different emotions and what comes out is inspired by love. You love something, you fight for it. You love someone, you fight for them. I don’t think he is a maniac. I think he is a man who loves certain things and loves his belief system and is just fighting.”
Interestingly, Neghaban says audience reaction to Nazir has been quite positive, even in the US.
“It’s funny… I had a conversation with a group of people who met me for the first time and didn’t know who I was, and when they found out they were talking to Abu Nazir – you should have seen the reaction – they turned around and said, ‘I have to tell you, this guy, we think we should hate him but we can’t, we like him!’ The thing is, liking who he is is different from liking his acts. In many ways it’s a sad situation.”
The moral ambiguity that spreads across so many of the Homeland characters is something Neghaban is both proud of and grateful for.
“I think that’s the good thing about the show. There’s no villain – everyone is in the grey area. It depends on how you look at it. Each of these characters can turn into a villain or a hero,” he says.
“The creators of the show, I love them, I love them; I think they are very fantastic and very brave, just even allowing this character (Nazir) to be created.
As for what to expect in the third season, which was given the go-ahead on October 22, 2012, Neghaban remains tight-lipped.
“Season three… I’m sure you will love it,” he says. “If you like season one and if you like season two… you’re going to love season three.
“The show will deliver something you’ve never seen in the history of TV.”
The third season of Homeland will premiere in the US on September 29, 2013.
An Australian release date is yet to be confirmed.
This article first appeared in IF magazine issue #153