Mozhan Marnò
Introduction '''Mozhan Navabi''' (born May 3, 1980) is an Iranian-American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in ''The Blacklist'' and ''House of Cards'' and played Soraya Manutchehri in ''The Stoning of Soraya M.''. She was previously known as '''Mozhan Marnò''', but returned to her given last name, Navabi, in 2023.
Early life and education Navabi was born in Los Angeles. Her parents are from Iran and met in California. She was educated at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. She received her BA in French and German comparative literature from Barnard College and her MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama.
Personal life She currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to English she speaks French, German, Persian, and some Italian.
Career Navabi played the title role in the 2008 film ''The Stoning of Soraya M.'', about a woman whose husband falsely accuses her of adultery, resulting in her death by stoning. In addition she has had roles in a number of television series including ''The Paul Reiser Show'', ''The Glades'', ''Hung'', ''The Mentalist'', ''Bones'', ''The Unit'', ''Medium'', ''K-ville'', and ''Standoff''. Navabi also appeared in the Untitled John Wells Medical Drama Pilot, which was not aired. She also stars in Ana Lily Amirpour's directorial debut, ''A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night'', produced by Elijah Wood, under his company, The Woodshed. In 2011, Navabi voiced Mirabelle Ervine, a Breton mage and Master Wizard of the College of Winterhold, in the critically acclaimed video game ''The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim''. She played reporter Ayla Sayyad on seasons 2 and 3 of the acclaimed Netflix series ''House of Cards'', for which she was nominated for a SAG award. She played Mossad agent and assassin Samar in seasons 2-6 of ''The Blacklist''.Navabi also directs and writes screenplays. Her first feature-length screenplay, ''When the Lights Went Out'', was a quarter finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship. She adapted ''When the Lights Went Out'' as a play and it was mounted at New York Stage and Film in July 2013 starring Laura Innes, and directed by Kate Whoriskey (''Ruined''). Navabi’s short film, ''Incoming'', which she wrote and directed, was accepted to the Noor Iranian Film Festival, LA SHORTS FEST, the Asians on Film Festival, and the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival.
Filmography === Film === Year Title Role Notes 2007 ''Charlie Wilson's War'' Refugee Camp Translator #2  2008 ''Traitor'' Leyla 2009 ''The Stoning of Soraya M.'' Soraya Manutchehri Title role 2014  ''A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night'' Atti  2019 ''Wonder Woman: Bloodlines'' Doctor Cyber (voice) Direct-to-Video 2021 ''iGilbert'' Detective Rivera === Television === Year Title Role Notes 2006  ''The Unit''  Protocol Chief  Episode: "Security" 2006  ''Standoff''  Agnacia  Episode: "Life Support" 2007  ''Shark''  Maria Lutrova  Episode: "Gangster Movies" 2007  ''K-Ville''  Jodi Mazetta  Episode: "Ride Along" 2009  ''Bones''  Azita Jabbari  Episode: "A Night at the Bones Museum" 2009  ''Medium''  Rachel  Episode: "The Devil Inside, Part 2" 2009–2011  ''The Mentalist''  Nicki Weymouth  2 episodes 2010  ''The Glades''  Renee LeFleur  Episode: "Cassadaga" 2010  ''Hung''  Samara  Episode: "The Middle East is Complicated" 2011  ''The Paul Reiser Show''  Zeba  2 episodes 2012  ''In Plain Sight''  Charlotte  Episode: "Sacrificial Lamb" 2012  ''Ringer''  Marguerite  Episode: "P.S. You're an Idiot" 2014–2015  ''House of Cards''  Ayla Sayyad  11 episodesNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 2014–2019  ''Madam Secretary''  Roxanne Majidi  2 episodes 2014–2019; 2022  ''The Blacklist''  Samar Navabi  Main role (seasons 2-6)Guest role (season 9); 104 episodes 2019  ''The Affair''  Petra  3 episodes 2021  ''Maid''  Tara  2 episodes 2022  ''Pam & Tommy''  Gail Chwatsky  Miniseries 2022  ''Fleishman Is in Trouble''  Nahid  Miniseries 2024  ''Law & Order''  Stacey Dean  Episode: "Unintended Consequences"=== Audio recordings === Year Title Author Role 2015 ''Hausfrau'' Jill Alexander Essbaum Narrator 2016''Missoula'' Jon Krakauer Narrator 2016 ''The Guest Room'' Chris Bohjalian2018Song of a Captive BirdJasmin DzarnikNarrator  2019 ''The Stationery Shop'' Marjan Kamali Narrator 2019 ''The Other Americans'' Laila Lalami Nora 2020 ''The Paris Diversion'' Chris Pavone Narrator  2020 ''The Book of Longings'' Sue Monk Kidd Narrator === Video games === Year Title Role 2011 ''The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'' Mirabelle Ervine, Namira 2016 ''1979 Revolution: Black Friday'' Bibi Golestan
Awards and nominations  Year Association Category Nominated work Result 2009 Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture ''The Stoning of Soraya M.''  2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series ''House of Cards''
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