# Shahab Hosseini

Sayyid Shahabeddin Hosseini Tonekaboni (Persian: سیّد شهاب‌الدین حسینی تنکابنی; born February 3, 1974) is an Iranian actor, producer, director and screenwriter. He is known for his collaborations with Iranian Academy Award-winning director Asghar Farhadi in About Elly (2009), A Separation (2011), and The Salesman (2016). His accolades include a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, a Silver Bear for Best Actor, and a Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor.

## Early life

Shahab Hosseini was born on February, 3rd, 1974 in Tehran. He earned his high school diploma in Biology. He dropped out of the University of Tehran as a psychology student and emigrated to Canada. Later, he became a radio host in Iran, and hosted a TV show for youth. He also took on some small acting roles in a few TV series. Hosseini's cinematic debut was in Rokhsareh (2002) directed by Amir Ghavidel. His career took off with his performance in the movie The Fifth Reaction directed by Tahmineh Milani. In June 2011, he announced that he would be taking a break but would return to cinema in 2013.

## Career
### Acting

Hosseini has won the Silver Bear for Best Actor for A Separation at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, and the Best Actor Award at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival for his role in The Salesman. Hosseini won his first award, Crystal Simorgh for Superstar in 2009. In 2013, he made his directorial debut. In 2020, Hosseini co-founded Pol Media ("pol" translating to "bridge" in Persian) with director Kourosh Ahari and producer Alex Bretow, a distribution and production company aiming to "bridge the gap" between Iranian art, culture and cinema with that of the U.S.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 2002 | Rokhsareh | Mahan Farzam | Amir Ghavidel | |
| 2002 | Dummies | Morad | Ali Ghavitan | |
| 2003 | The Fifth Reaction | Majid | Tahmineh Milani | |
| 2003 | The Woman Keeps Silent | Mani | Ahmad Amini | |
| 2003 | Poisonous Honey | Shahin | Ebrahim Sheibani | |
| 2004 | A Candle in the Wind | Babak | Pouran Derakhshandeh | |
| 2004 | The Ziggurat Goddess | Bahram | Rahman Rezaei | |
| 2005 | Fifty Million Proposal | Barmak | Mehdi Sabaghzadeh | |
| 2005 | Salvation at 8:20 | Foad | Sirus Alvand | |
| 2005 | Whirlpool | Homayoun | Hassan Hedayat | |
| 2006 | The Online Murder | Keyvan | Masoud Abparvar | |
| 2006 | Love Story | | Bijan Birang | |
| 2006 | Eternal Children | Iman | Pouran Derakhshandeh | |
| 2007 | Unexpected | Salk | Mohammad Hadi Karimi | |
| 2007 | Paradise Station | Soroush | Nader Moghadas | |
| 2007 | Flags of Kaveh's Castle | Sadegh | Mohammad Nourizad | |
| 2008 | Niloofar | Aziz | Sabine El Gemayel | |
| 2008 | Mahya | Javid | Akbar Khajouei | |
| 2009 | About Elly | Ahmad | Asghar Farhadi | |
| 2009 | Superstar | Kourosh Zand | Tahmineh Milani | |
| 2009 | Heartbroken | Amirali | Ali Rouintan | |
| 2009 | Around the Highway | Pasha | Siavash As'adi | |
| 2010 | A Walk in the Fog | Amin | Bahram Tavakoli | |
| 2010 | Anahita | Behnam | Azizollah Hamidnezhad | |
| 2011 | Snow on a Hot Tin Roof | Bahman | Mohammad Hadi Karimi | |
| 2011 | Final Whistle | Saman | Niki Karimi | |
| 2011 | A Separation | Hojjat | Asghar Farhadi | |
| 2011 | Goodbye | Esfandiar | Mohammad Rasoulof | |
| 2012 | The Paternal House | Naser | Kianoush Ayari | |
| 2012 | Someone Wants to Talk with You | Mostafa | Manouchehr Hadi | |
| 2012 | Ziba and I | Jafar | Fereidoun Hassanpour | |
| 2013 | Africa | Shahab | Houman Seyyedi | Direct-to-video |
| 2013 | The Painting Pool | Reza | Maziar Miri | |
| 2013 | The Interpretation of a Dream | Major | Reza Dadooi | Direct-to-video |
| 2013 | Hush! Girls Don't Scream | The Detective | Pouran Derakhshandeh | |
| 2014 | A Five Star | Reza | Mahshid Afsharzadeh | |
| 2014 | Resident of the Middle Floor | | Shahab Hosseini | also as director |
| 2015 | Time to Love | Hamid | Alireza Raeesian | |
| 2015 | Sweet Taste of Imagination | Grous | Kamal Tabrizi | |
| 2016 | Come with Me | | Shahab Hosseini, Sina Azin, Alireza Nasaee | also as director |
| 2016 | Parallel Shadows | Rabiei | Asghar Naimi | |
| 2016 | Wednesday | Salim | Soroush Mohammadzadeh | |
| 2016 | The Salesman | Emad | Asghar Farhadi | |
| 2016 | My Brother Khosrow | Khosrow | Ehsan Bigleri | |
| 2016 | Gholam | Gholam | Mitra Tabrizian | |
| 2017 | Final Exam | Farhad | Adel Yaraghi | |
| 2017 | Lobby | | Mohammad Parvizi | unreleased film |
| 2018 | The Midnight Sun | | Shabir Shirazi | also as producer, casting director |
| 2018 | The Residents of Nowhere | | Shahab Hosseini | also as director and producer; released in 2023 |
| 2019 | Lovely Trash | Mansour | Mohsen Amiryoussefi | |
| 2019 | Nabat | Saeed | Pegah Arzi | |
| 2019 | Labyrinth | Amirali | Amir Hossein Torabi | |
| 2020 | Any Day Now | Bahman Mehdipour | Hamy Ramezan | |
| 2020 | Sheen | | Meisam Kazazi | as producer |
| 2020 | The Night | Babak Naderi | Kourosh Ahari | |
| 2020 | After the Incident | – | Pouria Heidary Oureh | as producer |
| 2021 | Mahrokh's House | – | Shahram Ebrahimi | as producer |
| 2021 | Nargesi | | Payam Eskandari | |
| 2022 | The Writer Is Dead | – | Shahab Hosseini | as director, producer |
| 2022 | Golden Blood | Mr. Keshavarz | Ebrahim Sheibani | |
| 2022 | The Last Act | – | Shahab Hosseini | as director, producer |
| 2024 | Intoxicated by Love | Shams Tabrizi | Hassan Fathi | |
| 2024 | Shukran | Taher | Pietro Malegori | |
| 2025 | Raha | Tohid | Hesam Farahmand | |
| TBA | The Far Mountains | | Mitra Tabrizian | Pre-Production |
| TBA | Wild Berries | Davood | Soudabeh Moradian | Pre-production |

### Web

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Platform | Notes |
| 2015–2018 | Shahrzad | Ghobad Divansalar | Hassan Fathi | Lotus Play | Main role; 59 episodes |
| 2020–2021 | Mutual Friendship | Himself | Shahab Hosseini | Namava | Talk show; host, 31 episodes |
| 2022–2023 | The Lion Skin | Moheb Meshkat | Jamshid Mahmoudi | Filmnet | Main role; 24 episodes |
| 2023–2024 | Fereshteh's Sin | Hamed Tehrani | Hamed Angha | Filimo | Main role; 18 episodes |
| 2025 | Aban | Fariborz Sabeti | Reza Dadooi | Sheyda | Main role |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Network | Notes |
| 2001 | After the Rain | Ali Ahmadi | Saeed Soltani | IRIB TV3 | TV series |
| 2001 | Fellow Traveler | Reza | Ghasem Jafari | IRIB TV3 | TV series |
| 2001 | The Lawyer | | Sirous Moghaddam | IRIB TV5 | TV series |
| 2001 | Young Police | Younes Behgar | Sirous Moghaddam | IRIB TV3 | TV series |
| 2004 | Cold Fever | Shahab Kianfar | Alireza Afkhami | IRIB TV3 | TV series |
| 2007 | The Dance Fly | Dr. Vahid Molaei | Ahmad Moradpour | IRIB TV2 | TV series |
| 2007 | Zero Degree Turn | Habib Parsa | Hassan Fathi | IRIB TV1 | TV series |
| 2012–2013 | Flying Passion | Abbas Babaei | Yadollah Samadi | IRIB TV1 | TV series |
| 2014 | Red Hat 93 | Himself | Iraj Tahmasb | IRIB TV2 | TV series |
| 2014 | Seven | Himself | Mojtaba Amini | IRIB TV3 | TV program |
| 2019 | Sugarland | Narrator | Saeed Zamani, Babak Nazari | IRIB Nasim | TV series |
| 2023–2024 | Homeland | Rahi Bahadori | Kamal Tabrizi | IRIB TV3 | TV series |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Playwright | Director | Stage | Ref(s) |
| 2017 | The Confession | Brad Mirman | Shahab Hosseini | City Theater of Tehran | |

## Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination :
| Award | Year | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
| Action On Film International Film Festival | 2016 | Best Director – Motion Picture | Resident of the Middle Floor | Won |
| Action On Film International Film Festival | 2016 | Best Actor | Hush! Girls Don't Scream | Won |
| Beijing International Film Festival | 2021 | Best Supporting Actor | Any Day Now | Won |
| Berlin International Film Festival | 2011 | Best Actor | A Separation | Won |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2016 | Best Actor | The Salesman | Won |
| Chlotrudis Awards | 2012 | Best Supporting Actor | A Separation | Nominated |
| Cine Paris Film Festival | 2022 | Best Feature Film | The Writer Is Dead | Won |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2004 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | A Candle in the Wind | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2005 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Salvation at 8:20 | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2008 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Mahya | Honorary Diploma |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2009 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | About Elly | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2009 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Superstar | Won |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2011 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | A Separation | Honorary Diploma |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2015 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Time to Love | Nominated |
| Fajr Film Festival | 2025 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Raha | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2010 | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Zero Degree Turn | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2011 | Best Actor – Motion Picture | Superstar and About Elly | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 2016 | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Shahrzad | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2017 | Best Actor – Motion Picture | The Salesman | Won |
| Hafez Awards | 2018 | Best Actor – Motion Picture | My Brother Khosrow | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2018 | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Shahrzad | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2023 | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | The Lion Skin | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2023 | Abbas Kiarostami Prize | Residents of Nowhere | Nominated |
| Hafez Awards | 2024 | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Homeland | Nominated |
| International Cinephile Society | 2012 | Best Supporting Actor | A Separation | Runner-up |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2003 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Fifth Reaction | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2004 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | A Candle in the Wind | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2008 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | A Walk in the Fog and About Elly | Won |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2011 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | A Separation | Won |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2014 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Painting Pool | Nominated |
| Iran Cinema Celebration | 2017 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Salesman | Won |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2010 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Superstar and About Elly | Nominated |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2011 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | A Walk in the Fog | Won |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2012 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | A Separation | Won |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2014 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Painting Pool | Honorary Diploma |
| Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association | 2016 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | My Brother Khosrow | Nominated |
| Iranian Film Festival – San Francisco | 2020 | Best Actor | Labyrinth | Won |
| Jasmine International Film Festival | 2013 | Best Actor in a Direct-to-video | The Interpretation of a Dream | Nominated |
| Jasmine International Film Festival | 2016 | Best Actor – Television Series | Shahrzad | Nominated |
| Jussi Awards | 2021 | Best Actor | Any Day Now | Won |
| Molins Horror Film Festival | 2020 | Best Actor | The Night | Won |
| Urban International Film Festival | 2015 | Best Actor in a Direct-to-video | The Interpretation of a Dream | Golden Statue |