# Adrian Pasdar
**Adrian Pasdar** (full name Adrian Kayvan Pasdar) is an American actor and film director, known for his film debut as Chipper in *Top Gun* (1986), his lead role in [Kathryn Bigelow](https://www.edgepedia.org/kathryn-bigelow)'s vampire Western *Near Dark* (1987), the title role of the Fox series *Profit*, and Nathan Petrelli on the NBC drama *[Heroes](https://www.edgepedia.org/heroes-american-tv-series)* (2006–2010).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) He has also directed the feature film *Cement* (2000) and voiced [Iron Man](https://www.edgepedia.org/iron-man) in Marvel animated projects.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/) • [3](https://filmmakermagazine.com/116091-adrian-pasdar/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965, Pittsfield, Massachusetts; full name Adrian Kayvan Pasdar[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) |
| Parents | Homayoon Pasdar, an Iranian-born heart surgeon, and Rosemarie (née Sbresny), born in Germany, who owns a travel agency[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) |
| Career start | Tony Scott wrote the part of "Chipper" in *Top Gun* (1986) after being impressed by the 19-year-old's audition[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) |
| Signature film role | Caleb Colton, the lead in *Near Dark* (1987)[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/) |
| Breakthrough TV role | Jim Profit, the amoral businessman of Fox's dark dramedy *Profit* (1995–96)[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/) |
| Best-known TV role | Nathan Petrelli, a politician with the secret ability to fly, on *Heroes* (NBC, 2006–2010, 60 episodes)[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/adrian-pasdar/bio/3000834595/) |
| Directing | *Cement* (2000), which won the Grand Remi Award at WorldFest Houston[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/adrian-pasdar/bio/3000834595/) |
| Marriage | Married singer Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks on June 24, 2000; the marriage later ended in divorce[5](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/pasdar-adrian-1965) • [6](https://xn--meb.pisz.pl/Adrian_Pasdar) |
## Early life and education
Pasdar was born in [Pittsfield, Massachusetts](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsfield-massachusetts), to Homayoon Pasdar, a prominent heart surgeon born in Iran, and Rosemarie Pasdar (née Sbresny), who was born in Germany, is of German and some Polish descent, and owns a travel agency.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) His father moved the family to Powelton, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, when Pasdar was 2.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) In a 2007 interview he described growing up at 39th and Powelton among Black friends and said he moved out to Lansdowne later in childhood.[7](https://www.phillymag.com/news/2007/06/19/exit-interview-adrian-pasdar/) After his parents' divorce when he was 8, he divided his time between the United States with his father and France with his mother.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/)
He excelled at football at Marple Newtown Senior High School, where he described himself as somewhat of an outcast who played football and also did plays.[8](https://imiranian.com/adrian-kayvan-pasdar/) • [7](https://www.phillymag.com/news/2007/06/19/exit-interview-adrian-pasdar/) The athletics ability earned him a college football scholarship, but the accounts differ on the school: IMDb's biography states he received a scholarship to the [University of Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-florida) in 1983,[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) while the Los Angeles Times, Encyclopedia.com, and [TV Guide](https://www.edgepedia.org/tv-guide) say he attended the [University of Central Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-central-florida) as a literature or English major.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-08-ca-572-story.html) • [5](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/pasdar-adrian-1965)
**The accidents that redirected him.** During his freshman year, in 1983, he was in a car wreck that sent him through the windshield, leaving his face scarred and his legs badly injured.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-08-ca-572-story.html) He finished the school year in a wheelchair, undergoing intensive physical therapy, and turned to campus stage productions, rediscovering a childhood interest in writing and acting.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) Unable to keep playing football, he dropped out and returned home, taking a job with the People's Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, Pennsylvania, working on sound, lighting, and set construction.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) While ripping wood on a table saw he cut off the tip of his left thumb; the resulting workers' compensation of $500 a month, he later said, was enough to afford an apartment in New York and leave $40 for food, and it paid for his attendance at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.[7](https://www.phillymag.com/news/2007/06/19/exit-interview-adrian-pasdar/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/)
## Film career
At 19, Pasdar auditioned for a role in *Top Gun* (1986). Director [Tony Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-scott) was impressed enough to write the part of "Chipper" specifically for him.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) Pasdar recalled the shoot as a wild experience for a 19-year-old, driving to Denny's at two in the morning with [Val Kilmer](https://www.edgepedia.org/val-kilmer), Rick Rossovich, Barry Tubb, and [Whip Hubley](https://www.edgepedia.org/whip-hubley), and remembered Tom Cruise as "one of the nicest guys in the world."[7](https://www.phillymag.com/news/2007/06/19/exit-interview-adrian-pasdar/)
The blockbuster opened doors to bigger roles in *Solarbabies* (1986), *Streets of Gold* (1986), in which he played an amateur boxer, and Kathryn Bigelow's cult vampire Western *Near Dark* (1987), in which he starred as Caleb Colton, a cowboy drawn into a makeshift family of vampires.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/) Although *Near Dark* performed poorly at the box office, critics responded to it and the film later became regarded as a cult favorite.[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/)
He repeatedly stepped away from Hollywood. After *Near Dark* he quit performing for a year and moved to Europe, and the momentum was lost in a string of poorly received projects, including *Cookie* (1989), *Vital Signs* (1990), and the title role in the TNT movie *The Lost Capone* (1990).[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/) In 1992, saying he felt completely out of touch with reality, he left California for New York and worked as a cashier for room and board while taking occasional small parts, including Frankie in [Brian De Palma](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-de-palma)'s *Carlito's Way* (1993).[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/) He also took unusual roles, such as the transvestite banker Gerald in the British indie comedy *Just Like a Woman* (1992).[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/) Across his career he favored independent and cable films before that choice became fashionable for feature actors, and in 2022 he described nearly 40 years as a working actor built on refusing to worry about stereotypes.[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/) • [3](https://filmmakermagazine.com/116091-adrian-pasdar/)
## Television career
A major break came in 1995 when Pasdar was cast as the title character of the Fox series *Profit*, playing Jim Profit, an amoral businessman; the show was short-lived but critics responded strongly to his performance.[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/) He then starred on the cult favorite *Mysterious Ways* (NBC, 2000; PAX-TV, 2000–02), which filmed in Vancouver; while on it he commuted every weekend back to Austin, where the family then lived on a ranch in Texas.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-25-ca-pasdar25-story.html)
His profile rose sharply with *Heroes* (NBC, 2006–2010), in which he played Nathan Petrelli, an overachieving politician running for office who secretly has the ability to fly; he appeared in 60 episodes.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/adrian-pasdar/bio/3000834595/) • [12](https://www.formulatv.com/personas/adrian-pasdar/trabajos/) For the role he won the 2008 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/adrian-pasdar/bio/3000834595/) In 2007, during the show's second season, he was under strict orders of secrecy about the fate of his character, who had apparently died flying his brother Peter away from a nuclear blast over Manhattan.[13](https://www.hollywood.com/general/heroes-adrian-pasdar-wife-natalie-maines-interview-57174063)
**Genre and recurring roles followed.** On ABC Family's teen drama *The Lying Game* (2011–13) he played Alec Rybak in 29 episodes, a character he noted fans found believably nasty while keeping a careful distance from him in person.[12](https://www.formulatv.com/personas/adrian-pasdar/trabajos/) • [14](https://scifivision.org/interviews/583-adrian-pasdar-talks-qthe-lying-gameq) He played the military man [Glenn Talbot](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-talbot) on *Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.* from 2014 to 2020 across 24 episodes, Nolan Burgess on [Carlton Cuse](https://www.edgepedia.org/carlton-cuse)'s science fiction drama *Colony* (2016–17), and Morgan Edge on *Supergirl* (2017–18).[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/) • [12](https://www.formulatv.com/personas/adrian-pasdar/trabajos/) He has also been a recurring voice of Iron Man (Tony Stark) in Marvel animated media.[3](https://filmmakermagazine.com/116091-adrian-pasdar/) Later screen work includes *The Manson Brothers Midnight Zombie Massacre* (2021), the CBS police drama *East New York* (2022–23, four episodes as Bobby Azeroff), *The Exorcism* (2024), and a voice role as Brando in the 2023 anime *Pluto*.[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/) • [12](https://www.formulatv.com/personas/adrian-pasdar/trabajos/)
## Directing, writing, and stage work
Pasdar wrote and directed the short film *Beyond Belief* (1999) and directed the feature *Cement* (2000), his first film as director, which won the Grand Remi Award at WorldFest Houston.[10](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/) • [4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/adrian-pasdar/bio/3000834595/)
In November 2007, as the writers' strike shut down production of *Heroes*, he was rehearsing the world premiere of *Atlanta*, a Civil War musical he co-wrote with Nashville songwriter Marcus Hummon, which opened at the Geffen Playhouse.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-25-ca-pasdar25-story.html) The idea came from a story he told while washing dishes with Hummon, and Hummon credited Pasdar with immediately making great changes to the material.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-25-ca-pasdar25-story.html) Pasdar described himself at the time as a neophyte stage director who was not an aficionado of musical theater, though he cited the emotional effect of *The Lion King* as his inspiration for wanting to deliver a linear, play-based narrative.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-25-ca-pasdar25-story.html)
## Personal life
Pasdar married singer and recording artist [Natalie Maines](https://www.edgepedia.org/natalie-maines) of the Dixie Chicks on June 24, 2000; their children include Jackson Slade.[5](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/pasdar-adrian-1965) The marriage later ended in divorce.[6](https://xn--meb.pisz.pl/Adrian_Pasdar) He appeared as a police officer in the band's video for "Goodbye Earl," which won both the Academy of Country Music's and the [Country Music Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/country-music-association)'s Video of the Year awards in 2000.[8](https://imiranian.com/adrian-kayvan-pasdar/) After living on a ranch in Texas, the family moved to Los Angeles because the children were in school, Maines was recording there, and *Heroes* filmed there.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-25-ca-pasdar25-story.html) He founded the production company Bobcat Films.[5](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/pasdar-adrian-1965)
## References
1. [Adrian Pasdar Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/bio/)
2. [Adrian Pasdar, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/adrian-pasdar/)
3. ["Listening Became My Prime Directive" Back to One, Episode 217: Adrian Pasdar, Filmmaker Magazine](https://filmmakermagazine.com/116091-adrian-pasdar/)
4. [Adrian Pasdar Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/adrian-pasdar/bio/3000834595/)
5. [Pasdar, Adrian 1965(?)–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/pasdar-adrian-1965)
6. [Adrian Pasdar, Encyklopedia internetowa](https://xn--meb.pisz.pl/Adrian_Pasdar)
7. [Exit Interview: Adrian Pasdar, Philadelphia Magazine](https://www.phillymag.com/news/2007/06/19/exit-interview-adrian-pasdar/)
8. [Adrian Kayvan Pasdar, I'm Iranian](https://imiranian.com/adrian-kayvan-pasdar/)
9. ['Lost Capone's' Pasdar: It Took a Few Breaks to Get Where He Is, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-08-ca-572-story.html)
10. [Adrian Pasdar - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0664499/)
11. [Pulling double duty - Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-25-ca-pasdar25-story.html)
12. [Trayectoria profesional de Adrian Pasdar, FormulaTV](https://www.formulatv.com/personas/adrian-pasdar/trabajos/)
13. ['Heroes' Adrian Pasdar: Wife Natalie Maines is His Hero, Hollywood.com](https://www.hollywood.com/general/heroes-adrian-pasdar-wife-natalie-maines-interview-57174063)
14. [Adrian Pasdar Talks "The Lying Game", SciFi Vision](https://scifivision.org/interviews/583-adrian-pasdar-talks-qthe-lying-gameq)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames O to Pa*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license