/ Sexy & Successful: Faran Tahir

by Anokhi Admin

Sexy & Successful: Faran Tahir

Jul 29, 2013

Actor

A third generation Pakistani thespian, Faran Tahir is a multi-talented actor who has done everything from entertainment and science fiction to big budget features and critically acclaimed theatre productions. His credits include some of the major blockbusters in recent years. He was the vicious villain, Raza in the Marvel Comic live action blockbuster, Iron Man, starring alongside Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow and Terence Howard. He also graced the screen as the dashing good guy, Federation Captain in the 2009 super hit Star Trek, a historical moment for him as he was the first Federation Captain of Middle Eastern/ South Asian ethnicity.

Tahir’s vast television resume includes roles on Lost, NYPD Blue, Cold Case, Charmed and The West Wing. A thespian at heart, Tahir boasts over 40 theatrical productions to his name in classical and contemporary plays with the California’s Bay Area Theatre and the American Repertory Theatre. Tahir is currently starring in two upcoming films scheduled to release this year. Ashes is a story about a young Indo-American man struggling in the inner city of New York City to support himself and his mentally ill older brother, starring Piper Perabo, Heather Burns and Ajay Naidu. Two Mothers, also starring John Heard (CSI Miami, The Pelican Brief), is a story about two families dealing with the grief of losing a teenage son in a shopping mall explosion.

Q&A

Zodiac sign: Aquarius.

Relationship status: Married.

Best way to unwind: Long runs, long bike rides, beach, books, hanging out at home.

Fave Bollywood movie: Sholay.

Favourite Hollywood movie: Penny Serenade, My Favorite Year and any Bond movie with Sean Connery.

Favourite book: The Fall by Albert Camus and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Guilty pleasure: The only one I will confess to is chocolate because everything else will get me in trouble somewhere in the world.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be and why? Control time. I don’t think I need to explain why.

What is on your iPod? Noor Jahan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cake, Black Eyed Peas, Bollywood Songs from the 60s through the 80s.

Something quirky about you no one would know: I’m a bit OCD. For example, if I brush one finger against the wall accidently, then I must brush the other one.

Best personal feature and why: My foolish optimism.

Best feature on the opposite sex: Besides the obvious, a sense of humour.

Celebrity crush: Lassie! No wait, Audrey Hepburn.

If you had to choose, would it be Romance or Hot Sex? Depends on whom with.

Three things you can’t live without: Coffee, chocolate, my family—in that order.

Most memorable professional moment: Drawing a total blank during a soliloquy in Macbeth.

Most valuable life lesson: Loyalty, grace and respect must always be a part of you.

Motto you live by: Someone once said, “Graveyards are filled with indispensible men” so let’s not get so cocky.

_{BY: TAMARA BALUJA / PUBLISHED: 7TH ANNIVERSARY SEXY & SUCCESSFUL 2010 ISSUE

(PHOTO COURTESY OF FARAN TAHIR)}