Necar Zadegan (Persian: نکار زادگان /nɪˈkɑːr ˈzædɪɡæn/; born June 20, 1982) is an American[citation needed] actress. She became known for her recurring role as First Lady (and then President) Dalia Hassan on the eighth season of 24 [1] and Delia Banai on Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce. She currently stars as Special Agent Hannah Khoury on "NCIS: New Orleans". Zadegan made her Broadway debut alongside Robin Williams in the Pulitzer Prize–nominated production Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo in 2011. She is fluent in English, German and Persian languages.
Zadegan is of Iranian origin. She was born in Heidelberg, West Germany, on June 20, 1982, and raised in San Francisco, California.[2] She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a BA degree in Literature.[2] She also studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris.
Necar Zadegan appeared as Dalia Hassan in the Fox TV series 24 for Season 8.
In 2009 Zadegan originated the role[clarify] of 'The Leper' in Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, which moved to Broadway in 2011.
Zadegan returned to television as resident villainess Isabel on the NBC series The Event. She then took on the series regular role of Dr. Gina Bandari on the 2012 series Emily Owens M.D.. She appeared as Scarlet Leon, the female lead, opposite Greg Kinnear in the 2014 American version of the comedy Rake.
Later that same year she rounded out the all female-lead cast for Bravo's first scripted series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce in the role of Delia Banai. The show went on to be the first ever to get a three season pickup and ran for five seasons before premiering its final season in Spring 2018.[citation needed]
In 2015 Zadegan continued to appear in other television roles such as Extant, Legends and as the Queen of Iran opposite Michael Sheen for Showtime's critical success Masters of Sex.
From 2005 to 2009, Zadegan amassed a number of television credits namely The Bernie Mac Show, Nip/Tuck, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, The Unit, How I Met Your Mother, Big Shots, Lost, The Shield, and CSI: Miami.
In 2009, Zadegan appeared in the Persian language stage production of From Satellite with Love "Az Mahvareh Ta Eshgh", touring in the U.S. and Europe.[3]
Zadegan appeared in the 2010 film Elena Undone in the title role of Elena Winters for FilmMcQueen that amassed critical attention at festivals worldwide. That same year she also appeared opposite Michael Sheen and Samuel L. Jackson in the role of Jehan Younger in the Columbia Tri Star psychological thriller, Unthinkable.
Zadegan joined the cast of NCIS: New Orleans in October 2018 playing the role of Special Agent Hannah Khoury, the senior agent in the NCIS New Orleans office.