Elan Zafir

BIO

Elan Zafir is a Canadian actor based in New York City. He originated the role of Abaddon, in Olivier-nominated writer/director Yael Farber’s critically acclaimed adaptation of SALOME at Shakespeare Theatre Company, which garnered 7 Helen Hayes Awards including Best Ensemble. He played in Theresa Rebeck's comedy WAY OF THE WORLD opposite Kristine Nielsen.  Elan was cast by Mark Brokaw to play Nazari in the new play PAPER DOLLS which was developed through the Sundance Play Festival and the Public Theater. Elan was cast by Mark Wing-Davey to play Hamzi in Mona Mansour's THE VAGRANT TRILOGY which was developed through the Public Theater, and is a part of their 2019-2020 season. He will be a part of the official opening season of Simon Goodwin's first year as Artistic Director of The Shakespeare Theatre Company in the award winning play EVERYBODY by Brandon Jacob Jenkins. Elan was nominated for a James MacArthur Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play for his work in Twelve Angry Men at Ford's Theatre, directed by Sheldon Epps. Elan was recently cast in the World Premiere of Ms. Rebeck's new play Enlightened; Mrs. Rebeck is set to direct. He shot a Krav-Maga western, Your Own; He was cast in a Shakespeare mashup with Bedlam, a critically acclaimed Off Broadway theatre company. He also Guest Starred on NBC's The Blacklist episode 818 "The Protean" as a killer with a heart of gold. (His description, not NBC's.) Elan most recently returned from Budapest, where he filmed an episode of FBI: International.

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He graduated The Dome Professional Theatre Program of Montreal, and attended The Academy for Classical Acting University, where he earned his MFA.

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He wrote and performed in his one man show, The Unaccompanied Minor, which had its world premiere at the Asheville Fringe Festival, went on to perform at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and finally completed it's journey at the DC Fringe where Roger Catlin of The Washington Post called his play "A top pick of the fringe." Elan also studied improv at Upright Citizens Brigade, where he completed the rigorous program in just two years. He has worked with Seth Barrish and Judy Gold on his newest solo show Jewface. Elan is an avid hiker, tennis enthusiast, pickleball player, and an amateur baker.

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East New York: "A Humbling Blues"

Law & Order: "Bias"

The Milwaukee Rep: God of Carnage 

Blue Bloods: "Life During Wartime"

Bedlam: Hedda Gabler/The Winter's Tale (in rep)

FBI: International: "Chew Toy"

The Blacklist: "The Protean"

Bedlam: Bedlam The Series

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: There's Always the Hudson 

Eureka Day  Mosaic Theatre

EVERYBODY   Shakespeare Theatre Company

Arena Stage: Junk: The Golden Age of Debt

The Folger Shakespeare Theatre: King John, Way of the World

Edinburgh Fringe/Capital Fringe: The Unaccompanied Minor*

*Written by Mr. Zafir

Shakespeare Theatre Company: Salomé*, Othello, Romeo & Juliet 

*Helen Hayes Award Best Ensemble

Ford's Theatre: Ragtime, Twelve Angry Men

Signature Theatre: Tender Napalm

Mosaic Theatre: Paper Dolls, The Vagrant Trilogy

Adventure Theatre: Jumanji* 

*Helen Hayes Award Outstanding Production

Rep Stage: Venus in Fur

The Welders: Happiness and Other Reasons to Die

Capitol Fringe: Ben&Lucille*

*Written by Mr. Zafir

New York Fringe: Leaf in the Mailbox*

*Written by Mr. Zafir

*Winner Best Ensemble Cast Award

Greenwich Street Theatre: Romeo and Juliet

Wings Theatre: Raft of the Medusa

Looking Glass Theatre: Cardboard Moon

Playwrights Horizon: Inner Workings of a Man

TheatreWorksUSA: Peter Pan

Producers Club: This is Your Life*

*Written by Mr. Zafir

*Finalist: Strawberry One-Act Festival

Lycean Theatre: Accomplice

Coconut Grove Playhouse: The Disputation 

Atwater Theatre: Look Back in Anger

GableStage: Arms and the Man 

Kennedy Center: Together Again After* [Workshop]

*Written by Mr. Zafir

Commercials:  Samsung, Mr. Roof, Vouchers, Wounded Warriors Project, Dominion Power, White64 Motors, Skip Doctor.

TV/Film credits: FBI: International, The Blacklist, House of Cards, King of Crimes, Big Wolf on Campus, Apples, Milquetoast, Fairies, Nantucket Sun, Hit the Girl, Brand Management, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, A Child, Student Bodies, Discovery Channel, The Event, Making of the Mob, Turn, Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall.

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