| Omid Abtahi | |
| Birth Date: | 12 July 1979 |
| Birth Place: | Tehran, Iran |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 2005-present |
| Alma Mater: | California State University Fullerton (BA) |
Omid Abtahi (Persian: امید ابطحی; born July 12, 1979)[1] [2] is an Iranian-born American actor.[3] He is best known for his roles as Salim in Starz Original American Gods, Penn Pershing in The Mandalorian, Saleem Ulman in NCIS and Homes in the fourth installment of The Hunger Games film series, . He is also known for his performances as Justin Yates in Ghost Whispererand Detective Jerry Molbeck in the American TV adaptation of Those Who Kill.
Abtahi was born in Tehran, Iran. At the age of 5 he moved to Paris with his family and later they moved to the United States, finally moving to Irvine, Orange County, California when he was 10.[3]
Abtahi graduated from University High School in Irvine in 1997 and attended California State University, Fullerton. He began studying advertising, then picked up a second major in theater and graduated in 2002.[4] [5]
Before acting on television, Abtahi performed on stage in many theatrical productions including Fraulein Else at the Berkeley Repertory, McCarter Theatre and Longwarf Theatre; Adoration of the Old Woman at the Sundance Theatre Lab and Your Everyday Typical Romantic Comedy at the Kennedy Centre. He has also guest starred on the television series JAG, Judging Amy and 24. He played Justin Yates in Ghost Whisperer.
After arriving in Los Angeles, Abtahi was a series regular on FX's Over There and Showtime's Sleeper Cell.
Abtahi made his New York stage debut in Urge for Going by Mona Mansour.[6] He is also the voice of Farid in , and of Sergeant John Lugo in . He also voices Victor "Gator" Diallo in .
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Running with Scissors | Restaurant Manager | ||
| 2008 | The Mysteries of Pittsburgh | Mohammed | ||
| Ocean of Pearls | Amrit Singh | |||
| The Last Lullaby | Van | |||
| Space Chimps | Dr. Jagu (voice) | |||
| 2009 | Brothers | Yusuf | ||
| 2010 | Dr. Jagu / Reporter #2 (voice) | Direct-to-video | ||
| 2012 | Argo | Reza | ||
| 2014 | Boys of Abu Ghraib | Ghazi Hammoud | ||
| 2015 | Homes | |||
| 2016 | Window Horses | Ramin (voice) | ||
| 2021 | Hawkman (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| Denotes television programs that have not yet aired. |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | JAG | Wahid | Episode: "Heart of Darkness" |
| Judging Amy | Reza Ajami | Episode: "The New Normal" | |
| Over There | Pfc. Tariq Nassiri | 12 episodes | |
| 2005–2009 | 24 | Safa / Jibraan Al-Zarian | 4 episodes |
| 2006 | Sleeper Cell | Salim | 7 episodes |
| 2007 | Chandru 'Dru' Kambhatla | Episode: "The Good, the Bad and the Dominatrix" | |
| The Unit | The Boss | Episode: "Play 16" | |
| 2007–2008 | Ghost Whisperer | Justin Yates | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | Sumner | Episode: "Gnothi Seauton" | |
| Eli Stone | Amir Khan | Episode: "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" | |
| My Own Worst Enemy | Tony Nazari | 9 episodes | |
| 2009 | Can Openers | Ali | TV movie |
| Bones | Hal Shirazi | Episode: "The Bones That Foam" | |
| NCIS | Saleem Ulman | 2 episodes | |
| 2009–2010 | FlashForward | Ed Fiore | 2 episodes |
| Three Rivers | Dr. Yousef Khouri | 2 episodes | |
| 2010 | Pleading Guilty | Jonathan Ziven | TV movie |
| The Event | William | 2 episodes | |
| Nikita | Amir Komera | Episode: "Resistance" | |
| The Mentalist | Markham Shankar | Episode: "Red Hot" | |
| Grey's Anatomy | Aasif | Episode: "Something's Gotta Give" | |
| 2010–2013 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Cadet Amis (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Fringe | Simon Phillips | Episode: "Concentrate and Ask Again" |
| Homeland | Raqim Faisel | 3 episodes | |
| Hide | Neil | TV movie | |
| 2012 | The Good Wife | Samir | Episode: "Live From Damascus" |
| Family Guy | Prince Faisal (voice) | Episode: "Leggo My Meg-O" | |
| Covert Affairs | Sayid al-Muqri | Episode: "Hello Stranger" | |
| 2012–2013 | Last Resort | Nigel | 5 episodes |
| 2013 | Family Guy | Mahmoud (voice) | Episode: "Turban Cowboy" |
| Castle | Waqas Rasheed | Episode: "Dreamworld" | |
| Ari Sayed | 2 episodes | ||
| Revolution | Captain Riley | 2 episodes | |
| 2014 | Legends | Bashir Al-Kanazer | 2 episodes |
| Those Who Kill | Detective Jerry Molbeck | 10 episodes | |
| 2015 | Better Call Saul | Detective Abbasi | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Damien | Amani Golker | 10 episodes |
| 2017 | Shameless | Sameer | Episode: "Frank's Northern Southern Express" |
| Hawaii Five-0 | Naser Salaam | Episode: "He ke'u na ka 'alae a Hina" | |
| 2017–2021 | American Gods | Salim | 21 episodes |
| 2018 | The Crossing | Jake | 2 episodes |
| We Bare Bears | Kale (voice) | Episode: "The Limo" | |
| 2019 | Love, Death & Robots | Wes (voice) | Episode: "Sonnie's Edge" |
| DuckTales | Faris D'jinn (voice) | 2 episodes | |
| 2019–2023 | The Mandalorian | Penn Pershing | 5 episodes |
| 2021–2022 | Fear the Walking Dead | Howard | 8 episodes |
| 2021 | The Lost Symbol | Inmate | Episode: "As Above, So Below" |
| 2022–2023 | Alfie (voice) | 4 episodes | |
| 2023 | Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur | Ahmed (voice) | 4 episodes |
| City on Fire | Detective Ali Parsa | 8 episodes | |
| 2024 | The Boys | Sameer Shah | 2 episodes |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Diablo III | Additional Voices | ||
| Unit 13 | Informant 1 | |||
| Staff Sergeant John Lugo | ||||
| Farid, Mujahideen Soldier | ||||
| 2015 | Additional Voices | |||
| 2016 | Titanfall 2 | Militia Captain | ||
| Babak Azadi | ||||
| Mafia III | Additional Voices | |||
| Victor 'Gator' Diallo | ||||
| 2018 | Thief of Thieves | Corbin "Chip" Tavistock | ||
| 2019 | Metro Exodus | Cannibal, Child of the Forest | ||
| Days Gone | Additional Voices | |||
| Rage 2 | Miscellaneous Voices | |||
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Additional Voice | |||
| 2020 | Disintegration | Ox-eye, Outlaw, Redshirt | ||
| 2021 | The Artful Escape | Talish, Hyperionite 3 |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Not Necessary | Larry Dallas | ||
| Diplomacy | American Interpreter | |||
| Stars | The Pimp | |||
| 2010 | An Idle Dream | Pascal | ||
| 2011 | The Perfect Meal | Social Worker (voice) | ||
| 2018 | Goliath 22 | Omar |