Maybe you’ve seen today’s guest, Arian Moayed, on HBO’s Emmy-Award winning show, Succession, where he played Stewy. Or, in movies where he worked with legends like Bill Murray, Spike Lee. Or, on stage, where he was nominated for a TONY. Or, you might’ve caught his groundbreaking thriller, The Accidental Wolf, which he wrote and directed, starring Kelli O’Hara, Laurie Metcalf, Denis O’Hare, and a cast of 36 Tony nominations. Stumbling into a love of acting, Moayed began to pursue it as a career early in life. He was met, as most actors are, with an unending parade of “you can’t do that’s.” But, to him that just meant, make it happen on your own. “Do” your way through it. And, so he did. Which has been an enduring theme in his life.
Arian’s family fled Iran when he was just a little kid, taking a years-long journey that split the family between different countries, and eventually landed them just outside Chicago, where they set about building a new life in a radically different world. Acting became a fast passion and he began to develop a genuine love for theater and set about crafting a career. But along the way, he also realized that acting, for him, was also a pathway to writing, advocacy, and education. He became an award-winning writer/director and co-founded the theater/film production and arts education venture, Waterwell, where his heart is most boldly on display in the guiding the growth of teachers and 6-12th graders in New York City’s free theater training program, and exploring not just performance, but citizenship, service, equality, advocacy, justice, and what it means to be human. We all need more of that these days.
We’re so excited to share this Best Of conversation with you today.
You can find Arian Moayed at: Website | Instagram
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