Pej Vahdat

Pejman "Pej" Vahdat (/ˈpɛdʒvəˈdɑːt/PEJ və-DAHT) is an American actor known for his role as Arastoo Vaziri in Bones from 2009 to 2017.^[1]

Vahdat was born in San Jose, California, during the Iranian revolution to Nina Emami and Dr. Amoo, one of the Shah of Iran's physicians.^[1] Vahdat has a sister, Parastoo Emami, a parenting coach, and a brother, Paiman.

While he was a baby, his family moved to Germany for eight months before moving to San Jose, California.^[2]

Acting was not his first career path. Vahdat originally aimed to be a professional tennis player.^[1] Vahdat attended San Diego State University, where he was a member of the San Diego State Aztecs men's tennis team.

Before playing in Bones, Vahdat appeared in numerous television shows including House, The Unit, Arrested Development, and Lie to Me.^[2]

Early in his acting career, Vahdat often auditioned for stereotypical Middle Eastern roles, such as terrorists, store owners, or taxi drivers. He found it frustrating that these limited portrayals were the majority of what was available to actors like him. Things changed for Vahdat when he landed the role of Arastoo Vaziri on Bones in 2009. He was proud to play a brilliant Muslim scientist helping to solve crimes instead of committing them, which he saw as a meaningful challenge to typical Hollywood depictions of Muslims.^[3]

The Bones character of Arastoo Vaziri is an Iranian intern working alongside forensic anthropologists. Initially portrayed with an Iranian accent, Vaziri is later revealed to actually have an American accent, a twist that surprised both the audience and Vahdat himself. This choice was intended to challenge stereotypes and offer a more nuanced portrayal of Middle Eastern characters on television. On the show, Vaziri becomes romantically involved with his boss, Dr. Camille Saroyan, played by Tamara Taylor—another development that Vahdat didn't anticipate.^[1] The show ended in 2017.

In 2010, he played Kash, a store owner, during the first season of the Showtime series Shameless.^[4]

In 2016, Vahdat joined the Amazon drama series Sneaky Pete in a recurring role alongside Giovanni Ribisi. Vahdat played Raj Kumar Mukherjee, an educated man who enjoys gambling and frequently participates in high-stakes card games at secret events hosted by a character named Vince.^[5]

Between 2018 and 2020, Vahdat had a recurring roleon Fox's Empire^[6] as Kelly Patel, a millionaire and the empire owner.

In 2022, Vahdat was cast as Dex Dexter, a charming and a fund manager in the fifth season of the CW reboot series Dynasty.^[7]

Between 2022 and 2024, Vahdat appeared as the young Faraz Hamzad, a powerful and ruthless Afghan warlord hell-bent on seeking revenge, also played by Navid Negahban, in the FX series The Old Man.

In 2025, Vahdat joined the cast of Tracker, season 2, on CBS in the recurring role of Leonard Sharf, a powerful and demanding client of Reenie Greene (Fiona Rene).^[8][9][10]

He also starred in the comedy Pickleheads and appeared in the one episode of the second season of Peacock's Poker Face.^[8]

In 2003, Vahdat started dating Narsis Attar,^[11] a medical doctor and Heme-Onc fellow at Dana Farber and MGH Cancer Center.

Vahdat is an Iranian-American Muslim who was born in the United States. The Trump administration's travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, hit home for him and in 2017 pushed him to speak out. Though not usually political, he began using his Twitter account to express his views and raise awareness.^[3]

• Pej Vahdat at IMDb
• Pej Vahdat on X
• Pej Vahdat on Instagram