Arian Moayed (; 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 in 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.
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 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, in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, when Moayed was five years old. Moayed has described his family as Persian-speaking Muslims.
Moayed graduated from Glenbrook South High School in 1998. He then received a bachelor's degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 2002. During college, he appeared in plays by Samuel Beckett, Carlo Goldoni and William Shakespeare.
Career
Moayed moved to Manhattan after college. In 2002, Moayed and director Tom Ridgely, who was Moayed's roommate at Indiana University, co-founded the Waterwell, a theater, education and film company based out of New York. Waterwell has produced more than a dozen stage productions and shows since the theater was established.
He portrayed the character of Musa in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, where Moayed appeared opposite Robin Williams. 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. 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.
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. 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.
Waterwell 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.
With Waterwell Films, he has written and directed the Emmy nominated 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 Moayed lives in New York City with his wife, Krissy Shields, and two daughters.
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. 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".
Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 2003 Phileine Says SorryTaxichauffeur 2 2007 ArrangedAhmed Khaldi 2008 The ChristiansDarmon 2011 RoadieIrfan 2014 Appropriate BehaviorAli RosewaterHamid Saint JanetDr. 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 2026 Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 2003–2004 Late Night with Conan O'BrienVarious3 episodes 2004–2010 Law & Order: Criminal IntentSamil Al-Bana / Eli Gold2 episodes 2005 Law & OrderFadi Abu UbdehEpisode: "Bible Story" 2006 Six DegreesJayEpisode: "A New Light" 2007 Law & Order: Special Victims UnitAmal QinawiEpisode: "Philadelphia" M.O.N.Y.Ates Kiliclioglu NBC pilot 2009 White CollarAvetEpisode: "Threads" 2013 The FollowingDavid2 episodes 2014 Believe Corey 7 episodes Black BoxCyrusEpisode: "The Fear" 2015 The BlacklistBurkeEpisode: "Ruslan Denisov (No. 67)" ElementaryYusuf Al ShamsiEpisode: "Absconded" 2017 Mr. MercedesAugieEpisode: "Pilot"2017–2019 Madam SecretaryMohammed "Mo" Alwash11 episodes2018–2023 SuccessionStewy HosseiniMain role; 25 episodes 2021 Love LifeKian Parsa6 episodes 2022 Inventing AnnaTodd Spodek9 episodes Ms. MarvelAgent P. Cleary3 episodes2024ElsbethJoeEpisode: "Sweet Justice"2025Nobody Wants ThisDr. AndyRecurring role; 6 episodesElsbethJoeEpisode: "Ramen Holiday"2026Wonder ManAgent P. Cleary6 episodesTBAThe Off WeeksAngeloUpcoming miniseriesThe People v. Gorilla GroddFilming
Theatre Year Title Role Venue2005 The Persians XerxesPerry Street Theatre, Off-Broadway2006 The American Pilot The Translator/The Trader/Soldier (u/s)New York City Center/Stage II, Off-Broadway2007 The Last Year in the Life of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as Devised by Waterwell: A Rock Operetta PerformerBarrow Street Theatre, Off-Broadway Queens Boulevard (the musical) AbdiPeter Norton Space, Off-Broadway2008 Masked Na'imDR2 Theater, Off-Broadway2009 Mahida's Extra Key to Heaven RaminPeter Norton Space, Off-Broadway2011 King Lear EdgarThe Public Theater, Off-Broadway Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Musa Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway2012 Food and Fadwa Emir AzzamNew York Theatre Workshop, Off-Broadway2015 Guards at the Taj BaburLinda Gross Theater, Off-BroadwayThe HumansRichard Saad Laura Pels Theater, Off-Broadway2016 Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway2017 Hamlet HamletLoreto Theater, Off-Broadway2023 A Doll's House Torvald Helmer Hudson Theatre, BroadwayGutenberg! The Musical!ProducerJames Earl Jones Theatre, Broadway
Accolades +Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award Year Category Nominated work Result Drama Desk Awards 2008 Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Masked 2016 Outstanding Ensemble Performance The Humans 2023 Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play A Doll's House Drama League Award 2023 Distinguished Performance Hollywood Critics Association Awards 2023 Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series Succession Online Film & Television Association Awards 2022 Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Awards 2022 Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards 2024 Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series Tony Awards 2011 Best Featured Actor in a Play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo 2023 A Doll's House
References
External links
Waterwell