Adrian Pasdar

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Adrian Pasdar

Birth name Adrian Kayvan Pasdar
Born April 30, 1965 (age 41)
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA
Spouse(s) Natalie Maines
Notable roles Caleb Colton in Near Dark
Jim Profit in Profit
Declan Dunn in Mysterious Ways
David McClaren in Judging Amy
Nathan Petrelli in Heroes

Adrian Kayvan Pasdar (born April 30, 1965) is an American actor and film director, best known for playing Jim Profit on the cult TV series Profit, for his roles in Near Dark, Mysterious Ways and Heroes, and for directing the feature film Cement.

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[edit] Early years

Pasdar was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His father, Homayoon Pasdar, was a cardiac surgeon who was born in Iran and moved to the United States, working as a surgeon near Philadelphia. His mother, Rosemarie Sbresny was born in Königsberg, Germany, and worked as a nurse before becoming an English teacher in France.

Pasdar won a football scholarship to the University of Florida. However, he was badly injured in a car accident during his freshman year. The accident left his face scarred, his legs badly injured, and kept him in a wheelchair for several months. Pasdar finished his freshman year in a wheelchair, doing intensive physical therapy and turning his attention to campus stage productions and rediscovering a childhood interest in writing and acting. No longer able to play football, he dropped out of school and returned home, taking a job with a theater group, People's Light and Theatre Company. Here he worked on sound and lighting and also did set construction. One day, while constructing a set, he cut off the end of his left thumb. He used the resulting medical compensation to pay for attendance at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in Los Angeles.

[edit] Acting and directing

[edit] Film

At the age of 19, he auditioned for a role in Top Gun. Director Tony Scott was so impressed that he wrote the part of "Chipper" just for him. This led to bigger roles in Solarbabies (1986), Streets of Gold (1986), and Kathryn Bigelow's 1987 cult vampire movie Near Dark (1987), with Pasdar in the lead role of Caleb Colton. Other major roles include Vital Signs (1990). In 1992, he left Hollywood and returned to New York, working as a cashier for room and board, while taking the occasional small part, such as Frankie in Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way (1993).

Adrian Pasdar wrote and directed the short film Beyond Belief and directed his first feature film, the art-house neo-noir Cement, a contemporary re-telling of Othello, in 1999. The $1.7 million independent feature, which won Best Picture awards on the festival circuit, starred Chris Penn, Jeffrey Wright, Sherilyn Fenn, Henry Czerny and was written by Farscape's screenwriter Justin Monjo.

“ "I've used every ounce of energy and every drop of money I had to make Cement," Pasdar said.[1] ”

[edit] Television

Pasdar's major break into television came in 1996, when he was cast as the title character on the short-lived Fox series Profit.

From 2000 to 2002, Pasdar played the lead role of Anthropology Professor Declan Dunn in the spooky cult drama series Mysterious Ways on PAX.

Pasdar played David McClaren in the final two seasons of the long-running CBS drama Judging Amy, from 2004 through 2005. In 2006, he had a high-profile guest role as Gabrielle Solis' sleazy lawyer in Desperate Housewives.

He currently stars in the NBC superhero drama Heroes as Nathan Petrelli.

[edit] Marriage and family

Anamarie "Pinky" Pasdar is the younger sister of Adrian Pasdar. She is also an actor and appeared in the Mysterious Ways episode Handshake[2].

Pasdar married lead singer Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks in June 2000. The couple first met in May 1999, at the wedding of band member Emily Robison and singer-songwriter Charlie Robison. They were married in Las Vegas's Little White Wedding Chapel, in a $55 no-frills ceremony officiated by the chapel's "Pastor Ann." They have two children, Jackson Slade Pasdar (born March 15, 2001) and Beckett Finn Pasdar (born July 14, 2004) and live in Los Angeles and Austin, TX.

[edit] Awards & nominations

[edit] Trivia

  • His film company is Bobcat Films. He has a Bobcat tattoo on his upper right arm.
  • He also has a tattoo of the Chinese character for Strength, which he got while filming Shanghai 1920 (上海1920, Shang Hai yi jiu er ling) (1991).
  • He also has a tattoo of an anchor on his arm. His children's names are written on it. It symbolizes that his family is his anchor and support in life.

[edit] Selected filmography (as actor)

Year Title Role Director/Series creator Other notes
2006-2007 Heroes (TV series) Nathan Petrelli Tim Kring regular
2005 Desperate Housewives (TV series) (2.4 My Heart Belongs to Daddy, 2.5 They Asked Me Why I Believe In You, 2.6 I Wish I Could Forget You) David Bradley Marc Cherry guest appearance (3 episodes)
2003-2005 Judging Amy (TV series) David McClaren Amy Brenneman, Bill D'Elia, John Tinker recurring role (seasons 5-6)
2000-2002 Mysterious Ways (TV series) Declan Dunn Peter O'Fallon lead
1998 The Outer Limits (TV series) (4.5 In the Zone) Tanner Brooks David Warry-Smith
1997 Feds (TV series) C. Oliver Resor regular
House of Frankenstein 1997 (TV) Detective Vernon Coyle Peter Werner
Love in Another Town (TV) Jake Cantrell Lorraine Senna
Wounded Hanaghan Richard Martin
1996 Profit (TV series) Jim Profit David Greenwalt, John McNamara lead
The Pompatus of Love Josh Richard Schenkman
1995 Slave of Dreams (TV) Joseph Robert M. Young
A Mother's Gift (TV) William Deal Jerry London
1994 Shadows of Desire (TV) Jude Snow Sam Pillsbury
The Last Good Time Eddie Bob Balaban
1993 Carlito's Way Frankie Taglialucci Brian De Palma
The Killing Box Captain John Harling George Hickenlooper
1992 Just Like a Woman Gerald Tilson/Geraldine Christopher Monger
1991 Grand Isle Robert Lebrun Mary Lambert
Shanghai 1920 (上海1920, Shang Hai yi jiu er ling) Dawson Cole Po-Chih Leong
1990 The Lost Capone (TV) Ricard Hart/Jimmy Capone John Gray
Torn Apart Ben Arnon Jack Fisher
1989 Cookie Vito Susan Seidelman
1987 Near Dark Caleb Colton Kathryn Bigelow
1986 Streets of Gold Timmy Boyle Joe Roth
Solarbabies Darstar Alan Johnson
Top Gun Chipper Tony Scott

[edit] Filmography (as director)

Year Title Writer Cast Other notes
1999 Cement Justin Monjo Chris Penn, Jeffrey Wright, Sherilyn Fenn, Anthony DeSando, Henry Czerny also co-producer

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pasdar, quoted in "Adrian Pasdar's television, film career working in Mysterious Ways" by Bridget Byrne. Chicago Sun-Times. August 13, 2000.
  2. ^ [1]

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

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