A Q&A with Necar Zadegan
Photos by Reto Sterchi
On Craft & Film
Your performances often carry a quiet intensity-how do you access emotional depth without over-explaining a character?
I always look at characters individually, each of them are their own and I think I about them deeply and try to allow that to come through as honestly as I can.
When you approach a role, specifically for CIA, what comes first for you: the psychology, the physicality, or the story’s larger message?
I think about all of it, really. But some leaps are greater than others. In the case of CIA, I am fortunate to work in a space where I can come to work open and prepared to see where the scene takes us.
How has your relationship with acting evolved from your early career?
I mean when I really think about it, I feel it’s evolved in so many ways and also in some ways it’s still that same old excitement. I understand myself better as I think people always do as you grow into yourself more and there’s a sense of ease about that and that certainly affects all the aspects of my life including my work.
On Identity & Representation
As an Iranian-American actress, how have you navigated the tension between opportunity and representation in Hollywood?
I like to work on projects that I like and on characters that are full in worlds that I think are meaningful. Those kinds of characters resonate with me because they resonate with everybody and I’m a person like everyone else, so when that creates an opportunity for people to see themselves inside of a character or feel connected in some way, that is where representation really succeeds.
Do you feel the industry has meaningfully evolved in how it portrays Middle Eastern women—or is there still work to be done?
The industry, as you’re talking about, is merely a reflection of what is happening in the world around us. I love to see the industry uplift authentic voices because they are richer and without the limitations that outside perspectives seem to impose.
There are many artists telling stories involving women of that part of the world, some of our greatest artists today are Iranian women and they follow a long history of female artists from that region; Shirin Neshat has shown work I’ve followed for years sharing a worldview so specific to femininity and the rich cultural history of Iran. Some of our greatest auteur filmmakers are Iranians like Asghar Farhadi and Jafar Panahi whose female characters are fully expressed and shown through the complicated lens that it is to be human. I recently read a play by the writer Sanaz Toozi whose perspective is decidedly nuanced and female. I am certainly the daughter of the land of love and literature and there never has been a shortage of women’s voices in art from that part of the world and I am always interested in working with Iranian artists because of the fullness with which their perspectives offer.
How do you balance honoring your cultural roots while refusing to be defined by them? Do you feel a responsibility to use your platform to shift narratives or challenge stereotypes?
I love the beautiful culture and heritage I possess and that I am from, it’s a part of me naturally. In terms of using my platform, if there is ever a way I can be useful towards that end, I welcome that. Particularly now, while there is an attack on the country that is my family’s homeland, I do think about it, it’s incredibly painful to watch and I know I am not alone in the sense of sadness and uncertainty about it all.
Honestly, I think the responsibility is all of ours because we all share the world and are privy to a wealth of information at our fingertips so claiming ignorance is really unfair. I encourage the constant demand for more information and more empathy. So many people are producing work that is bridge building for us in these seismic times and that is deeply moving and very inspiring to me.
On Career & Reinvention
Many of your roles reflect strength and intelligence like on Mayor of Kingstown. How intentional has that been in shaping your career?
These are the characters I am interested in, I can say that. I was raised by strong, beautiful women, they are the ones I have admired and studied my whole life. So the depth of the charter is what I am often drawn to.
What was the most difficult period in your career and what did it teach you about resilience?
I think things felt difficult after I started to feel accomplished actually, because it didn’t feel the way I thought it would. It’s easy to believe that once you hit a certain milestone, everything kind of settles. But I think it’s important not to tie your sense of purpose too tightly to outcomes like achievement.
So for me, resilience isn’t just about pushing through when things go wrong, it’s also about staying grounded when things go right, and keeping a clear sense of why you’re doing what you’re doing. I try to focus more on the process rather than just the end result.
On Life & Perspective
What experiences outside of acting have most shaped who you are today?
The love and support I have been lucky to have from my family is what I am most grateful for in my life and has shaped me certainly. But also travel and educating abroad. Travel itself is the greatest educator and the enemy to ignorance. My eyes were opened at a very tender age about humanity from these experiences.
How do you maintain a sense of grounding and clarity in a fast-moving, public-facing career?
That can be difficult sometimes, just the schedule and being on all the time. I prioritize rest and am mindful of my consumption in every way.
I read that you’re trained in Tango, Jazz Latin and Middle Easter Dance, as well as guitar and classical violin. Were you exposed to music and dance at an early age?
Yes indeed I was. My mother loved music and dance and shared her passion with us and wanted to expose us to that part of ourselves at a very young age. And later it became part of my own studies when I was in school for drama. You know there was a sense for a long time that an actor should aspire to be a triple threat, so it was very much a part of the world that I studied in.
On CIA and Mayor of Kingstown
How does Nikki Reynard differ from your previous procedural roles, and how does her calm authority compared to your own leadership style?
That’s a funny question. My own leadership style? I don’t know that I would compare myself to a chief of station for the CIA, but I suppose I try to stay calm too. This character is quite sophisticated and has a very colorful past having been married four times and living undercover abroad, so I’d say she’s been a bit more exposed to the world of international glamour than some of the other characters.
Your character on CIA has a mysterious past with Tom Ellis’s character. What can you tease about their shared history and how that trust affects their new roles?
It’s true, they have a deep connection which we will find out about in storylines to come. The character of Nikki has come from a history of work in the field which is where her relationship with Tom’s character, Colin, began. These characters are extremely private and don’t have many people they can share their unique lives with or even relate to, so that is where their connection stems from, a shared perspective.
CIA has been described as cinematic and fast-paced. How does filming in New York add to the authenticity?
That’s a very good description. I think New York has its own magic and offers a cinematic quality in every way, from the locations to the pace of the city itself. I don’t think we could do anything other than embrace that and play into it.
As the A.D.A. in Mayor of Kingstown, how difficult is it to play a character constantly balancing legal precedent with the ‘law of the street’?
It is at the crux of the complexity of the character, this constant push and pull between the ideal of how she wants to exist versus the loyalty to where she comes from. It’s actually a joy to play that because it is these complexities that give the character vibrancy and substance.
Mayor of Kingstown has a very distinct, intense tone. How would you describe what the collaborative process is like with creator Taylor Sheridan?
Taylor came to this project from the very beginning season with a deep sense of understanding of the characters back stories, it was clear he had spent a lot of time identifying their parts in this world. It was our earliest conversations about these back stories that I have come back to many times throughout the seasons and that has informed much about the motivations for the character I play as we have gone forward.
How do you shift between the fast-paced, high-stakes, action-oriented world of CIA and the dark, gritty, character-driven world of Mayor of Kingstown?
I stay in the moment as much as I can. It helps that I had already spent some years in the world of the Mayor of Kingstown and with the character of Evelyn, so I was already on a train that was moving so to speak. But also it’s like being an actor in rep, and I did that back in school and when I was part of a theater company early in my career so I recall my training for it and there’s something very fun about that too. I think they do that in drama school because it’s range building to stretch across styles like that, so though it’s at times tiring flying back and forth between the cities, it’s actually quite fun for me and I’ve quite enjoyed it.