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EXCLUSIVE | 'Tehran' actor Shaun Toub 'freaked out' after reading script for his 'multidimensional character'

In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), Shaun Toub opens up about his experience working on the Apple TV+ show

'Tehran' captures a woman's plight as she embarks on a dangerous mission in her hometown. One wrong move and her life along with others around her will be over. The show first aired in Israel on channel Kan 11 on June 22, 2020, and gained a fan base quite quickly. It follows a Mossad agent named Tamar Rabinyan played by Niv Sultan as she goes undercover in Tehran. However, after one fatal accident, she is on the run from Intelligence forces, led by Faraz Kamali, played by Shaun Toub.

In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), Shaun Toub opens up about his experiences of working on the Apple TV+ show. 
 
How did your role in this show come about?

They sent me a message that the director wants to talk to me about a show and then he sent me an email and we talked about it. I said 'no'. I don't know. Being a Hollywood actor, I don't know. But then he said 'why don't I send you the script, I think that you are the best actor for this role.' And I was like, well, let's see how the script is. I started reading the scripts and it freaked me out. It was so good. I was not expecting that.

And then I read the second episode and the third episode, the fourth and the fifth. And that really piqued my interest then. And that, we spoke for about three months. We went back and forth, and at the end of the day, it's all about the script. The director came, flew to Los Angeles and we had dinner and we hit it off and I'm blessed to be part of it.

What were the major challenges you faced while portraying the role of Faraz?

In every instance, in every character, there are a lot of challenges because you are hoping that you're going to portray the character as best as you can. And hopefully, you are doing justice. I don't take a role unless it really talks to me. And I knew Faraz. I knew I understood him and I knew where I was going with Faraz because I wanted to make sure that it's not just a bad guy role. I wanted to show humanity, the complexity of this character and to be a multidimensional character. And that really is what attracted me to the role. In every instance, you just hope that you do the right job and luckily people enjoy it.

Faraz is not the typical antagonist, he does have many layers to him...

I'm not attracted to characters that are just bad guys. I wanted to make sure that the audience really understands the complexity of the human as a man. When you see him with his wife, he's so gentle. He's so sweet, and you see him as just the man. And then on the other side, you see the complexity of his character when he's at work and the love of country and he feels that he's responsible. And he's a high ranking officer in Iran. He feels that he has to do his best and it's really tough for him to balance both.

What preparation did you take on for this role?

I called some people that I knew and I wanted to see what it is to be an intelligence officer in Iran. I didn't want to be just a man in the intelligence. Those people also have a different life. They have a family. They're really nice. At the end of the day, I bring my own color into it.

'Tehran' is an intense and political drama. Was it difficult for you to leave the character aside after shooting? 

I'm one of those crazy ones. Yeah. I can totally separate my life from my acting. My friends always make fun of me because you know, sometimes they come to the sets to watch me work and everything. They say, 'all of a sudden when they call action, you just switch. All of a sudden your walk is different...'

How different is 'Tehran' from other projects you've taken up before?

'Tehran' is a very different kind of show. Nobody has done this before, you know, [a show] between the Israelis and the Iranians. There's a lot of fast-paced espionage, thriller, but yes, 'Tehran' has all that as well as the humanity of it and shows the struggle of these characters. It's Israel and Iran. You kind of start to understand that people are just people and are very, very similar and stuck between these borders. They're stuck between the governments and I think that's the way it is these days in the world.." 

What were your favourite moments while working on the show?

There are a lot of moments that I really enjoyed. It was a joy, not only that, it was a set that was Israeli. Israeli producers and Iranian actors, Israeli actors. A Greek cameraman and such, and it felt like people are just trying to make the best show possible. We felt that this is something special because everyone who read the script were amazed.

'Tehran' is streaming on Apple TV+.