Arian Moayed: Actor, Activist, and Co-Founder of Waterwell Theatre Company
Arian Moayed, known for playing Stewy in Succession and Torvald in A Doll's House on Broadway, balances his Hollywood career with civic activism. Born in Tehran after the Iranian revolution, his family fled to Chicago when he was five. He co-founded Waterwell, a non-profit theatre company, in 2002, which produces plays and films on immigration, refugee resettlement, and racism. In 2019, Waterwell staged The Courtroom, a reenactment of a woman's deportation case performed for immigration experts. Moayed also co-owns Pebble Bar in New York. He recently hosted an Iranian New Year's event with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and produced a film with Malala Yousafzai. Moayed uses his platform to share news from Iran and advocate for Iranian culture, which he says was 'hijacked by extremism.' He aims to bring back the 'human spirit inside Iran' through community and art.
Key facts
- Arian Moayed is an actor known for Succession, A Doll's House, Marvel's Spider-Man, Inventing Anna, and Nobody Wants This.
- He was born in Tehran after the Iranian revolution and fled to Chicago at age five.
- Moayed co-founded Waterwell, a non-profit theatre company, in 2002.
- Waterwell produced The Courtroom in 2019, a reenactment of a deportation case.
- He co-owns Pebble Bar in New York.
- Moayed hosted an Iranian New Year's event with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
- He produced a film with Malala Yousafzai.
- Moayed's father has Alzheimer's and recalls traumas from Iran.
- His brother Omid served in the Iran-Iraq war and shared a memory after Khamenei's death.
- Moayed was nominated for a Tony for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo in 2011.
Entities
Artists
- Arian Moayed
- Robin Williams
- Malala Yousafzai
- Abbas Kiarostami
Institutions
- Waterwell
- Pebble Bar
- New York Immigrant Coalition
- Marvel
- Netflix
- Broadway
Locations
- Tehran
- Iran
- Chicago
- New York
- 42nd Street