Adrian Pasdar

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Adrian Pasdar

Born Adrian Kayvan Pasdar
April 30, 1965 (1965-04-30) (age 43)
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation Film actor, film director
Spouse(s) Natalie Maines (2000 - present)

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

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[edit] Early years

Pasdar was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His mother, Rosemarie (née Sberesny), was born in Königsberg, Germany, and worked as a nurse before becoming an English teacher and travel agent in France. 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.[1]

Pasdar received a football scholarship to the University of Florida to play linebacker.[2] 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 New York. Pasdar also acted in the Dixie Chick's video for 'Goodbye Earl"

[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 cult vampire movie Near Dark (1987), with Pasdar in the lead role of Caleb Colton. Other major roles include Vital Signs (1990). Pasdar got his biggest break in movies, when he starred as a beautiful woman opposite Julie Walters in the British movie Just Like a Woman. 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.[3] ”

[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 2003 through 2005. In 2006, he had a high-profile guest role as Gabrielle Solis's sleazy lawyer in Desperate Housewives.

He currently stars in the NBC superhero drama Heroes as Nathan Petrelli. He bases his mysterious character on "the most morally liquid characters" that he's encountered in his life. The character is not based on one particular political figure, but on a melange of different ones, both good and bad.[4]

[edit] Personal life

Anamarie "Pink" Pasdar is the younger sister of Adrian Pasdar. She appeared in the Mysterious Ways episode Handshake.[5] She is the Associate Artistic Director at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

Pasdar married lead singer Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks in June 2000. The couple first met in May 1999, with Maines as a bridesmaid to her bandmate Emily Robison and Pasdar as a groomsman to his friend 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, California and Austin, Texas.

He 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.[6] 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).[6]

[edit] Awards & nominations

[edit] Filmography (as actor)

Year Title Role Director/Series creator Other notes
1986 Top Gun Chipper Tony Scott one line
Solarbabies Darstar Alan Johnson
Streets of Gold Timmy Boyle Joe Roth
1987 Made in USA Dar Ken Friedman
Near Dark Caleb Colton Kathryn Bigelow
1989 Cookie Vito Susan Seidelman
1990 Torn Apart Ben Arnon Jack Fisher
The Lost Capone (TV) Ricard Hart/Jimmy Capone John Gray lead
1991 Shanghai 1920 (上海1920, Shang Hai yi jiu er ling) Dawson Cole Po-Chih Leong
Grand Isle Robert Lebrun Mary Lambert
1992 Just Like a Woman Gerald Tilson/Geraldine Christopher Monger
1993 The Killing Box Captain John Harling George Hickenlooper
Carlito's Way Frankie Taglialucci Brian De Palma
1994 The Last Good Time Eddie Bob Balaban
Shadows of Desire (TV) Jude Snow Sam Pillsbury
1995 Slave of Dreams (TV) Joseph Robert M. Young
A Mother's Gift (TV) William Deal Jerry London
1996 Profit (TV series) Jim Profit David Greenwalt, John McNamara lead
The Pompatus of Love Josh Richard Schenkman
1997 Feds (TV series) C. Oliver Resor regular
Wounded Hanaghan Richard Martin
Love in Another Town (TV) Jake Cantrell Lorraine Senna
House of Frankenstein 1997 (TV) Detective Vernon Coyle Peter Werner
1998 The Outer Limits (TV series) (4.5 In the Zone) Tanner Brooks David Warry-Smith
2000-2002 Mysterious Ways (TV series) Declan Dunn Peter O'Fallon lead
2003-2005 Judging Amy (TV series) David McClaren Amy Brenneman, Bill D'Elia, John Tinker recurring role (seasons 5-6) 2004 in MoviesTraveling Salesman in SecondHand Lions
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)
2006-Present Heroes (TV series) Nathan Petrelli Tim Kring regular

[edit] Filmography (as director)

Year Title Writer Producer Main cast Other notes
1999 Cement Justin Monjo D.J. Paul, Adrian Pasdar Chris Penn, Jeffrey Wright, Sherilyn Fenn, Anthony DeSando, Henry Czerny also co-producer and composer

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ Adrian Pasdar Biography (1965?-)
  2. ^ Adrian Pasdar Bio - Adrian Pasdar Biography - Adrian Pasdar Stories
  3. ^ Pasdar, quoted in "Adrian Pasdar's television, film career working in Mysterious Ways" by Bridget Byrne. Chicago Sun-Times. August 13, 2000.
  4. ^ Heroes Season Finale: Adrian Pasdar
  5. ^ Anamarie Pasdar
  6. ^ a b imdb.com: Bio om Adrian Pasdar
  7. ^ WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival

[edit] External links