Mozhan L. Navabi (born ) is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles in The Blacklist and House of Cards and played Soraya Manutchehri in The Stoning of Soraya M.. From the 2006 start of her career, she was credited as Mozhan Marnò, but has been credited by her maiden name, Navabi, since a 2024 guest appearance on an episode of Law & Order.
Navabi was born in Los Angeles. Her parents are both from Pahlavi Iran and met in California. She was educated at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. She received her B.A. in French and German comparative literature from Barnard College of Columbia University and her M.F.A. in acting from the Yale School of Drama.
, she was living in Brooklyn, New York, having moved there sometime before filming began in 2014 for her first season on The Blacklist. In addition to English she speaks French, German, Persian, and some Italian.
Mozhan Navabi played the title role in the 2008 film The Stoning of Soraya M., set in Iran, about a woman whose husband falsely accuses her of adultery, resulting in her death by stoning. In addition she has had roles in a number of television series including The Paul Reiser Show, The Glades, Hung, The Mentalist, Bones, The Unit, Medium, K-ville, and Standoff. Navabi also appeared in the Untitled John Wells Medical Drama Pilot, which was not aired. She also stars in Ana Lily Amirpour's directorial debut, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, produced by Elijah Wood, under his company, The Woodshed. In 2011, Navabi voiced Mirabelle Ervine, a Breton mage and Master Wizard of the College of Winterhold, in the critically acclaimed video game '. She played reporter Ayla Sayyad on seasons 2 and 3 of the acclaimed Netflix series House of Cards, for which she was nominated for a SAG award. She played Mossad agent and assassin Samar Navabi in seasons 2-6 of The Blacklist.
Navabi also directs and writes screenplays. Her first feature-length screenplay, When the Lights Went Out, was a quarter finalist for the Nicholl Fellowship. She adapted When the Lights Went Out as a play and it was mounted at New York Stage and Film in July 2013 starring Laura Innes, and directed by Kate Whoriskey. NavabiâÂÂs short film, Incoming, which she wrote and directed, was accepted to and
In February 2024, Navabi was cast in the Netflix limited series Zero Day, in the recurring role of Melissa Kornblau.
Note: credited as Mozhan Marnò from 2006 to 2023, credited as Mozhan Navabi since 2024