Necar Zadegan ( ; born June 20, 1982) is a German-born actress. Zadegan made her Broadway debut alongside

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

in the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

–nominated production ''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'' in 2011. She is known for playing First Lady (and then President) Dalia Hassan on the eighth season of '' 24''. She then played the leading roles of Delia Banai on ''

Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce ''Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce'' (also known as ''Girlfriends' Guide to Freedom'' in season 3, ''Girlfriends' Guide to Bossing Up'' in season 4, and ''Girlfriends' Guide to Ever After'' in season 5) is an American comedy-drama television series ...

'' and Special Agent Hannah Khoury on '' NCIS: New Orleans''.

Early life

Zadegan was born on June 20, 1982, in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, West Germany, and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is of Iranian heritage. Zadegan graduated with honors from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

(UCSB) with a BA degree in Literature. She spent a semester abroad at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

. She speaks

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, French, English, and German fluently.

Career

From 2005 to 2009, Zadegan had roles in such television series as ''

The Bernie Mac Show ''The Bernie Mac Show'' (often shortened to ''Bernie Mac'' in syndication) is an American sitcom television series created by Larry Wilmore, that aired on Fox for five seasons from November 14, 2001, to April 14, 2006. The series featured Ber ...

'', ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States for six seasons from 2003 to 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime, black comedy, family drama, sati ...

'', '' NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service'', ''

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009, with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled ...

'', ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'', '' Big Shots'', '' Lost'', ''

The Shield ''The Shield'' is an American crime drama television series created by Shawn Ryan and starring Michael Chiklis that aired on FX from March 12, 2002 to November 25, 2008 for seven seasons. The show is known for its portrayal of corrupt police ...

'', and '' CSI: Miami''. In 2009, Zadegan appeared in the Persian language stage production of ''From Satellite with Love "Az Mahvareh Ta Eshgh"'', touring in the U.S. and Europe.Interview with Necar Zadegan – Hollywood (September 25, 2009)
, Parstimes.com In 2009, Zadegan played 'The Leper' in

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 ''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'', which moved to Broadway in 2011. The same year she portrayed the First Lady turned president, Dalia Hassan, in the FOX series ''24''. Zadegan appeared in the 2010 film '' Elena Undone'' in the title role of Elena Winters for FilmMcQueen. That same year she also appeared opposite Michael Sheen and Samuel L. Jackson in the role of Jehan Younger in the Columbia TriStar psychological thriller '' Unthinkable''. Zadegan returned to television as resident villainess Isabel on the NBC series ''The Event''. She then took on the series regular role of Dr. Gina Bandari on the 2012 series '' Emily Owens M.D.'' She appeared as Scarlet Leon, the female lead, opposite Greg Kinnear in the 2014 American version of the comedy ''

Rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...

''. Later that same year she rounded out the all female-lead cast for Bravo's first scripted series ''

'' in the role of Delia Banai. The show went on to be the first ever to get a three-season pickup and ran for five seasons before premiering its final season in Spring 2018. In 2015 Zadegan continued to appear in other television series such as ''

Extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

'', ''

Legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, comic books, and theater * ''Legend'' (Gemmell novel), a 1 ...

'' and as the Queen of Iran opposite Michael Sheen for Showtime's critical success ''

Masters of Sex ''Masters of Sex'' is an American period drama television series that premiered on September 29, 2013, on Showtime. It was developed by Michelle Ashford and loosely based on Thomas Maier's biography '' Masters of Sex''. Set in the 1950s thro ...

''. Zadegan joined the cast of '' NCIS: New Orleans'' in October 2018 playing the role of Special Agent Hannah Khoury, the senior agent in the NCIS New Orleans office. Zadegan played the role of Ra-Sharir in the first two episodes of season 3 of ''

Documentary Now! ''Documentary Now!'' is an American mockumentary television series created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas (director), Rhys Thomas, and premiered on August 20, 2015, on IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC. Armisen and Hader star ...

'' for IFC in 2019. She voices the character of Viola in the 2019

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

sci-fi feature film '' Eleven Eleven'', written by Australian screenwriter Lucas Taylor.

Filmography

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zadegan, Necar 1982 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from California Actresses from San Francisco Female models from California American film actresses American people of Iranian descent American stage actresses American television actresses Emigrants from West Germany to the United States Living people University of California, Santa Barbara alumni German people of Iranian descent Muslim figures favored in Shia Islam