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Actor

1975-08-28 · Beirut, Lebanon · Male

18 series in the catalog

Nick Emad Tarabay (arabic: عماد تاراباي, born 28 August 1975) is a Lebanese actor. He is known for portraying Ashur in the Starz television series Spartacus and Cotyar in the science fiction television series The Expanse.

Early life

Tarabay was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to a large family. His parents reside in Lebanon, as does his younger brother and a large extended family of cousins, uncles and aunts. He moved to New York after high school. As a clothing salesman, he worked for Hugo Boss and Gucci, while studying acting at the T. Schreiber Studio and appearing in Off-Off-Broadway plays. He moved to Los Angeles in 2004, where he studied under Larry Moss and appeared in their studio's staging of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea. He is married with 3 children, one daughter age 30, and twin sons age 24.

Career

Tarabay made his television debut as an extra in an episode of Sex and the City (2000). He got another minor role in The Sopranos (2001–2004), where he played the role of Matush, a drug dealer. He also played the role of The Captor in David Ellison's 2005 dramatic short film When All Else Fails. As well he played a role in the 2008's television series Crash, in which he played the character Axel Finet, a hot-tempered police lieutenant. He was not brought back for the second season.

Tarabay played a central supporting role in the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand in the character of Ashur, a former gladiator who was injured and now is used as an agent and spy. He also appears in the prequel miniseries Spartacus: Gods of the Arena with the same role prior to his injury, as well as the sequel to Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Vengeance. Tarabay reprised his role in a starring turn in Spartacus: House of Ashur, which presents an alternate timeline during which Ashur was not killed on Mount Vesuvius. In 2013, he appeared as Klingon patrol officer in J. J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness.

Tarabay played a role in the seventh season of USA Network's Burn Notice as "Dexter Gamble." Additionally, Tarabay portrays Reiken in the Brent Ryan Green film The Veil. In 2014, he joined the cast of the CW series Arrow as supervillain Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang. Tarabay served as a recurring character in the fourth season of Person of Interest as "Devon Grice," an ISA operative. He joined the TV show The Expanse in its second season. He played a delightful Russian 'security guard' in a Castle episode in February 2016. He voiced the role of Haluk in Bioware's 2019 video game Anthem. In October 2020 he was cast as the villain Eclipso in the second season of the CW television series Stargirl.