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Arian Moayed
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Arian Moayed (Persian: آرین مؤید; born April 15, 1980) is an Iranian-American actor, screenwriter, and director. Moayed received two Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances as an Iraqi gardener in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (2011) and a domineering husband A Doll's House (2023), and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his role as slimy private equity investor Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession.[1][2][3]

Key Information

Moayed portrayed Todd Spodek in Netflix's Inventing Anna and Agent P. Cleary in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel (2022) and Wonder Man (2026).

Early life

[edit]

Arian Moayed was born in Tehran, Iran. His father is a banker by profession. His parents emigrated from Iran in 1986. The family settled in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, when Moayed was five years old. He grew up in a family that he has described as "Muslim, practicing Muslims."[4] He speaks Persian.[5]

Moayed graduated from Glenbrook South High School in 1998. He then received a bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 2002. During college, he appeared in plays by Samuel Beckett, Carlo Goldoni and William Shakespeare.[1]

Career

[edit]
Moayed at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival for Shell

Moayed moved to Manhattan after college.[2] In 2002, Moayed and director Tom Ridgely, who was Moayed's roommate at Indiana University,[2] co-founded the Waterwell, a theater, education and film company based out of New York.[1][2] Waterwell has produced more than a dozen stage productions and shows since the theater was established.[1]

He portrayed the character of Musa in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, where Moayed appeared opposite Robin Williams.[1] Moayed received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Musa at the 65th Tony Awards in 2011.[1] He also received a Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Performance and received a Theater World Award.

As a writer/director, Moayed wrote and directed his first short Overdue, which premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival and was released on The Business of Being Born website. His second film, Day Ten, stars Omar Metwally and is about the days after September 11, 2001, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival.

In 2016, he starred as Babur, one of two characters in Guards at the Taj, a play written by Rajiv Joseph, alongside Omar Metwally as Humayun. For his performance, he received a 2016 Obie Award presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice.[6]

In 2017, Moayed starred as Richard Saad in Stephen Karam's The Humans, which performed at the Roundabout Theater off-Broadway, Helen Hayes Theater and Gerald Schoenfeld Theater on Broadway as well as the Hampstead Theater in London, United Kingdom. The production, directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Scott Rudin, won a Tony Award for Best Play at the 70th Tony Awards, and garnered Moayed a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble.

From 2018 to 2023, Moayed starred as Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession, for which he received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 and 2023.[7][8]

Waterwell

[edit]

Waterwell focuses on socially conscious and civic minded approach to theater, education, and film. Waterwell mission states, "empower its audience to change their lives and the world in which they live."

As the co-founder of Waterwell, Moayed has helped devise over a dozen original productions including most recently a dual-language Hamlet (played the title role) to critical acclaim. Also with Waterwell, Moayed produced a forgotten war musical called Blueprint Specials, produced on board of the Intrepid with a cast of veterans.[9]

With Waterwell Films, he has written and directed the Emmy nominated[10] and Webby nominated The Accidental Wolf, a premium short form series starring Kelli O'Hara, Laurie Metcalf, Denis O'Hare, Brandon Dirden, Ben McKenzie, Judith Ivey, Reed Birney, Marsha Stephanie Blake and a cast of over 70 Tony nominees on its own platform, theaccidentalwolf.com.

Personal life

[edit]

Moayed lives in New York City with his wife, Krissy Shields, and two daughters.[1][2]

In October 2023, Moayed signed the Artists4Ceasefire open letter to Joe Biden, President of the United States, calling for a ceasefire of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks.[11] In September 2025, he signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."[12]

Acting credits

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2003 Phileine Says Sorry Taxichauffeur 2
2007 Arranged Ahmed Khaldi
2008 The Christians Darmon
2011 Roadie Irfan
2014 Appropriate Behavior Ali
Rosewater Hamid
Saint Janet Dr. Apte
2015 The Rumperbutts Gavin
Rock the Kasbah Riza
2019 Abe Amir
2021 Spider-Man: No Way Home Agent P. Cleary
2023 You Hurt My Feelings Mark
Retribution Sylvain
2024 Shell Dr. Hubert
House of Spoils Andres
2025 Fountain of Youth Inspector Jamal Abbas

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2003–2004 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Various 3 episodes
2004–2010 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Samil Al-Bana / Eli Gold 2 episodes
2005 Law & Order Fadi Abu Ubdeh Episode: "Bible Story"
2006 Six Degrees Jay Episode: "A New Light"
2007 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Amal Qinawi Episode: "Philadelphia"
M.O.N.Y. Ates Kiliclioglu NBC pilot
2009 White Collar Avet Episode: "Threads"
2013 The Following David 2 episodes
2014 Believe Corey 7 episodes
Black Box Cyrus Episode: "The Fear"
2015 The Blacklist Burke Episode: "Ruslan Denisov (No. 67)"
Elementary Yusuf Al Shamsi Episode: "Absconded"
2017 Mr. Mercedes Augie Episode: "Pilot"
2017–2019 Madam Secretary Mohammed "Mo" Alwash 11 episodes
2018–2023 Succession Stewy Hosseini Main role; 25 episodes
2021 Love Life Kian Parsa 6 episodes
2022 Inventing Anna Todd Spodek 9 episodes
Ms. Marvel Agent P. Cleary 3 episodes
2024 Elsbeth Joe Episode: "Sweet Justice"
2025 Nobody Wants This Dr. Andy Recurring role; 6 episodes
Elsbeth Joe Episode: "Ramen Holiday"
2026 Wonder Man Agent P. Cleary 6 episodes

Theatre

[edit]
Year Title Role Venue
2005 The Persians Xerxes Perry Street Theatre, Off-Broadway
2006 The American Pilot The Translator/The Trader/Soldier (u/s) New York City Center/Stage II, Off-Broadway
2007 The Last Year in the Life of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as Devised by Waterwell: A Rock Operetta Performer Barrow Street Theatre, Off-Broadway
Queens Boulevard (the musical) Abdi Peter Norton Space, Off-Broadway
2008 Masked Na'im DR2 Theater, Off-Broadway
2009 Mahida's Extra Key to Heaven Ramin Peter Norton Space, Off-Broadway
2011 King Lear Edgar The Public Theater, Off-Broadway
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Musa Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway
2012 Food and Fadwa Emir Azzam New York Theatre Workshop, Off-Broadway
2015 Guards at the Taj Babur Linda Gross Theater, Off-Broadway
The Humans Richard Saad Laura Pels Theater, Off-Broadway
2016 Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway
2017 Hamlet Hamlet Loreto Theater, Off-Broadway
2023 A Doll's House Torvald Helmer Hudson Theatre, Broadway
Gutenberg! The Musical! Producer James Earl Jones Theatre, Broadway

Accolades

[edit]
Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination
Award Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
Drama Desk Awards 2008 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Masked Nominated [13]
2016 Outstanding Ensemble Performance The Humans Won
2023 Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play A Doll's House Nominated
Drama League Award 2023 Distinguished Performance Nominated [14]
Hollywood Critics Association Awards 2023 Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series Succession Nominated [15]
Online Film & Television Association Awards 2022 Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated [16]
Primetime Emmy Awards 2022 Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Nominated [17]
2023 Nominated [18]
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2024 Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series Won [19]
Tony Awards 2011 Best Featured Actor in a Play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Nominated [20]
2023 A Doll's House Nominated [21]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Arian Moayed

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia

Arian Moayed (born April 15, 1980) is an Iranian-American actor, writer, and director. Born in , his family emigrated to the in 1986, settling in the Chicago suburb of . Moayed co-founded Waterwell, a non-profit theater company focused on and arts education, in 2002. He garnered acclaim in theater, receiving Tony Award nominations for Best Featured in a Play for his roles in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (2011) and (2023). On television, he is best known for portraying the investor Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession, a role that earned him Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest in a Series in both 2022 and 2023.

Early life and immigration

Childhood in Iran and relocation to the United States

Arian Moayed was born on April 15, 1980, in , , shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and at the outset of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), a period marked by intense , economic disruption, and widespread violence that prompted significant from the country. His father worked as a banker, a profession common among urban middle-class families affected by the post-revolutionary nationalizations and wartime instability. Moayed has described his earliest memories from this era as dominated by fear, reflecting the pervasive insecurity of daily life under aerial bombardments and regime enforcement. In 1986, amid the ongoing war and its associated hardships—including rationing, displacement, and executions of perceived opponents—Moayed's family left for the . At age six, he immigrated with his parents, joining a wave of Iranian exiles driven primarily by economic survival and escape from conflict rather than isolated ideological persecution. The family settled in , a suburb with a growing population of Middle Eastern immigrants, where they adapted to a working-class existence centered on rebuilding stability. This transition exposed Moayed to the practical challenges of language barriers and cultural dislocation typical of 1980s Iranian-American households, fostering an environment of self-reliance amid community networks of co-nationals.

Education and early influences

Academic background and initial artistic pursuits

Arian Moayed enrolled at in Bloomington, pursuing studies in theater, drama, and Persian studies. He graduated with a in 2002. During his undergraduate years, Moayed engaged in practical theater training through university productions, performing as a freshman in and later contributing to the closing of the old university theater with Samuel Beckett's . These roles provided hands-on experience amid a emphasizing classical works, which Moayed later contrasted with his preference for collaborative, original ensemble approaches inspired by his Murray McGibbon's introduction to companies like Complicite and their production Mnemonic. He also took on lead roles, reflecting early perseverance despite acknowledging a lack of initial proficiency in one such performance. Moayed's academic pursuits intersected with nascent artistic interests shaped by extracurricular involvement and connections formed at , including meeting future collaborator Tom Ridgely in theater classes. This period fostered skills in performance and direction, emphasizing persistence over prescribed paths, as he later advised students drawing from his own trajectory of trial-and-error experimentation in competitive arts settings. His studies in Persian alongside provided a foundation linking to performative expression, though formal records prioritize theater as the core discipline.

Career foundations

Founding and development of Waterwell

Waterwell was co-founded in by Arian Moayed and Tom Ridgely in as a non-profit organization focused on theater, , and . Initially operating as an of collaborative artists who devised original works and rotated roles across projects, the company bootstrapped its early operations through founder-driven initiatives and external funding mechanisms typical of emerging arts entities, including and campaigns. This entrepreneurial approach emphasized adaptive, low-overhead production models to sustain output amid the financial precarity of independent theater, with the founders leveraging personal networks from their backgrounds to build an initial repertoire of socially engaged performances. Over the subsequent two decades, Waterwell evolved into a multifaceted entity producing stage works that integrate music, theater, and civic dialogue, including reinterpretations of classics and new commissions through programs like the New Works Lab, launched in 2011 to develop thematically complex plays annually. Its educational arm expanded to offer tuition-free training for young artists, such as the Waterwell Drama Program at (PPAS), which provides intensive musical theater curricula for middle and high school students at levels, fostering skills in performance and community-oriented storytelling. These initiatives have prioritized measurable outputs, including public performances and artist training cohorts, while incorporating principles into production practices to enhance audience engagement and local impact without relying on unsubstantiated claims of widespread societal change. In 2025, Waterwell partnered with the non-profit Nimruz to launch the Unseen Iran Artist Grants, providing $10,000 to $25,000 each to three to five emerging Iranian diaspora creators in disciplines like film and theater. This program, with applications closing September 15, 2025, targets artists addressing identity and connection themes, offering financial and mentorship support to counter the restrictive censorship environment in Iran that limits domestic creative expression. The initiative reflects Waterwell's strategic pivot toward diaspora-focused funding, prioritizing concrete project completion over vague empowerment rhetoric, and underscores the organization's ongoing adaptation to geopolitical realities affecting artistic output.

Theatrical achievements

Key stage performances and contributions

Moayed's Broadway debut came in 2011 with the role of the Iraqi gardener in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo at the , directed by and featuring ; his performance earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In 2015, he starred as Babur in Guards at the Taj at the Atlantic Theater Company, portraying a guard grappling with imperial orders; the role, opposite , secured Moayed an for Performance in Guards at the Taj, recognized for its depiction of duty and consequence in a format that ran for 96 performances. Moayed returned to Broadway in 2016 as Richard Saad in Karam's The Humans at the Theatre after an run at , embodying a pragmatic son-in-law in a family drama that transferred following critical acclaim for its ensemble dynamics and ran for 778 performances. As co-founder of Waterwell since 2002, Moayed has contributed to devised ensemble works emphasizing civic engagement and multimedia experimentation, including directing and starring as in a 2017 dual-language production blending English and Farsi to explore cultural displacement, performed at the Sheen Center for over a dozen showings. His most recent major stage role was as Torvald Helmer in Jamie Lloyd's minimalist revival of A Doll's House at the Hudson Theatre in 2023, delivering a Tony-nominated portrayal of patriarchal control in Ibsen's classic, which grossed over $10 million in its initial run amid debates on directorial abstraction versus textual fidelity.

Film and television work

Breakthrough roles and major projects

Moayed's breakthrough in television arrived with his casting as Stewy Hosseini, a sharp investor and college friend of protagonist , in HBO's Succession, which debuted on June 3, 2018. In the role, introduced in the pilot episode directed by , Moayed depicted Stewy as a calculating financier whose loyalty to Kendall is tempered by opportunistic self-interest, embodying the cutthroat pragmatism of corporate mergers and leveraged buyouts without romanticized ethical overlays. Across the first two seasons (2018–2020), Stewy's arc involved pivotal maneuvers, such as backing Kendall's initial bid to acquire Waystar Royco in season 1 and navigating alliance shifts amid family infighting in season 2, highlighting the character's reliance on financial leverage and personal networks over ideological posturing. Moayed's portrayal, marked by rapid-fire dialogue and understated menace, aligned with the series' satirical lens on media tycoon dynamics, contributing to Succession's early critical momentum despite modest initial viewership of around 1.4 million per episode for season 1. Prior to Succession, Moayed's screen work included guest appearances on procedural dramas like Law & Order: (multiple episodes in the 2000s) and the short-lived Six Degrees (2006–2007), alongside supporting film parts such as in Jon Stewart's Rosewater (), where he played a detainee in a fact-based thriller about Iranian-American journalist Maziar Bahari's imprisonment. These roles, while building resume credits, lacked the recurring depth and visibility that Succession provided, marking a shift from episodic television to serialized narrative demands.

Recent developments post-2020

In 2025, Moayed joined the cast of Netflix's series Nobody Wants This in a recurring role as Dr. Andy, the therapist who becomes a romantic interest for the character Morgan, portrayed by , a fellow Succession alum. The second season, building on the show's initial success driven by its exploration of interfaith relationships and cultural tensions, featured Moayed's character navigating professional boundaries in a lighthearted structure typical of streaming platforms' data-optimized content formulas. Production wrapped ahead of its October release, with Moayed's involvement highlighted in contemporaneous interviews where he discussed the role's appeal amid his preference for theater's immediacy over screen work. Moayed reprised his role as Agent P. Cleary, the bureaucratic Department of Damage Control operative, in Marvel's Wonder Man series set for Disney+ release in December 2025. Originally introduced in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and briefly in Ms. Marvel (2022), the character embodies a recurring antagonist archetype in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's post-Endgame phase, where government oversight narratives support the franchise's empirically validated expansion through interconnected, high-stakes procedural elements that have sustained box office dominance exceeding $29 billion globally as of 2025. This return underscores Moayed's utility in roles leveraging institutional friction, a pattern aligned with Marvel's formulaic success in character retention to maintain viewer continuity without heavy reliance on lead heroes. The enduring financial and cultural impact of Moayed's portrayal of Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession, which concluded its fourth season on May 28, 2023, continued into 2025 through residuals from streaming syndication and international broadcasts, contributing to the series' reported $250 million-plus in post-finale revenue streams. In October 2025 interviews, Moayed reflected on the role's backstage demands and his avoidance of , attributing sustained opportunities to the show's merit-based writing under rather than demographic quotas, while noting preferences for live performance over residual-dependent television. This versatility has positioned him in diverse projects, avoiding the pitfalls of niche pigeonholing observed in some industry trends.

Directing, producing, and other creative endeavors

Screenwriting, direction, and production credits

Moayed co-founded Waterwell, a non-profit organization that extends its theatrical ensemble methods into film and television production, emphasizing collaborative creation rooted in and community involvement. Through Waterwell Films, he has directed, written, and produced projects that adapt techniques for screen, such as integrated input during scripting and filming to foster authentic ensemble dynamics. His directorial credits include the short film Day Ten (2014), a Waterwell-affiliated project exploring interpersonal tensions via minimalist staging, and Overdue (2012), a video short leveraging rapid improvisation for comedic effect. Most notably, Moayed directed The Accidental Wolf (2018–2022), a six-episode thriller series starring Kelli O'Hara, which premiered on Topic and incorporated theatrical rehearsal processes to heighten suspense through unscripted character interactions. The series received Emmy and Webby Award nominations for outstanding short form comedy or drama series and outstanding writing, respectively, reflecting its blend of narrative tension and performative realism. In , Moayed is credited as writer for The Accidental Wolf, where the script draws on concise, dialogue-driven structures akin to his stage work, prioritizing psychological depth over expansive plotting to suit short-form constraints. As a , Moayed served as executive producer on the Motherland (2024), directed by Jasmin Mozaffari, supporting its focus on familial displacement through Waterwell's model of artist-educator partnerships. He also holds production credits on Champions of the Golden Valley (2024), a project extending Waterwell's civic-oriented approach to . Waterwell's broader screen output under his involvement includes shorts like Brother Love, , 28 Mordad, and The Great Fire, which emphasize low-budget, improvisational to address social themes without reliance on formulaic industry financing.
YearTitleCreditMediumNotes
2012OverdueDirectorVideo shortWaterwell production utilizing ensemble improv.
2014Day TenDirectorShort filmFocus on character-driven minimalism.
2018–2022The Accidental WolfDirector, WriterTV series (6 episodes)Emmy/Webby-nominated thriller on Topic; stars Kelli O'Hara.
2024MotherlandExecutive ProducerShort filmCollaboration with dir. Jasmin Mozaffari.
2024Champions of the Golden ValleyProducerFilmWaterwell extension to feature narrative.

Personal life

Family, marriage, and citizenship journey

Arian Moayed was born in , , in 1980 to Iranian parents, with his father working as a banker. His family emigrated from in 1986 amid the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, relocating first temporarily before settling in the suburb of , when Moayed was approximately six years old. This move reflected the broader pattern of Iranian families seeking stability in the United States following political upheaval, with Moayed later describing the immigration process as a years-long journey that split the family temporarily. Moayed attained citizenship at age 26 through the process, reciting the after immigrating as a and navigating the standard requirements of residency, , and knowledge. He has characterized this milestone as profoundly life-changing, emphasizing the opportunities it unlocked in a country that provided refuge and eventual legal permanence despite the challenges of . His path underscores the empirical realities of U.S. for Iranian applicants during that era, including visa transitions and bureaucratic hurdles, though Moayed's account highlights personal perseverance in realizing stability without detailing specific legal obstacles in his case. Moayed married actress Krissy Shields, with the couple appearing together at public events such as Broadway openings and film premieres starting around 2017. They have two daughters, Ivy Shireen Moayed and Olive Joon Moayed, born when Moayed was in his late 20s, reflecting an early commitment to family amid his emerging career in the arts. The names of the children incorporate Persian elements—Shireen meaning "sweet" and Joon a —nodding to Moayed's Iranian roots while establishing a household in focused on balancing professional demands with parental responsibilities.

Public advocacy and perspectives

Arts education, community initiatives, and social commentary

Moayed co-founded Waterwell in 2002 as a non-profit organization in dedicated to tuition-free, civically oriented arts education and community theater productions. As a faculty member and board leader, he has contributed to workshops training emerging artists in performance, directing, and collaborative creation, with the program emphasizing practical skills for rather than formal . Waterwell's network sustains the initiative through financial contributions, enabling ongoing access for underserved participants, though documented outcomes such as alumni placement in professional roles or long-term career advancement lack quantitative public metrics beyond self-reported participation. Waterwell's community projects under Moayed's involvement include The Ford/Hill Project, a 2024 verbatim theater production co-created by and Lee Sunday Evans, which reenacted the 1991 Anita Hill and 2018 Senate testimonies to examine power structures in confirmation hearings. Staged initially at Theatre Company on October 7, 2024, coinciding with the U.S. Supreme Court's term opening, and subsequently at from October 16–20, 2024, the project engaged approximately 500–1,000 attendees across runs based on venue capacities, prompting discussions on testimonial credibility without evidenced shifts in local policy or participant behavior metrics. In immigrant-dense New York areas, Waterwell's broader outreach via such site-specific works has targeted reflection on institutional authority, though impact assessments remain limited to qualitative reviews rather than surveys of sustained community cohesion. Furthering support for marginalized voices, Waterwell partnered with the nonprofit Nimruz in July 2025 to establish grants for emerging Iranian artists, providing funding for projects addressing personal narratives under Iran's constraints, with initial awards disbursed to five recipients for short films and scripts amid reported suppression of over 200 cultural works since 2022. This initiative prioritizes individual creative output over collective advocacy, aligning with Waterwell's model of enabling personal agency through resource access. In commentary, Moayed has articulated the arts' potential for individual empowerment via skill-building and expression, stating in a his lifelong commitment to positioning education as a core means of societal contribution, evidenced by Waterwell's sustained operations serving hundreds annually since inception. He views theater's role in social cohesion as rooted in personal narrative-sharing, as in 2024 discussions on where projects like The Ford/Hill Project foster through direct confrontation of events, yet he acknowledges limitations in achieving systemic change, with tied more to participant self-reported growth than empirical data on reduced division or policy influence. This perspective contrasts intent-driven narratives by emphasizing observable individual outcomes, such as alumni reinvestment, over unverified broader reforms.

Views on immigration, activism, and cultural identity

Arian Moayed, an Iranian-born immigrant who arrived in the United States as a child in the early 1980s, has expressed appreciation for the opportunities available to Iranian-Americans in the U.S., contrasting them with constraints in Iran. In a September 2025 Instagram post reflecting on receiving an award at the Harvard Iranian Gala, he stated that as an immigrant growing up in the 1980s, "the idea that there would be an award for Iranians at Harvard University was completely unthinkable," describing it as "an incredible time to be Iranian-American." Similarly, in a 2022 interview, he noted his mother's love for America due to the opportunities it provided her family, despite her initial reluctance to leave Iran. Moayed's activism includes support for Iranian dissidents and broader causes. In late 2022, he traveled to to join protests against the Iranian regime's crackdown on women following the . He signed the Artists4Ceasefire in October 2023 calling for an end to violence in Gaza, expressing concerns about potential professional repercussions in Hollywood while noting quiet peer support. Through his co-founded theater company Waterwell, he has produced works addressing immigration challenges, such as the 2019 play The Courtroom, which examined a case of following an illegal vote. In June 2025, Moayed participated in an ACLU campaign advocating for the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. holder detained by after pro-Palestinian protests at . Reading from Khalil's letter to his newborn son, Moayed remarked, "I can't imagine being taken away from my child for speaking up for ... No human being deserves to be taken away from their child because of what they believe in. That's not what this country is made for," extending the analogy to his own advocacy for Iranian and veterans' rights. This stance aligns with his emphasis on via art, as seen in Waterwell's programs funding artists amid Iran's restrictions. On , Moayed describes himself as navigating a "divided self" between Iranian heritage and American life, rejecting reductive stereotypes in roles that portray Middle Eastern characters as threats. He draws on Iranian principles like "good thoughts, good words, good deeds" to guide his work, while advocating for Iranian free from Western imposition, arguing against external dictates on how Iranians should live. His portrayals of outsider figures in projects like Succession reflect this hybrid experience, emphasizing nuanced immigrant narratives over assimilation or politicized identities.

Recognition and critical reception

Awards, nominations, and honors

Moayed received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his portrayal of the Iraqi gardener Musa in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (2011), competing in a category that typically honors 3–5 actors annually from Broadway productions, with a historical win rate of approximately 20–25% for nominees based on category data since 1947. He earned a second Tony nomination in the same category in 2023 for his role as Torvald Helmer in , again in a field of four nominees where the winner rate aligns with prior benchmarks, underscoring recognition amid selective peer voting by the . In theater, Moayed won an for Performance in Guards at the Taj (2016), awarded by the American Theatre Wing's committee for distinguished achievement in a new American play category that recognizes innovative works outside mainstream commercial venues, with winners selected from a pool of experimental and ensemble-driven productions. He also received a for his debut in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, an honor given to promising Broadway newcomers since 1952, and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play in 2008 for an unspecified production, reflecting early ensemble recognition in a critics-voted award with about 10–15 nominees per category and a comparable low win probability. For television, Moayed garnered two consecutive Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Stewy Hosseini in Succession—first in 2022 for the episode "Honeymoon States," and again in 2023—within a competitive field of five to six nominees annually, where guest actor categories have yielded win rates under 20% historically, as determined by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences peer panels. He contributed to the Succession cast's Screen Actors Guild Award win for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2024, one of four such victories for the series from 2020–2024 in a guild-voted category emphasizing collective achievement over 20 nominees with a single winner. Additionally, his work in Love Life earned an NAACP Image Award nomination, highlighting project-specific nods in categories focused on diverse representation amid roughly 50–60 annual nominees across media.

Analysis of career impact and critiques

Moayed's career trajectory illustrates a self-made ascent rooted in entrepreneurial initiative and persistent output, beginning with the co-founding of Waterwell in 2002—a civic-oriented theater and nonprofit that has sustained operations for over two decades amid high attrition rates for similar arts organizations, which often fail within five years due to funding volatility. This longevity underscores causal factors like diversified programming and community engagement over reliance on transient grants or institutional favoritism, enabling Moayed to build a platform independent of Hollywood gatekeepers. His portrayal of Stewy Hosseini in Succession amplified this foundation, contributing to the series' broad commercial reach, with Season 4 averaging 8.7 million viewers per episode across platforms and the finale drawing 2.9 million in initial tune-ins—a series high reflecting mainstream resonance rather than segmented activist appeal. Empirical metrics thus affirm Moayed's integration into high-profile ensembles as a function of versatile performance, evidenced by early refusals of stereotypical roles that prioritized craft over ethnic . Critiques of Moayed's trajectory remain sparse in major outlets, with analyses often highlighting his evasion of —such as Stewy's serving utility without reductive cultural tropes—over dilution in supporting parts. Some casting discussions note broader industry pressures on Middle Eastern actors toward "ethnic" adjacency, potentially limiting solo leads, yet Moayed's pivot to directing and producing via Waterwell mitigates this by fostering self-generated opportunities. Regarding Iranian-American visibility, Moayed's prominence correlates more directly with individual grit—evident in Waterwell's endurance and his navigation of pre-Succession obscurity—than diversity quotas, which mainstream critiques from academia and media inflate as causal while downplaying meritocratic barriers like audition biases. This aligns with patterns where ethnic actors' breakthroughs stem from output volume and network-building, countering narratives that attribute success to representational mandates absent empirical ties to audience metrics or sustainability.

Professional credits

Filmography

YearTitleRole
2014RosewaterHamid
2014Appropriate BehaviorAli
2015Rock the KasbahRiza
2015The RumperbuttsGavin
2019AbeAmir
2021Spider-Man: No Way HomeAgent Cleary
2023You Hurt My FeelingsMark
2023RetributionSylvain
2024House of SpoilsAndres
2024ShellDr. Hubert
2025Fountain of YouthInspector Jamal Abbas

Television roles

Moayed's early television work included guest roles on NBC procedurals such as and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He portrayed Mohammed "Mo" Alwash, a , in 11 episodes of CBS's Madam Secretary from 2017 to 2019. Moayed achieved prominence with his role as Stewy Hosseini, a shrewd investor and ally to protagonist , in HBO's Succession, appearing in 25 episodes across all four seasons from 2018 to 2023. In 2021, he played Kian Parsa in 6 episodes of Max's romantic anthology Love Life. Moayed recurred as Agent P. Cleary, a Department of Damage Control operative, in the 2022 Disney+ Marvel series . That same year, he depicted defense attorney Todd Spodek in Netflix's limited series , drawing from real events surrounding fraudster Anna Sorokin. In Netflix's Nobody Wants This, Moayed joined the cast for season 2 in 2025 as Dr. Andy, the former therapist and romantic interest of character Morgan.
Year(s)SeriesRoleEpisodesPlatform
2017–2019Madam SecretaryMohammed "Mo" Alwash11
2018–2023SuccessionStewy Hosseini25
2021Love LifeKian Parsa6HBO Max
2022Agent P. ClearyRecurringDisney+
2022Todd SpodekRecurring
2025Nobody Wants This (Season 2)Dr. AndyTBD

Theater productions

Moayed co-founded the Waterwell theater ensemble in 2002 with Tom Ridgely, focusing on devised, original works that often incorporate social and political themes through ensemble creation and role-shifting. Through Waterwell, he has contributed to over a dozen productions, including bilingual adaptations and remounts of lesser-known works, such as a dual-language in which he performed the title role in 2017. His independent stage credits span Broadway and Off-Broadway venues, emphasizing ensemble-driven narratives and historical or contemporary conflicts. Notable roles include Musa in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Broadway, Richard Rodgers Theatre, 2011), a production that ran for 207 performances following previews from October 2010 to July 2011. In 2015, he originated Babur in Guards at the Taj at the Atlantic Theater Company, a two-hander exploring duty and beauty amid Mughal-era destruction, later reprised in regional productions.
YearProductionRoleVenueNotes
2011Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad ZooMusa (Broadway)Original Broadway production; 207 performances.
2015Guards at the TajBabur ()World premiere; directed by .
2016The HumansRichard SaadBroadway (original production)Family drama by .
2017Hamlet (dual-language)HamletWaterwell ()Devised adaptation.
2023Torvald Helmer (Broadway)Revival directed by ; limited run from March to June.
Earlier work includes in an unspecified 2007 production and Xerxes in a 2005 staging, reflecting his early focus on culturally resonant characters. Waterwell ties underscore his preference for collaborative, non-traditional formats over scripted leads, with ensemble contributions in works like and The American Pilot.

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