Necar Zadegan ( ; born June 20, 1982) is an American actress. Zadegan made her Broadway debut alongside Robin Williams in the Pulitzer Prize–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, Special Agent Hannah Khoury on NCIS: New Orleans, and Nikki Reynard on CIA.
Early life Zadegan was born on June 20, 1982, in Heidelberg, 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 (UCSB) with a BA degree in Literature. She spent a semester abroad at the Sorbonne University. She speaks Persian, French, English, and German fluently.
Career From 2005 to 2009, Zadegan had roles in such television series as The Bernie Mac Show, Nip/Tuck, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, The Unit, How I Met Your Mother, Big Shots, Lost, The Shield, 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's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which moved to Broadway in 2011. That 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.
Later in 2014 she rounded out the all female-lead cast for Bravo's first scripted series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce 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, Legends and as the Queen of Iran opposite Michael Sheen for Showtime's critical success Masters of Sex.
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! for IFC in 2019.
She voices the character of Viola in the 2019 virtual reality sci-fi feature film Eleven Eleven, written by Australian screenwriter Lucas Taylor.
Filmography + Film Year Title Role Notes 2007 Kerime Short film 2007 You Don't Mess with the Zohan Scenes deleted 2008 In Another Life Mira Short film 2008 Crossroads Shada 2010 Unthinkable Jehan Younger 2010 When the Voices Fade Nadia Short film 2010 Elena Undone Elena 2010 TBA Short film 2011 Joshua Tree Angelina 2011 Fit to be Tied Vanessa Short film 2011 Meth Head Maia 2019 Eleven Eleven Viola (voice)Sci-fi VR film2022Dear AlbertSimone2023Warriors of StoneLila 2024 Cosmetic Criminals Carolyn (Mom) Video 2025 Inheritance Erika Papp 2025 The Electric State Farah Bedi 2026 Misty Green Shabnam TBA Blind Owl Medicine Woman
+ Television Year Title Role Notes 2005 The Bernie Mac Show Sales associate 1 episode 2006 Nip/Tuck Nastran 1 episode 2007 NCIS Lt. Rihama Shaheen (uncredited) 1 episode 2007 The Unit Pari 1 episode 2007 How I Met Your Mother Girl #2 1 episode ("Moving Day") 2007 Big Shots Prostitute Pilot episode 2008 Lost Translator 1 episode ("Confirmed Dead") 2008 The Shield Dr. Lucine 1 episode 2009 Floored and Lifted Caroline 2 episodes 2010 CSI: Miami Salumeh Farooq 1 episode 2010 24 Dalia Hassan Recurring role, 20 episodes 2010 Outlaw Patty Friedman 2 episodes 2010 Undercovers Zarina Yasi 1 episode (never aired in the U.S.; aired in Australia) 2010–11 The Event Isabel 5 episodes 2011 A Gifted Man Madeline Fahn 1 episode 2012 Harry's Law Sarita Radan 1 episode 2012 Major Crimes Roma Strauss 1 episode ("The Ecstasy and the Agony") 2012–13 Emily Owens, M.D. Gina Bandhari Main role 2013 The Fosters Gretchen 1 episode ("Clean") 2014 Rake Scarlet Leon Main role 2014 Legends Ana Paulanos 2 episodes 2014–2018 Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce Delia Banai Main role 2014–2015 Extant Shayna Velez 6 episodes 2015 Archer Yasmin Fawaz 1 episode 2015 Masters of Sex Queen of Iran 1 episode ("Three's a Crowd") 2018–2019 The Good Doctor Dr. Ko 3 episodes 2018Here and Now Layla Shokrani Main Role 2018–2021 NCIS: New Orleans Special Agent Hannah Khoury Main role (Seasons 5–7) 2019 Documentary Now! Ra-Sharir 2 episodes 2020 Star Trek: Picard Bjayzl 1 episode 2021–2025 Mayor of Kingstown Assistant D.A. Evelyn Foley 27 episodes 2025–present The Rookie ADA Vivian Eckert 6 episodes 2025 Law & Order Defense Attorney Bonnie Kimura Episode: "Parasite" 2026–present CIANikki Reynard Main role2026FBI1 episodeTBAJoseph of EgyptZilapahTBAAll the WorldAna Video games Year Title Role Notes 2014 The Elder Scrolls Online Additional voices 2017 Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds Ourea Voice, DLC for the original game 2019 Jumanji: The Video Game Ruby Roundhouse (German) Voice 2023 The Elder Scrolls Online: Necrom 2023 Diablo IV Additional voices 2024 The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road Voice2024Indiana Jones and the Great CircleNawal Shafiq-Barclay
See also List of Iranian actresses
References
External links