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Although Tehran, Apple TV's latest espionage thriller, has not been officially renewed, the climactic ending of Season 2 seems to guarantee another run to wrap up the story.
Season 2 drew curtains with the death of Peyman and the turbulent funeral that followed, which almost altered the course of the story. Fraught with double-crossings, betrayal, death, and danger, Tehran Season 2 was a roller-coaster ride.
Faraz Kamali, played by Shaun Toub, has been one of the main characters heavily involved in the complicated storyline of Tehran. Faraz is an Iranian officer torn between his love for his country and the love for his wife, leaving him at a crossroads where he is faced with a difficult choice. The depth and dimension that Shaun Toub has brought to Faraz's character is indeed commendable.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda's Sneha Haldar, Shaun Toub shared some interesting details about his role in the film, his time in the industry, and of course, the Iranian identity that shaped his characters.
Shaun Toub shares about his Iranian identity and 35 years in the Hollywood industry
Shaun Toub is an Iran-born acclaimed Hollywood actor with popular titles like Iron Man, Homeland, and The Kite Runner, to his name. He is no amateur in the realm of thrillers, well known for his phenomenal role in the spy series Homeland. However, Shaun admitted that there was a huge difference between the roles he played in Homeland and Tehran, even though both were Iranian characters:
"You know, every project is different. Thirty-five years of business and I've done, I don't know how many characters, and every character is different. Faraz is an Iranian character, but there is a humanity about Faraz, and that's why people are really liking him. Even though he's a badass boss, you know, he is so different from the character I play in Homeland, Majid Javadi, who is much tougher, and he didn't really care about people's lives. Faraz is much more compassionate in that sense."
Indeed, with a fine balance between good and bad, Faraz is human, making him relatable. On being asked how his Iranian roots influenced and helped him shape his characters and bring them to life, Shaun admitted that he is still Iranian at heart despite spending most of his life in the West:
"So for me, you know, I have been raised in Manchester since I was two and I went to school in Switzerland and then came to the United States. But at the end of the day, I'm still very, very much Iranian. You know, I am an Iranian American. Ninety percent of my friends are also Iranian. I guess you always gravitate to your culture at the end of the day."
Shaun Toub's most recent role as an Iranian in the Israeli series Tehran is undoubtedly one of his best features. Presenting the complexity of Faraz Kamali was surely one of the greatest challenges Shaun Toub faced while shooting for Tehran.
Shaun Toub on his Tehran character Faraz
What strikes us most about the series is the balance between good and bad that we see in all the characters of the show, especially Shaun's. Elaborating on portraying the intricacy of the character, the actor said:
"I wanted to make sure that Faraz is a multi-dimensional character. He has to balance between the love for his wife and the love of his country, which often contradicts. And it's very difficult to do that. That's why people like Faraz and resonated with his character."
There are many incidents that make Faraz who he is - torn between his love for his wife and his country, unable to make a choice. Expounding on the same, Shaun said:
"Faraz can't choose one or the other. He loves his wife, and he wants her to get better in the end. But at the same time, he loves his country and wants Iran to become better too. He is all about his work, he is intellectual and smart, and he's an intelligence officer who has been in the business for long. But in the last season, he got shot, and now he is physically not well, and also, mentally, he's not well either. So he's trying to get back to where he was, to be the Faraz that we know."
It was a pleasure talking to the man behind the phenomenal character Faraz Kamali of Tehran and getting to know the challenges and hard work behind making Faraz such a dynamic entity in the show.
Watch this space for a more exclusive interview with Shaun Toub and catch Tehran on Apple TV+.
