Babak Tafti is an Iranian-American actor best known for the role of

Emil Michael Emil G. Michael ( ; born September 19, 1972) is an Egyptian-born American businessman. Michael was previously the senior vice president of business and chief business officer at Uber, and the chief operating officer of Klout. In December 2 ...

on ''

Super Pumped ''Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber'' is a 2019 book by ''New York Times'' journalist Mike Isaac. The book covers the events between the founding of Uber and its initial public offering in 2019. Background The book was based on Mike Isaac's ...

,'' Chris in '' The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed'', Bradford Luke in '' Billions'', and Eduard Asgarov in ''

Succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

''.

Career

Tafti graduated from the

Yale School of Drama The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in ...

. He appeared as Saeed in the 2012 production of the J.T. Rogers play '' Blood and Gifts'' at

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a nonprofit professional theater on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under the ...

. The following year, he reprised his role as Khadi Asmann in the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

debut of

Rajiv Joseph Rajiv Joseph (born June 16, 1974) is an American playwright. He was named a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'', and he won an Obie Award for Best New American Play for his play ''Descr ...

's play ''The North Pool''; he had previously performed the role at the

Barrington Stage Company Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is a regional theatre company in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. It was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, and former Managing Director Susan Sperber in Sheffield, Massachusetts. ...

. He later reprised his role as Rodney in the commercial run of

Bess Wohl Bess Wohl is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actress whose plays include ''Grand Horizons'', ''Small Mouth Sounds'', ''Liberation,'' and the book for the musical ''Pretty Filthy'' with composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and The Civilian ...

's pla
''Small Mouth Sounds''
at the

Signature Theatre Company Signature Theatre Company is a nonprofit Off Broadway theatre company located on West 42nd Street in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by James Houghton and is now led by Artistic Director Emily Shooltz. Signature is known for their season-l ...

; he had previously performed the role at

Ars Nova ''Ars nova'' ()Fallows, David. (2001). "Ars nova". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan. refers to a musical style which flourished in the Kingdom of ...

. The following year, he performed in the world premiere of ''The Profane'' by Zayd Dohrn. He had a "breakout performance" as Cassio in the

Shakespeare in the Park Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This conc ...

2018 production in ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

''. After appearing in small roles on television, Tafti was cast as Eduard Asgarov in a recurring role in season 2 of ''Succession''. He landed his first series regular role as

on ''

'' in 2022. He appeared in a recurring role of Bradford Luke on '' Billions'' the following year.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* {{IMDb name, nm2340691 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico Living people Year of birth missing (living people)