I speak Farsi, German, Dari, and I understand Turkish, but I haven't used it since 1985, so I'm a bit rusty.

I grew up on Harold Lloyd, Charles Chaplin, and Buster Keaton, and those were the ones who inspired me.

I grew up during the Revolution of Iran and the war between Iran and Iraq. The things that I saw. The impact. How it changes you. How it changes the way you look at the world.

I like 'Shameless.' The first season I just watched it straight through. I literally didn't get up. I just had to finish it.

I like 'Breaking Bad' and 'Game of Thrones.' I like that era. I like that fantasy world.

I left Iran back in 1985. I lived in Turkey for a while, then I went to Germany. I joined a theater company there, and we toured the country.

I think we're always intrigued by things we're not familiar with.

When I was I kid, there were so many different things that I wanted to be. As an actor, I get a chance to be all of those things, at least for a couple of days, which is fun.

In any situation, you only need the strength of endurance.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!

Can you look at a situation without naming it? Naming it, making it a word, causes fear.

What the poor need is not charity but capital, not caseworkers but coworkers. And what the rich need is a wise, honorable and just way of divesting themselves of their overabundance.

My religion is kindness.

I had my share of critics, and I wash my hands of the whole lot.

The affections are like lightning: you cannot tell where they will strike till they have fallen.

In appropriate circumstances we are justified in using humans to achieve goals (or the goal of assisting animals).

Sympathy is a supporting atmosphere, and in it we unfold easily and well.

I've been very lucky to have had a supportive family, a great education, enormous opportunity and challenge.