# Assaf Cohen

Assaf Cohen (born October 31, 1972) is an American actor. Born in Mountain View, California and raised in Palo Alto, California, Cohen is of Yemenite, Russian, and Israeli descent. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA degree in Integrative Biology. Initially planning to attend medical school, Cohen decided to pursue a career in acting instead.
Cohen's early career included work at various regional theaters in California, such as The Magic, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and PCPA Theaterfest. He then moved to the East Coast to earn an MFA in acting from the Professional Actors Training Program at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. Later, Cohen relocated to Los Angeles, where he performed at South Coast Repertory and began a career in film and television.

## Early life

Cohen was born in Mountain View, California and raised in Palo Alto, California, where his family settled after living for a number of years in Israel. He is of Yemenite, Russian and Israeli descent. Cohen graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA degree in Integrative Biology. Forgoing earlier plans of attending medical school, he instead pursued professional acting.

## Career

Cohen worked for a few years at regional theaters such as The Magic, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and PCPA Theaterfest. He then next moved east and earned an MFA degree in acting from the Professional Actors Training Program at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he studied under New York Acting teachers William Esper, Maggie Flanigan and Deborah Hedwall. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he performed at theaters including South Coast Repertory and began his career in film and television.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2002 | American Gulag | | Short film |
| 2004 | A Moment of Grace | Arab radio announcer | Short film |
| 2005 | Flightplan | Ahmed | |
| 2005 | West Bank Story | Menorah Mickey | Academy Award winner, Best Live Action Short Film |
| 2007 | Equal Opportunity | Al'Ahhhhkkkkhh bin Laden | |
| 2009 | Fast & Furious | Border Agent #1 | |
| 2011 | Convincing Clooney | Jason | |
| 2013 | Peace After Marriage | Boris | |
| 2014 | At the Devil's Door | Dr. Aranda | |
| 2014 | American Sniper | Terp #2 | |
| 2023 | Elemental | Additional voices |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Episode No. & Title |
| 2002 | The Agency | Young Man in taxi | 2.02 - "Air Lex" |
| 2003 | JAG | Musa Sabet | 9.05 - "Touchdown" |
| 2003 | Half & Half | Matt | 2.10 - "The Big Bitter Shower Episode" |
| 2004 | Half & Half | Matt | 2.15 - "The Big I Haven't the Vegas Idea Episode" |
| 2005 | Over There | Black Hood Interrogator (uncredited) | 1.02 - "Roadblock Duty" |
| 2005 | 24 | Yassir | 4.21 - "Day 4: 3:00 a.m. – 4:00 a.m." |
| 2005 | Monk | Ricardo | 4.05 - "Mr. Monk Gets Drunk" |
| 2006 | Sleeper Cell | Lt. Hayat | 2.02 - "Salesman" |
| 2006 | Numb3rs | Agent Kareem Allawi | 2.18 - "All's Fair" |
| 2007 | Entourage | Yair Marx | 3.19 - "The Prince's Bride" |
| 2007 | Entourage | Yair Marx | 4.12 - "The Cannes Kids" |
| 2007 | NCIS | 'Goliath' Eli Lissack | 4.14 - "Blowback" |
| 2008 | Burn Notice | Waseem Ali Khan | 2.03 - "Trust Me" |
| 2008 | Reno 911! | Iraqi Lieutenant | 5.10 - "Baghdad 911" |
| 2008 | Ghost Whisperer | Andy Yates | 3.14 - "The Grave Sitter" |
| 2008 | Knight Rider (2008 film) | Amir | TV movie |
| 2008 | The Ex List | Shaman | 1.06 - "Daphne's Idealized Wedding" |
| 2009 | Heroes | Hesam | Five episodes, Seasons 3-4 |
| 2009 | NCIS: Los Angeles | Tariq Barad Al-jabiri | |
| 2009 | Operating Instructions | Eli Bamberger | Pilot |
| 2010 | CSI: Miami | Ahmed Salib | Dishonor |
| 2010 | 24 | Navid | |
| 2010 | Weeds | Hooman Jaka | Three episodes, Season 6 |
| 2011 | Funny or Die Presents... | Radio Man | 2.07 - Segment: "Terrorist on Flight 77" |
| 2011 | Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior | Martin Malek | 1.13 - "Death by a Thousand Cuts" |
| 2012 | Last Resort | Linus Terman | 1.2 - "Blue on Blue" |
| 2013 | Supernatural | Ajay | 8.19 - "Taxi Driver" |
| 2013 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Qasim's Translator | 1.3 "The Asset" |
| 2014 | Bones | Mauricio | 9.15--'Heiress in the Hill' |
| 2014 | Glee | Kurt's Doctor | 5.15 - "Bash" |
| 2015 | Castle | Dr. Rusham Haroun | 7.16 The Wrong Stuff |
| 2017 | Dark | Noah | English dub |
| 2019 | Money Heist | Andres de Fonollosa (Berlin) | English dub |
| 2020 | 9-1-1 | Ellis | 3.14 - "The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1" |
| 2021 | Magnum P.I. | Professor Roland Bar | 3.07 - "Killer on the Midnight Watch" |
| 2023 | The Rookie | Deon Laetner | 5.14 - "Death Sentence" |